Brandon Belt shot up through the Giants' farm system in 2010, hitting for immense power at every level, but his rookie campaign in 2011 was not nearly so memorable. He shuttled between the majors and Triple-A Fresno, and at both levels, Belt was plagued by strikeouts and beset by some mediocre power stats. Inexplicably, when Belt did make contact, he was much more prone to hitting grounders than in the past, especially when he was at the big league level. Belt entered the 2011 season with a track record of strong plate discipline, so it may be a matter of time before he cuts back on both his swinging strikes and ground balls. It's a risk to assume those trends will occur in 2012, but Belt still offers tremendous upside. As a possible starter in either left field or first base, he is worth a flier late in mixed league drafts.
Adam LaRoche hit .172 in 151 at-bats last year, which will immediately turn some Fantasy owners off to him. But the reason he hit only .172 is likely the same reason he had only 151 at-bats. His season ended in late May due to a shoulder injury that eventually required surgery. And it's not like he just injured the shoulder the day before. He knew before the season that he had a torn rotator cuff and labrum, but he opted to play through it. Clearly, that didn't go so well, which was why he decided to pull the plug on his season, but for Fantasy purposes, the damage was done. He didn't live up to the investment that his owners had made in him, and now he's not a player they want. But keep in mind he had seven straight seasons of 20-plus homers prior to last year. That may not be a notable achievement among first basemen, but in leagues that use corner infield and utility spots, it's reason to keep LaRoche on your radar. Granted, he's no guarantee to return to that standard after shoulder surgery, but early reports are good. You can probably pass him over in standard leagues, but you wouldn't want to dismiss his power potential in deeper formats.
After following up a near-MVP performance in 2009 with a miserable 2010, Adam Lind, as you might expect, landed somewhere in the middle last year. Unfortunately, he was closer to the bad end than the good. He still produced an on-base percentage below .300. He still struck out more than three times as often as he walked. He still had nothing to contribute to Fantasy owners other than a decent number of homers. At least, that's what the final numbers say. The splits, however, tell a different story. Think back to the All-Star break, when Lind had just put together a torrid June, convincing the Fantasy-playing world that he had indeed bounced back to his 2009 form. At that point, he was hitting .300 with an .865 OPS. But he hit only .197 the rest of the way. One explanation for the steep decline is that he was hit by a pitch on the wrist in late August and was playing in pain the rest of the way, hitting only .204. Of course, it doesn't explain why he hit only .191 over the previous six weeks. Unfortunately, given the up-and-down season, the jury's still out on Lind. With back-to-back years of disappointing numbers, he's likely no more than a late-rounder on Draft Day, but at that point, you have much more to gain than lose by selecting him.
After a pair of 30-home run seasons in the minors, the Diamondbacks skipped Paul Goldschmidt over Triple-A and called him up from Double-A Mobile in early August. The 24-year-old made a mostly smooth transition, hitting eight home runs in just 47 games. Goldschmidt also continued to do a good job of drawing walks, but a surging strikeout rate kept his batting average down to a .250 clip. While Chase Field is normally generous to hitters, Goldschmidt may still have a difficult time approaching his gaudy minor league numbers. He spent the last two seasons playing in good home-run hitting environments, and he still likely has adjustments to make to major league pitching. If he can become a 30-homer threat with a batting average that is substantially better than league average, Goldschmidt will become a staple of mixed leagues. For now, he is more of an option for owners in NL-only formats.
Justin Smoak got off to a solid start in his first full season with the Mariners but injuries and inconsistent play hindered him. He batted .291 with five homers, 22 RBI and a .524 slugging percentage over his first 30 games before taking a step back. He hit just .216 after that and finished with 15 homers and 55 RBI. A thumb injury cost him playing time in August and he was never able to fully recover. And when he did, he started losing playing time at first base to Mike Carp. Seattle still believes Smoak can be a franchise-type player and will give him every opportunity to succeed. He should be able to reach the 20-homer plateau in 2012, as long as he can stay healthy. If he can bring up his career .227 average, he will be someone to target in the majority of Fantasy formats. He still has some solid potential at age 24, so owners should target Smoak in deeper mixed leagues on Draft Day.
