Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Fantasy Focus: 2015 Fantasy Prospects- Peter O'Brien

Peter O'Brien, C.  DOB:  7/15/1990.  B-R, T-R.  6'4", 225 lbs.

2014 High A:  .321/.353/.688, 10 HR, 3.4 BB%, 24.4 K%, 119 PA.
2014 AA:        .245/.296/.555, 23 HR, 5.4 BB%, 26.2 K%, 294 PA.
2014 AFL:      .256/.393/.512, 5 HR, 15.9 BB%, 27.4 K%, 107 PA.
2015 Steamer: .231/.265/.458, 3 HR, 4.9 BB%, 27.2 K%, 54 PA.
2015 ZiPs:      .241/.281/.487, 26 HR, 4.7 BB%, 31.6 K%, 469 PA.

The catcher situation in Arizona is one of the more intriguing stories of the spring.  Over the winter, the D'Backs traded Miguel Montero to the Cubs leaving them with Tuffy Gosewich and a Rule 5 draft pick as their #1 and #2 catchers on their depth chart.  Everybody expected another move to add a catcher like Dioner Navarro, but when the added catcher turned out to be Gerald Laird, everybody knew Dave Stewart had something else in mind.  That something else turns out to be catching prospect Peter O'Brien who Stewart says is the reason he is not bringing in another catcher.  Peter O'Brien has not played above AA in the minors, but look at those power numbers!  Steamer came out before Big Stew made that pronouncement, so isn't buying the playing time, but look at those ZiPs projections!  I mean, I don't care what his BA is going to be, 26 HR's out of a catcher is a very good think in fantasy baseball.  Here's the think about O'Brien:  Nobody but apparently Dave Stewart and the D'Backs coaching staff think he can actually play catcher in the major leagues, but the D'Backs opinion is what counts here, because fantasy baseball does not care if he is a terrible defensive catcher, unless it costs him the position.  So, imagine a D'Backs lineup with Paul Goldschmidt, Mark Trumbo and Peter O'Brien hitting back-to-back-to-back.  Get those righty specialists cranked up!

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