Ben Zobrist

2013

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2012

Zobrist put together a stellar 2011 campaign for fantasy owners, finishing one stolen base from a 20-20 season. The 20 home runs proved that the 27 he hit in 2009 were not an anomaly and he's now stolen between 17-24 bags the last three seasons showing some consistency. One of the red flags that comes up when looking at last season's stats was his plate discipline as his strikeout rate increased almost three percent while his walk rate dropped almost three percent. The trade-off for those stats was he hit for more power; his 46 doubles were 18 more than each of the previous two seasons. Zobrist will likely resume his spot near the top of the lineup in the batting order and is penciled in to be the everyday second baseman although he likely has outfield eligibility as well from the 2011 season. Once the top tier second basemen are off the board, snag "Zorilla" who can contribute across the board in fantasy leagues.

2011

After a breakout season in 2009, owners expected much better numbers from Zobrist last season. He hit 17 fewer home runs and lost 59 points from his batting average, though he converted 24-for-27 stolen base attempts. This shouldn't come as too much of a shock considering he came out of nowhere in 2009 at age 28 to post that breakout year. Last season's decline may be the result of fatigue after playing in 152 games in 2009 and playing in only 178 games between 2007 and 2008. Zobrist saw most of his time in the outfield last season and could be used all over the field following the departure of a few of the veteran players. He's a virtual lock for 500 plate appearances no matter where he is in the field and should be able to rebound somewhat in the power department.

2010

Zobrist had a breakout season last year and ended up finishing eighth in MVP voting. He hit 27 home runs, drove in 91 runs, and stole 17 bases while hitting .297. The trade of Akinori Iwamura opens up the starting second-base job for Zobrist, who should see even more at-bats this season. The Rays could also elect to give Sean Rodriguez the job at second and give Zobrist right-field duties, but he'll enter 2010 with multi-position eligibility (second, shortstop and outfield). Expecting similar numbers from the 29-year-old this season isn't out of the question with consistent playing time, but some regression should be expected after his power fell off a bit after the All-Star break (.478 SLG after a .632 mark in the first half).

2009

Zobrist's versatility was extremely useful for the Rays, and he provided a lot of power out of less than 200 at-bats (indeed, only Evan Longoria posted a higher slugging average than Zobrist on Tampa Bay's roster last year). He'll return in a super-utility role in 2009, and he'll be of use in medium and deep AL leagues.

2008

Zobrist started the year as the everyday shortstop, but soon fell into a slump and lost the job to Brendan Harris. Zobrist never returned to action after going on the DL (oblique) in mid-August, but he'll be ready come spring training. However, with Jason Bartlett now on the club, Zobrist likely is only competing for a utility role this spring.

2007

Zobrist came over from Houston in the Aubrey Huff deal and was promoted from Double-A to the majors just weeks later. He's got a very steady glove at short, enough that the Rays are no longer keeping B.J. Upton at shortstop. Still, Zobrist has to hit better to keep a job long-term in the bigs. He had great on-base and doubles numbers in the minors, so that could show up at the major league level in the next year or two.

2006

His ridiculous OBPs and walk rates at lower levels haven't been enough to get Zobrist rated highly, owing to his lack of tools. In fairness, players whose primary asset is plate discipline in A ball often fall by the wayside (Jackie Rexrode being the canonical example). Zobrist has no power, and as nice as the OBPs are, will likely hit a wall at higher levels.