Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Dan Uggla of the Atlanta Braves has been one of the best second basemen in fantasy baseball for a handful of years. He has crushed 231 home runs with 231 doubles throughout his tenured career and he has carried many fantasy teams in the process.
Unfortunately, the slugger had a rather forgettable 2013 fantasy campaign. Uggla hit just 10 double last year to go along with a meager 22 longballs. He had a serious power outage and the once heralded slugger quickly became a fantasy afterthought.
Even worse, Uggla posted an embarrassing .170 batting average and struck out 171 times, which was once ever 2.6 at-bats. Those were both the career low points in Uggla’s career and will force many fantasy owners to steer clear of the veteran.
Despite his horrific batting average, though, Uggla still posted a respectable .309 On Base Percentage last season. He has recorded a .340 OBP throughout his career and has always been able to find a way to get on base. Most fantasy leagues run on OBP, so Uggla will always be able to carry his weight in that regard.
Additionally, Uggla dealt with various injuries last season, most notably an issue with his vision. He had LASIK surgery last off-season to fix his eyes, but the veteran was simply unable to adjust throughout the year.
Uggla has had an entire off-season to adjust to the lack of contact lenses and he has looked much more comfortable this spring as a result. He has blasted four home runs in 52 at-bats and currently has a decent .269 average, which is very promising heading into the season.
Uggla can be a strong value pick to grab at the end of draft or to find on the wavier wire right now. He won’t be a top-five option anymore, but he can certainly be worth a starting spot in leagues with 10 owners or more.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
