Mark J. Rebilas – USA Today Sports
Heading into the 2013 fantasy baseball season, Arizona Diamondbacks rookie OF Adam Eaton was high on many draft boards.
Unfortunately, an elbow injury delayed the start to his season. The injury was originally only supposed to keep him out until mid-May, but after a setback he was held out until finally making his season debut this week.
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He has started in the outfield three out of four games since returning and hit a two-run triple Thursday and scored a run after one hit Friday. He has yet to steal a base, but with his speed, they will come because of his plate discipline.
Eaton swiped 106 bases in the minor leagues the past three years and stole eight in 25 games rehabbing in the minor leagues this year. Throughout the minor leagues he had also shown incredible plate discipline. He consistently had a walk rate around 10 percent or higher in the minors, and in his short stint in the majors last year, he managed a walk rate of 13.6 percent with a .382 on-base percentage.
Sitting atop a solid Diamondbacks lineup, Eaton has plenty of run potential and has come around to score two out of the three times he’s been on base since his return. A high average hitter with a high walk rate and impressive speed is a great recipe for steals and runs scored. He never hit more than seven home runs in a season in the minors, but did hit 46 doubles with five triples in 119 games in Triple-A last season.
He is currently owned in just 13 percent of ESPN leagues, but that number rose by eight percent over the past week and could be going up quickly so act now if you need runs and steals.
Rich Arleo is a fantasy sports writer with Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Rarleo, ‘Like’ him on Facebook and add him to your networks on Google.
