Have we seen the end of Ichiro Suzuki as a productive fantasy outfielder? I’m going to say no, but we are definitely getting close. Ichiro hit under .300 for the first time in his career (.272) and posted his worst ISO (.064) in 2011. He’s also gone three straight years with fewer than 90 runs scored. That being said, he still stole 40 bases last year, his .295 BABIP was much lower than his career rate (.351) and his xBA (.293) was not the usual .310-plus but undoubtedly better than the .272 we saw. I think Ichiro can get back to hitting .300 with close to 40 steals for at least one more season, but the Mariners offense is so bad these days that 90 runs is unfortunately the best case for him.
Best case scenario: Michael Bourn (ATL) with fewer runs
Similar players: Cameron Maybin (SD), Emilio Bonifacio (MIA), Coco Crisp (OAK)
Worst case scenario: Juan Pierre (PHI)
Strengths
Steals, batting average. Even at 37, Ichiro posted back-to-back 40-steal seasons with an 83.7 perc...
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