Fantasy Value of Christian Yelich

Photo courtesy of Roger DeWitt.

The Miami Marlins are giving their young prospects a chance at the Major League level. Jose Fernandez, who was just the first of several notable prospects in the Miami organization, has been a dominant starter since making the Opening Day roster out of Spring Training.

The second heralded prospect to get the call Christian Yelich, debuted on Tuesday.

Yelich is ranked as one of the top fifteen prospects in baseball but has been overshadowed by Wil Myers and Oscar Taveras. This is why there has been little fanfare about him up until now.

Make no mistake about it, Christian Yelich can contribute to your fantasy team right now. He came out swinging in his debut on Tuesday with a 3-for-4 night while driving in two.

In his Minor League career, Yelich produced a slash line of .313/.387/.499, He also raised some eyebrows during spring training going (.364/.451/.818) with five home runs.

Yelich has a picturesque left handed swing. His left handed stroke will play well, as he hits in the number two spot in the Marlins order. His value increases substantially as hitting in front of Giancarlo Stanton will get him plenty of good pitches to hit.

He has good speed and will swipe a handful of bases in the second half. His speed and base running abilities are similar to Wil Myers in Tampa.

He is only 21 years old, so his power will continue to develop as he grows into an everyday position player for the Marlins. It’s hard to project what type of power numbers he can post in the second half of the season. I see him hitting 7-10 homeruns depending on the amount of at-bats he will see in the second half of the season.

I expect him to hit .280 and above in the Marlins lineup. He will have slumps but he has shown at a young age he can make the necessary adjustments to overcome prolonged slumps. So, there will not be many 0-for-4 nights for a hitter with his kind of hitting ability.

The best part about him is his position eligibility. His is eligible at first base as well as the outfield. If you are looking for a replacement for Ryan Braun, this is the player I would choose.

He has had injury issues throughout his career, missing the beginning of the season with plantar fasciitis and three additional three weeks in June with an abdominal injury.

Injuries aside, Christian Yelich could be a huge offensive surprise for the second half of the fantasy baseball season. Grab him off the wire now before it is too late.