Arizona Diamondbacks Hitters: 2015 Team Preview

Jul 21, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera (right) talks with Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

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A.J. Pollock is one of the more popular “sleepers” because he has the ability to be a steady contributor in probably every category outside of RBI’s. Tanner’s projection clearly accounts for A.J. Pollock’s injury history, but I am going in with blind faith believing that Pollock will get 600 plate appearances in 2015. If healthy, the CF of the Diamondbacks could easily go 15-30 as he enters his prime.

Paul Goldschmidt will be drafted in the top five of the vast majority of all leagues because he really has everything you could want in a top 1B. Goldy is still fairly young, hits for power and average, and he will probably steal double-digit bases. In 2013 and 2014, Goldschmidt put up monstrous numbers, and he is my fourth overall pick this year even if the Diamondbacks will stink.

Mark Trumbo has a lot of holes in his game, but it is hard to argue with his power production with the Angels from 2011 to 2013. The HR/RBI combos of 29/87, 32/95, and 34/100 sound pretty appealing to me in today’s power starved game, and I will gamble on him based off this article. Mark Trumbo is coming off of a season ruined by injury, but he did start the season off with a Major League leading 7 homers and 19 RBI’s in his first 21 games before getting hurt.

Aaron Hill has been a fantasy favorite of mine in the past after his incredible 2010 and 2012 seasons, but I am afraid his fantasy light is dimming as he turns 33. Unfortunately, Aaron Hill has declined offensively for three straight seasons going from 26 to 11 to 10 homers, 14 to 1 to 4 steals, averages from .302 to .291 to .244. While Aaron Hill is a potential option in deeper leagues, he is a pretty risky option for you to start.

Tanner Bell of Smart Fantasy Baseball has created all of the projections seen in this post. You can read about how he develops his projections here. His projections are invaluable to this site. You can also visit his site at www.smartfantasybaseball.com.