Fantasy Baseball: 7 Hitters You Should Buy Low

Max Kepler, OF, Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins outfielder Max Kepler has yet to have that breakout season some predicted, and though his .263 batting average and five RBI leave us waiting, there are reasons to think 2018 may be the season he puts it all together.

In 12 games (46 plate appearances), Kepler has walked 17.4% of the time, a huge increase over the previous two years, when he walked on 9.4% and 8.3% of his plate appearances, respectively. Accordingly, that has yielded an OBP of .391, and his slugging percentage of .579 is an indication that more power is coming.

Kepler's BABIP of .226 is unbelievably low, given that he's hitting the ball in the air a lot (50.0% fly-ball rate) and keeping it off the ground (35.3% ground-ball rate). And, to boot, he possesses a hard-hit rate of 41.2%, higher than the league average of 32.6%. He generally sits against left-handed pitching, but when a right-hander is on the mound, he's in the lineup looking to do damage.

Most of the baseball world knows Kepler has gotten off to a decent start this year, but for the batting average obsessed fantasy owner, it might be time to cut bait a bit prematurely. Take advantage and reap the rewards of buying low.