Draft Hazards: Toronto’s Left Field

Platoon.  As a movie — phenomenal.  But in fantasy baseball, it’s a dirty word.  No one goes into their draft hoping to walk away with a bunch of part-time players, so when doing your prep work, it’s always important to know which situations out there may cause playing time issues throughout the season. In some case, a player may shine enough to take over the position entirely, but in many cases, the manager feels better served by playing matchups, riding the hot bat and using a committee approach to get the most productivity out of a particular spot.  The Blue Jays left field situation appears to be one of those cases.

As it stands right now, the Blue Jays will have Jose Bautista locked into right field, and Colby Rasmus in center.  That leaves Eric Thames, Travis Snider and Rajai Davis to compete for at bats over in left.  Now obviously if Rasmus tanks again, things could open up, but for the time being, he will be given every opportunity to live up to that 5-tool potential we used to hear so much about.  That leaves John Farrell with some hevay decisions moving forward.

If you’re going by the team’s depth chart, then Thames appears to have the inside track on playing time.  And rightfully so.  Last season in just under 400 plate appearances, the left-handed Thames managed to hit .262 while posting a .193 ISO thanks to 12 home runs, 24 doubles and 5 triples.  His walk rate was meager, he struck out a little too often, and he struggled against left-handed pitching, but he did a great job of making the jump from Double-A to the majors in just one year and deserves another look this season.

Put their 2011 numbers next to each other and Snider pales in comparison.  He also has some decent power potential, but similarly to Thames, he strikes out too much, doesn’t draw enough walks and can’t hit lefties.  However, when he was sent down last season, things clicked for him in Triple-A finally and he posted a triple slash line of .327/.394/.480 with 25 walks in 277 plate appearances.  He never got the chance to translate that success to the majors as a wrist injury finished his season early.  But according to Mike Wilner of the Blue Jays’ Radio network, Snider will be given the opportunity to compete for the job this spring.

And then there’s Davis — right-handed bat, great speed and great range in the outfield.  However, a career .319 OBP does not instill confidence in a manager, no matter how good you are at stealing bases.  But it’s Davis splits that help keep him in the lineup…atleast on days when there’s a southpaw on the mound.  In 589 career plate appearances against lefties, Davis has managed a slash line of .292/.350/.411 with an 8.0% walk rate and a K% of just 13.8%.  Couple that with both Thames’ and Snider’s problems with left-handers, and you’ve got platoon situation written all over it.

This could be one of those situations that plays out better closer to the start of the season, but for right now, unless you’re in a relatively deep AL-only league, Toronto’s left field might be best left to someone else.