Brian Dozier, 2B, Minnesota Twins
Similar to Donaldson, Brian Dozier is in the midst of a crucial year because not only is free agency on the horizon, but he’ll also be entering his age-32 season in 2019. Not showing any kind of drop off in production is imperative to him maximizing his earning potential.
That’s why his first 325 plate appearances in 2018 have been troubling. He’s currently slashing .221/.302/.390 with 10 homers, 30 RBI, and an 88 wRC+. After three straight years of posting an ISO above .200, that number is at .169 right now.
There’s no doubting how influential his play has been in recent years — between 2016 and 2017, the only second baseman with a higher fWAR than Dozier’s 11.2 is Jose Altuve (14.3). But with just 0.8 fWAR heading into Tuesday’s action, it’s going to take one of his patented second-half surges to get close to equaling his recent output.
Here’s this for some context: in 2016, Dozier posted a 109 wRC+ and .209 ISO in the first half before improving those numbers to 155 and .354, respectively, after the All-Star break. The improvement was even more extreme last year, as his wRC+ went from 95 to 158, while his ISO went from .175 to .287.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
