Mitch Moreland News

Mitch Moreland

35-Year-Old First Baseman1B

Oakland Athletics

2020 Stats

AVG

.265

RBI

2021 Projections

AVG

RBI

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2021 Fantasy Outlook

Moreland was on track for a career year as a member of the Red Sox, posting a .328/.430./746 slash line, registering a 135 wRC+ and mashing eight home runs in 79 plate appearances. The performance caught the attention of the Padres, who acquired the first baseman at the trade deadline. However, Moreland's numbers took a dive with San Diego, as he hit only .203 with two homers in 20 games. The veteran still posted a .287 ISO overall, though as usual he did almost all of his damage against right-handers, collecting only six hits (including one homer) in 25 at-bats against southpaws. Moreland's 14.4% barrel rate suggests he's still capable of getting to 20 homers in a full season, and a big-league job should be attainable even if there is no universal DH. Still, his platoon role and advancing age (he'll be 35 on Opening Day) make him no more than a late-round filler in deep leagues. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

#552

ADP

Overall

League Majors

Bats L

Throws L

40 Man Yes

Height 6'3"

Weight 245

DOB 9/6/1985

Born Amory, MS

College Mississippi State

Drafted 17th Rd 2007 TEX

Heads to Oakland

1BOakland Athletics

February 18, 2021

Moreland signed a one-year, $2.25 million deal with Oakland on Thursday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.

ANALYSIS
The 35-year-old is at the stage of his career where his numbers should be falling off, but he's managed to defy aging in recent seasons. His 110 wRC+ over the last three seasons is better than his 98 mark over his first eight, and he's coming off a year in which he homered 10 times in 42 games while slashing .265/.342/.551. He's joined a team that has another left-handed first baseman (Matt Olson) seemingly locked into a starting role, so he'll probably find himself fighting for time at the designated hitter spot, where he should be a favorite to start against righties.

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Batting Stats

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2020

2019

2018

2017

2020 MLB Game Log

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2019 MLB Game Log

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2018 MLB Game Log

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2017 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2018

+31%

OPS vs RHP

2020

+57%

OPS vs RHP

2019

+48%

OPS vs RHP

2018

+14%

OPS vs RHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2018vs Left	.649	190	23	4	24	0	.227	.295	.355
Since 2018vs Right	.852	743	104	40	129	3	.257	.338	.514
2020vs Left	.628	25	1	1	3	0	.217	.280	.348
2020vs Right	.983	114	21	9	24	0	.277	.360	.624
2019vs Left	.598	60	9	1	7	0	.204	.283	.315
2019vs Right	.887	275	39	18	51	1	.262	.338	.549
2018vs Left	.684	105	13	2	14	0	.242	.305	.379
2018vs Right	.780	354	44	13	54	2	.246	.331	.450
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Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2018

+9%

OPS at Home

2020

+5%

OPS at Home

2019

+3%

OPS on Road

2018

+21%

OPS at Home

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2018Home	.841	474	66	20	75	2	.264	.338	.504
Since 2018Away	.773	472	61	24	80	1	.237	.320	.453
2020Home	.912	84	14	6	16	0	.263	.333	.579
2020Away	.870	68	8	4	13	0	.267	.353	.517
2019Home	.823	156	22	8	29	0	.248	.327	.496
2019Away	.845	179	26	11	29	1	.255	.330	.516
2018Home	.827	234	30	6	30	2	.274	.346	.481
2018Away	.685	225	27	9	38	0	.214	.302	.383
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Stat Review

How does Mitch Moreland compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.

BB/K

0.47

BB Rate

9.9%

K Rate

21.1%

BABIP

.277

ISO

.287

AVG

.265

OBP

.342

SLG

.551

OPS

.894

wOBA

.386

Exit Velocity

82.0 mph

Hard Hit Rate

32.7%

Barrels/PA

9.9%

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

Games By Position

Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Mitch Moreland

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13 days ago

Jeff Erickson ranks the players at each position for the 2021 RotoWire Fantasy Baseball Guide.

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134 days ago

Jason Collette examines the impact of the Universal DH on this year's 60-game National League season and whether we're likely to see it again next year.

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142 days ago

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DraftKings MLB: Thursday Breakdown

146 days ago

Christopher Olson tees up Thursday’s five-game playoff slate, turning to an A’s stack in the deciding Game 3 against the White Sox.

Past Fantasy Outlooks

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

Moreland was on pace to shatter his career high in homers but lost almost two months with a pair of IL stints. The first was in late May for a sore back. After a short stay, Moreland returned for one game before injuring his quad, sending him back to the IL. This visit was longer, just over six weeks. The injuries interrupted Moreland's best season in Boston, as his .347 wOBA and 112 wRC+ were his best since 2015 in Texas. Moreland's platoon splits were even more exaggerated than usual as be slugged 18 of his 19 homers against right-handed pitching. Perhaps a result of the health woes, Moreland's defense, especially range, plummeted. The 34-year-old first baseman can still be a productive bat on the strong side of a platoon, but age is catching up and Moreland can't be counted on for the usual 500 plate appearances garnered by most left-handed platoon bats.

