Isaac Paredes looks to be breaking out with Rays
Chris Crawford analyzes infielder Isaac Paredes' recent offensive surge, explaining why he should continue providing fantasy value going forward.
Video Transcript
CHRIS CRAWFORD: Isaac Paredes was shipped off to Tampa Bay from the Tigers just before the season in the Austin Meadows deal and was essentially an afterthought coming into the year. If you haven't already, it's time to put him on the front burner. The 23-year-old homered in three straight games last week, and that includes a three-homer effort on Tuesday against the Yankees. That puts his season total to 10 and improves his OPS to .927 over his first 98 at-bats.
It is worth pointing out that Paredes was considered one of the better prospects in the Detroit system not terribly long ago. He just hadn't shown the ability to apply that talent at the highest level. Obviously, that's changed in 2022 as he's driving the baseball at a rate we haven't seen from him as an MLB player.
There are some reasons to be more cautiously optimistic than over-the-moon excited, however. He's hitting .255 with a hard hit percentage of 31.4. He's well below average in the speed category, so don't expect any help there. Still, the power looks legit and Paredes carries both second base and third base eligibility. We might be looking at a breakout star here.
