Fantasy Baseball 2018 Sleepers Outside the Top 200: Lewis Brinson

It’s obvious that one of the most important components of a winning fantasy team is finding players late that produce like early picks. Those are “sleepers.” The deeper the sleeper, the more impactful they can be; that’s why I’m going to highlight sleepers outside the Top 200 ADP (Average Draft Position) throughout Spring Training as you prep for draft day. All ADP data is courtesy of FantasyPros.com.

Today we look at Marlins OF Lewis Brinson.

Brinson was one of the several Brewers outfielders who were garnering attention this time last year, who all cannibalized each other ADP-wise because they’d all be competing for the same three spots. The Brewers have made some moves this offseason, and one included shipping out the 23-year-old Brinson. Milwaukee has a loaded outfield heading into 2018, but Brinson may still make them rue the decision.

Brinson’s ADP is fair; the guy has 55 career plate appearances, and he hit .106 in that short stint. But as I’ll constantly reiterate, we are looking for maximum upside at this stage in the draft. In his 21 games of dread, Brinson did hit two home runs and steal a base. Those two stats are where I’m coming from in highlighting him as a sleeper.

Brinson’s minor league career is one that paints him as a potentially huge fantasy asset who can provide scarce steals in large quantities while not being an utter sinkhole in other categories.

Peak Brinson came in 2013 at Single-A, where he cracked 21 homers and swiped 24 bags. In 2016 at Double-A Brinson posted 11 home runs and 11 steals in 77 games at Double-A before being promoted, and then the following season hit 13 homers with another 11 steals at Triple-A. He has also shown he can hit for a high average; he just hasn’t proven he will do it year after year. In his productive 2013 Single-A campaign he hit .237, a damagingly low mark. In his impressive Triple-A stint, however, he hit .331. His ability to hit for average remains to be seen, but it’s worth noting that his .106 average was accompanied by a .107 BABIP. That’s impossibly unfortunate, and bound to be way higher in 2018.

Lastly, Brinson has a lot of upside defensively in center field.

The Marlins are very much a rebuilding team that will give Brinson every chance to succeed, even through bad slumps. Unlike in Milwaukee, the Marlins don’t have anyone to turn to, so Brinson is the answer for now regardless of how he’s hitting. That’s great, because even if he struggles he’ll be a threat to run anytime he does reach base.