Fantasy Spotlight: Chris Colabello

by
Jon Blacker / Major League Baseball / Getty

Throughout the month of March, theScore examines hitters who represent their team's most intriguing fantasy plays. This edition focuses on Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Chris Colabello.

2015 in Review: 360 PA, .321/.367/.520, 55 R, 15 HR, 54 RBI, 2 SB

The Good: Colabello began 2015 as the backup to Justin Smoak but ended up with 32 more at-bats over the course of the season. His 25.2% line-drive rate meant that balls were often landing in no man's land between the infield and outfield. That's why he was able to post a career-high .321 batting average and keep his bat in the lineup despite average power and poor defense.

It's also worth mentioning that Colabello hit in the middle of one of the most intimidating lineups in the majors.

The Bad: Here's the 4-1-1 on Colabello: his batting average for balls in play (BABIP) was literally .411. His extremely-high line-drive rate from 2015 defied all data about Colabello's hitting profile from two seasons with the Twins. With the league-average BABIP hovering around .300, it seems that Colabello was more than a little lucky at the dish.

Best Comparison: Los Angeles Angels 1B C.J. Cron

What's in Store: Regression is inevitable. Even after posting great BA and OBP numbers last season, he still hits just .249 against lefties and .272 against righties for his career. At age 32, it's unlikely that Colabello is destined to become one of the best late-bloomers in recent history.

It's possible that a change in his hitting mechanics completely overhauled his approach at the plate, but with the Jays looking to win now, they can't afford to wait out a slump if and when Colabello comes back down to earth. With Smoak a proven option, Toronto won't hesitate to go with the hot hand.

Draft Outlook: Colabello is only an option in the deepest of mixed-leagues and even the most optimistic projections for 2016 have him just outside the top-30 1B-eligible players. In AL-only leagues, Colabello will likely be selected in the late rounds, along with other fringe corner infielders like Cron and Mark Canha.

The Digest

theScore's 2016 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit

by theScore Staff
Bob Stanton / USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Fantasy baseball season is upon us - and theScore has you covered with the most comprehensive fantasy content offering available. Check back often, as we'll be updating our content offering daily until the season starts.

Positional Rankings

Where does each fantasy-relevant player rank? Look no further than theScore's position-by-position rankings, which include nearly 350 player projections for the upcoming season:

Team-by-Team Fantasy Projections

We provide fantasy projections from three well-respected sources - ZiPS, Steamer and Zeile Consensus - for key players on all 30 major-league teams:

AL East: Toronto | N.Y. Yankees | Baltimore | Tampa Bay | Boston

AL Central: Kansas City | Minnesota | Cleveland | Chicago WSox | Detroit

AL West: Texas | Houston | L.A. Angels | Seattle | Oakland

NL East: N.Y. Mets | Washington | Miami | Atlanta | Philadelphia

NL Central: St. Louis | Pittsburgh | Chicago Cubs | Milwaukee | Cincinnati

NL West: L.A. Dodgers | San Francisco | Arizona | San Diego | Colorado

Mock Drafts

Fretting over which player to pick? Our fantasy baseball experts offer a variety of mock drafts for your perusal (all drafts use 5x5 scoring format):

Fantasy Spotlight

Every major-league team has at least one player whose fantasy outlook is a major point of discussion. Here are some of 2016's most intriguing cases:

AL East: Chris Colabello (TOR) | Starlin Castro (NYY) | Alex Rodriguez (NYY) | Chris Davis (BAL) | Steven Souza (TB) | Brock Holt (BOS)

AL Central: Alex Gordon (KC) | Byung-ho Park (MIN) | Francisco Lindor (CLE) | Brett Lawrie (CHW) | Justin Upton (DET)

AL West: Mitch Moreland (TEX) | George Springer (HOU) | Yunel Escobar (LAA) | Adam Lind (SEA) | Danny Valencia (OAK)

NL East: Neil Walker (NYM) | Daniel Murphy (WAS) | Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) | Freddie Freeman (ATL) | Maikel Franco (PHI)

NL Central: Randal Grichuk (STL) | Gregory Polanco (PIT) | Kyle Schwarber (CHC) | Chris Carter (MIL) | Devin Mesoraco (CIN)

NL West: Corey Seager (LAD) | Denard Span (SF) | A.J. Pollock (ARI) | Alexei Ramirez (SD) | Carlos Gonzalez (COL)

Fantasy Faceoff

Faced with choosing between two terrific draft options? theScore helps fantasy players answer some of the most difficult 1-on-1 decisions they may face at draft time:

Winning Strategies

Hoping to end that lengthy fantasy championship drought? Looking to extend your title reign? Here are theScore's guides on how to find success in a variety of league types:

Must-Read Fantasy Baseball Lists

Every good draft kit has its share of handy lists - and this one is no exception. Check out theScore's collection of informative and entertaining list material:

  • Preseason Rookie Report
    (Andrew Potter takes a comprehensive look at the top rookies in each league for daily and season-long fantasy purposes.)

Fantasy Baseball Tips and Tricks

Don't even try to walk into your fantasy baseball draft without going through theScore's exhaustive list of fantasy strategy posts:

  • How to Smartly Spend Your FAAB
    (James Bisson examines how to use a season-long free-agent budget, targeting players in leagues which use the FAAB format.)
  • Building a Winner Through Trades
    (James Bisson looks at how fantasy owners can use savvy trading as an alternative - or complement - to scouring the waiver wire.)

Daily Fantasy Strategy

No draft kit would be complete without a handy guide for those looking to give daily fantasy baseball a try:

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