Nelson Cruz Player Projection No. 40

Key Stats: Nelson Cruz has been ranked in the top 90 for three straight years at Yahoo, but has not gotten higher than 73rd on the player rater. His power is up there with the best sluggers in the game as we saw last October when he belted 8 home runs in only 62 post-season at-bats. This year he will likely raise his average as his BABIP last season was just .288. Bill James projects that he will have a .312 BABIP this season. Skeptics Say: Cruz has missed an average of 42 games per season the last three years. He’s been placed on the DL six times and the injuries are always related to the same problems – his hamstring and quadriceps muscles. This is a clear case of a player that won’t bounce back 100% from an injury that has haunted him in the past. Understand that drafting Cruz means you will want to watch out for other injury risks out of fear for clogging up the DL spots (if your league uses a max number of DL spots). Also, keep an eye on Cruz as a base stealer. Last year he on...