Arozarena is 'one of the most fascinating players'
D.J. Short discusses the Tampa Bay Rays' Randy Arozarena and whether he can continue his impressive play from their playoff run last year and the possibility of him winning ROY.
Video Transcript
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DJ SHORT: Randy Arozarena had his coming-out party during the Rays' World Series run last year, setting postseason records for hits, home runs, and total bases. He hit 10 total homers over 20 playoff games, after having just eight over 42 regular-season games in his career. He's actually still eligible for the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 2021. This makes him one of the most fascinating players in the majors and fantasy leagues this season.
Arozarena obviously can't maintain that torrid pace that he did during the postseason last year, but there's no denying that he hits the ball very hard. And his production didn't come out of nowhere either. Keep in mind that he hit .344 with 15 homers and 17 steals over 92 games between double-A and triple-A in 2019. Yes, that was right before the Cardinals traded him to the Rays. Sorry, Cardinals fans. Arozarena does have some swing-and-miss in his game, so there's some degree of batting-average risk, but the power-speed combo is obviously super-intriguing, and it's not crazy to think he could outdo his average draft position of 54.9 in Yahoo leagues.