BUSTS for 2018

Gary Sanchez, Catcher (Yankees): Sanchez has perfectly combined injuries and poor play this year, logging a pair of sizable DL stints and posting a sub-.200 batting mark when he was healthy enough to get his name onto the lineup card. Regularly tabbed in the second-round of 2018 drafts, the 26-year-old has been fine from a power perspective (14 homers, 42 RBIs in 66 games) but his .188 batting mark is so incredibly low that he has to be considered among the biggest busts from this season. The good news is that a .194 BABIP has been a huge part of his struggles, meaning that he should rank among the top bounce-back candidates for 2019.

Joey Votto, First baseman (Reds): Combining homers and steals is often a solid way to get a base evaluation of the counting-stat contribution of fantasy assets. And here are Votto’s HR+SB totals from the past four seasons: 40, 37, 41, 10. While 2018 has yet to conclude, the odds are small that he will push his HR+SB total past 15 this year. Additionally, his .283 average is 31 points lower than his mark from any of the previous three years. There have been some positives within this disappointing season, such as a 1.11 BB:K ratio and a 39.6 percent hard-contact rate. But a lowly 30.7 percent fly-ball rate and an 8.7 percent HR/FB rate doomed the 34-year-old from a power perspective. Some measure of a rebound is likely in the offing, but it is hard to predict a major recovery from someone heading into his age-35 season.

Brian Dozier, Second baseman (Dodgers): Dozier maintained most of his speed profile during his age-31 season, as his 11 steals are approaching the 16 swipes he averaged across the previous five years. But his power stats fell off, and the righty slugger will barely dent the 20-homer plateau after producing 76 long balls during the previous two years. Also, his .227 batting average is a far cry from his .271 mark last season and his .268 average from 2016. Even though it is risky to bet on a bounce-back year from a 30-something middle infielder, Dozier showed little change this year in terms of plate discipline and batted-ball profile. Some swings in BABIP and HR/FB rate could get him back on track in a hurry.

Josh Donaldson, Third baseman (Indians): Donaldson is arguably the biggest fantasy bust this year. A top-30 pick in many leagues, he will play in fewer than 60 games and could post a sub-.250 average and a single-digit homer total. Those stats are incredibly disappointing from someone who logged a .946 OPS across the previous three campaigns. An early season shoulder injury made plenty of sense, but seeing the 32-year-old spending three months on the DL with an injury that was labeled as calf tightness was a bit of a head scratcher. While there is no doubt that a healthy Donaldson is a potent hitter, he has dealt with long-term injuries in two straight seasons and will need to be heavily discounted in 2019 drafts.

Carlos Correa, Shortstop (Astros): The 2018 acquisition cost was extremely high for Correa, who was even valued as a first-round pick in some leagues. While the 23-year-old has had some positive stretches this year, he currently has barely cracked the top-25 shortstops while producing an unremarkable .247 average. From a power perspective, owners could likely live with his 14 homers across 92 games. Correa is so young and so talented that most owners will be willing to look past his 2018 injury issues and covet him again next year. But his speed game has completed dissipated (four steals since the outset of 2017), and his lifetime batting average is an unremarkable .280. Correa likely shouldn’t be a top-five shortstop in 2019.

Kris Bryant, OF/3B (Cubs): Bryant has disappointed owners for a second straight year from a power perspective, and this time around he added in a lengthy DL stint. Owners who spent a high pick on the 26-year-old this year were assuming that his 10-homer power dip in 2017 was an aberration, but his round-tripper abilities have tailed off to an even greater degree (11 homers in 76 games) this year. From a skills perspective, Bryant continues to tally plenty of fly balls, but his rates of hard contact have been mediocre for two straight years.

Byron Buxton, Outfielder (Twins): Buxton is the one man who can rival Donaldson as the biggest bust among position players this season. The former top prospect cannot match the former Blue Jays star from a draft-acquisition price, but he has been inarguably worse in terms of performance. A top-75 pick in many drafts, Buxton has dealt with injuries, tallied zero long balls in 28 games and is now back in Triple-A.

Wil Myers, OF/1B/3B (Padres): Once known as an injury-prone youngster, Myers put that label to bed when he played in 312 games during 2016-17. But the 27-year-old’s propensity for ailments returned this year, as he logged a trio of DL stints for separate injuries and will likely play in fewer than half of the Padres’ games. Myers has been fine from a per-game perspective, logging his typical mediocre batting mark and contributing counting stats at a rate that extrapolate to 26 homers and 21 steals across 155 games played.

Yu Darvish, Starter (Cubs): Busts are usually plentiful among the starting pitcher pool, but this year’s crop of aces was a fairly reliable bunch. However, Darvish stands out among those chosen within the top-15 starters as the one hurler who really let his owners down. The right-hander has already been shut down for the season, having produced unimpressive ratios (4.95 ERA, 1.43 WHIP) during eight starts in his debut year with the Cubs. Overall, Darvish never seemed quite right this year, producing a career-worst 11.7 percent walk rate that is nearly impossible to overcome. Given his massive injury concerns and poor 2018 result.

Corey Knebel, Reliever (Brewers): Although it is hard to believe at this point, Knebel was one of the initial five closers off the board in 2018 drafts. After all, the right-hander had seemingly found a way to overcome his marginal control skills when he posted a 14.9 K/9 rate and a 1.78 ERA a year ago. But Knebel never really got on track this year, landing on the DL after three appearances and continuing to walk batters at an alarming rate upon returning to the closer’s role. Manager Craig Counsell eventually removed Knebel from the ninth inning and made the bold move to option his former fireman to Triple-A.