MLB 2011 Fantasy Baseball Profile: Can Danny Espinosa Deliver?

In Spanish, the word Espinosa means thorny. A rose is thorny. Danny Espinosa is much like a rose. He can be a thing or beauty for his fantasy owners, or he can be downright painful.

Espinosa hit .214 in his brief taste with the Nationals last year, picking up 22 hits in 103 at-bats. Of those 22 hits, half of them went for extra bases (four doubles, a triple, six home runs) to give him a solid .723 OPS. He also struck out 30 times. That’s a strikeout every 3.4 at bats. He also was caught stealing in both of his attempts. It seems his cup of coffee was more about the thorn than the rose.

He has potential though. The California native hit .303 in his three years at Long Beach State and was selected in the third round with the 87th overall pick by the Nationals. He displayed a nice power/speed combo for Single-A+ Potomoc with 18 HR and 29 SB in 2009.

His jump to Double-A Harrisburg was smooth as he hit 18 HR again with 20 SB. Espinosa then had 28 hits in 95 at bats for Triple-A Syracuse, before getting the call to the bigs.

Espinosa should have no trouble beginning the season as the Nationals’ starting second basemen. He should form a double-play combo with Ian Desmond for many years to come. He’s not a player to consider as a starting fantasy second baseman, but he could provide bench depth or be used in the middle infielder slot in deeper leagues.

His average draft position, according to Mock Draft Central, is 331. Odds are he’ll go undrafted in your league. That’s fine. Just keep an eye on him. If he starts off hot, he could be a sneaky power source.

Click here to enter the 2011 Fantasy Baseball Team Name Contest

Also check out:

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

User login

Who's online

MLB 2011 Fantasy Baseball Profile: Can Danny Espinosa Deliver?

Poll

Recent blog posts

Featured Sponsors