Paulo Orlando

Last season turned out to be a mess for Orlando. On the heels of a strong 2016 campaign, the 32-year-old began the year on the major-league roster. This didn't last long, however, as he was relegated to the minors after a dreadful start at the plate. Orlando fractured his shin on a foul ball shortly thereafter, sidelining him from regular action for a majority of the season. He wasn't able to return in full until late August, but by that time he had virtually no time to contribute meaningfully to the major-league team. In the past, Orlando flashed good contact ability and decent base-stealing skills. With Lorenzo Cain now out of the picture, Orlando may have one more shot to retain a regular role in the Royals' outfield. He needs to focus on getting on base.

After eight-plus years on the farm, Orlando finally saw time in the bigs in 2015, playing well enough to be in the Royals' picture in 2016, especially since injuries availed playing time opportunities early in the season. Orlando parlayed a strong April and May into near regular playing time the rest of the summer, ending the season with a fantasy-friendly .302 batting average with a handful of homers and some steals. While a breakthrough season at age 30 is a nice story, a repeat is highly questionable. Orlando's success was propped by an unsustainable .380 BABIP, completely unsupported by an average line-drive rate and low hard-hit percentage, gaining about 15 more groundball hits than expected as compared to league BABIP on grounders. Considering Orlando's paucity of counting stats, impending batting average correction and uncertain playing time entering the season, he's reserve fodder at best for mixed leagues and a back-end outfielder for AL-only, so long as you aren't paying for last year's seeing-eye grounders.

Orlando had been stuck in the upper levels for the Kansas City farm system from 2010-2014, but finally cracked the major league roster as a 29-year-old rookie. Orlando’s name was known to fans for his performances on the basepaths in spring training, but that never translated to a shot in the majors. His value to the team was tough to measure statistically because his overall line was not impressive, but he made key plays with his legs, his glove, and his bat. That said, there’s no upside to his skill-set and there is a reason he spent so many years in Wichita and Omaha. Despite his speed and stolen base totals in the minors, he swiped only three bases in the majors, and his impatience at the plate is likely to leave him as more of a fan favorite than a fantasy one. That said, he will get the chance to be the starting right fielder for the first few weeks of the season as Jarrod Dyson is expected to open the year on the DL with an oblique injury. If he performs well early on he could work himself into a time share for the rest of the season.