The Tampa Bay Rays are going through a rebuilding process and Kevin Kiermaier is expected to be a part of that. However, the Rays have struggled to start the season and so has Kiermaier, who is now headed to the disabled list.
Kiermaier seems to be trying too hard at the plate as he has a .163 average to start the season with no home runs and one RBI. However, he injured his thumb sliding into a base and is scheduled to have an MRI done on Monday. This could actually be a good thing for Kiermaier as the Rays are looking to fill the void of offseason moves of Logan Morrison, Corey Dickerson and longtime favorite Evan Longoria. That is a lot of power and RBIs for the Rays to replace and Kiermaier might be trying to do too much. Last year was his best at the plate as Kiermaier hit .276 with 15 home runs and 39 RBIs. A modest improvement might be made on those stats, but Kiermaier is never going to be a 35-home run, 100-RBI type of hitter. His value comes in the field with a pair of Gold Gloves on his resume from 2015 and 2016. In fact, last year was the first time that Kiermaier wasn’t a finalist for the Gold Glove in center field because he played just 98 games due to various injuries.
With Keirmayer struggling right now, he might only impact the Rays betting lines by about 10 cents, according to the oddsmakers at BetDSI. Had he been playing better, he might have had a bigger impact.
There lies the problem with Kiermaier and his value, particularly in fantasy. He has battled a lot of injuries in his career, playing in 108 games in 2014, 105 in 2016 and then 98 last season. Kiermaier is hard on his body and simply might not be able to play enough to reach lofty numbers at the plate. Even when he played 151 games in 2015, he hit .263 with ten home runs and 40 RBIs and even though he has definitely improved at the plate, there isn’t much reason to believe that he’ll ever be a power hitter. That being said, he’ll get every chance when he is healthy while playing for the Rays, who aren’t a good team and it’ll be a surprise if they don’t finish last in the tough American League East.