Mitchie Two-Bags nearly replicated his 2017 slash line in 2018, and despite drops in home runs and run production, finished right at the league average offensively. Moreland's .245/.325/.433 line is a lesson in the new reality of offense in baseball, as 2018 saw the first drop in overall power production we have seen in the league since the 2014 season. Fifteen homers became the new 20 in 2018 and Moreland was perfectly average when he was up there doing nearly all of his damage against righties. Moreland remains rather useless against lefties, and Boston left him on the bench against them more often than not. Expect more of the same this season. Moreland has one more year on his deal and the Red Sox seem perfectly fine with his average production near the bottom of their loaded lineup. There is no upside left here, but if you are looking for 15 homers and 120 runs-plus-RBI, this is your guy.

There was a lot of excitement around "Mitchy Twobags" coming to Boston to do the thankless job of replacing David Ortiz in the lineup. Moreland came into town and had a typical Moreland season with a low 20s home-run total, but did enjoy the AL East enough to set a career-high mark in doubles with 34. 2016 saw him be somewhat serviceable against lefties, while 2017 proved that was more of a one-year blip (.684 OPS against southpaws last year). His season ended with knee troubles, but he passed a physical and re-signed on a two-year, $13 million deal with the Red Sox. He will be tasked once again with starting at first base against righties and the occassional lefty, so expect more of the same.

Moreland launched 20-plus homers for the third time in four seasons yet also posted one of his lowest averages on balls in play (.266), which crippled his batting average. He was relegated to the middle or bottom third of the lineup most of year, causing his RBI total to drop as well. Persistently high strikeout rates and low walk percentages make him an annual risk with plate discipline. On the plus side, he hits the ball hard and has a career 15.2 HR/FB, which backs up his ability to leave the yard at a more than acceptable rate. Though he enjoyed his career-best batting average against left-handed pitching last year, it's unlikely that he'll see frequent exposure to southpaws. Moreland should provide cheap power and a good number of RBI again in 2017, but this time with a new supporting cast after he signed with Boston in December.

Moreland rebounded nicely from an injury-shortened 2014 season to post his best season to date, smacking 23 homers and driving in 85 runs while hitting a career-best .278. Moreland's success was even more impressive when considering his pedestrian home numbers (.414 slugging, nine homers) against his solid road production (.555 slugging, 14 homers), though it should be noted that Texas isn't near the hitters' park now then it was as recently as a few years back. Moreland's BABIP of .321 was in line with his career norms aside from a blip in 2013, though he continues to struggle against left-handed pitching (.681 OPS vs LHP, .876 vs RHP). He's already 30 years old, despite being a lineup regular for just five years, so there's not much upside here beyond what we've already seen. He's a good bet for another solid season in the middle of the Texas order.

Moreland played for Texas last year, so you know how this story goes. He tried to play through a bum ankle and was not able to do so and ended up having season-ending surgery in mid-June. Moreland is a 29-year-old who cannot hit lefties, but hits for average and power while facing righties. Despite his splits, he does have power to all fields, so he is not necessarily a product of hitting in Texas. Despite the power potential, he has only once eclipsed 20 homers and has only twice driven in more than 50 runs. Moreland has just two seasons of at least 500 plate appearances. Mixed leaguers can speculate on him for an endgame play, but he does not play or produce enough to achieve more. If the Rangers give him 550 or more plate appearances, it will be a drag on his batting average.

Moreland eclipsed the 20-homer mark for the first time, but his poor .232/.299/.437 line left a lot to be desired. The plate approach shown in a brief trial back in 2010 (25:35 BB:K in 145 at-bats) is a distant memory now, and his second-half collapse (.183/.273/.366 in 191 at-bats) undoubtedly played a role in Texas' acquisition of Prince Fielder to address the lack of production at first base. Already 28 years old, it's unlikely that there's a large step forward for Moreland. He could retain value in some formats just by stepping to the plate 500 times a year in a good hitters' park, but the opportunity to do that is further limited following the trade for Fielder. Moreland has some limited experience in the outfield, though it remains to be seen if that will be a lineup option once spring rolls around.

Moreland provided some pop in the bottom half of the Texas order in 2012, swatting 18 doubles and 15 homers in just 327 at-bats. The plate discipline he showed back in 2010 is a distant memory now, perhaps in an effort to do the most with his limited playing time. He battled for playing time with Michael Young and Mike Napoli for all of 2012, so he has a good chance at a starting job with those veterans elsewhere. There's a 20-homer season, likely on the cheap, waiting for him if he can get 500 at-bats.

Moreland failed to build upon a decent 2010 debut (and a particularly solid 2010 postseason), hitting just .259/.320/.414. His post-break numbers (.241/.300/.367) were poor, though he remained a semi-regular presence in the Texas lineup despite his fade. He underwent surgery in the offseason to alleviate some wrist/hand issues that should have him healthy in plenty of time for the start of exhibition play, but his struggles at the plate have led to rumors that Texas may address the first-base position via free agency over the winter.

Moreland gave Texas a nice late-season boost at first base, posting a solid .255/.364/.469 line in 145 at-bats before cementing himself as the first baseman for 2011 with a solid postseason. He was misused down in the Rangers' lineup when he played, a situation that will likely repeat itself with the top six spots pretty well locked down. He should be entering his power peak having just turned 25 years old, and could post a nice season hitting behind Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler.

More Fantasy News

Friars decline 2021 option

1BFree Agent

November 1, 2020

The Padres declined Moreland's $3 million club option for 2021 on Sunday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.