What should we do with Jared Walsh in our fantasy baseball lineups? Right now, it is hard to answer any question about the Los Angeles Angels first baseman in a positive manner because to say he has struggled in the second half of this season would be an understatement. Walsh surged up the fantasy baseball rankings in 2021, but this year he has fallen with the same speed in the opposite direction. Some managers have dropped him to the fantasy baseball waiver wire as his rest-of-season MLB projections trend down. Let us take a deeper look into Walsh to see what we have here in the latest fantasy baseball player spotlight. The emphasis with this article will be more on looking ahead to 2023 unless the Angels first baseman truly turns a corner over the next month. 

 

Jared Walsh Fantasy Baseball Player Spotlight

Last season was the first time Walsh truly received consistent playing time and he delivered, hitting .277 in 144 games with 29 home runs, 98 RBI, and 70 runs scored. It was an impressive performance and with a .256 xBA and 28 xHR, things for the most part did appear to be repeatable. At the same time, though, based on some of Walsh’s other metrics, last year's numbers also appeared to be his ceiling. 

Walsh had a solid batted ball profile in 2021 with an 11.3% barrel rate and a 7.8-degree launch angle, but there was also not much upside present. During draft season this year, we were not getting any type of discount on him as he was coming off the board with an ADP of 118 as the eighth first baseman selected. At that price, it could be argued that we almost needed more from Walsh this season than we got in 2021. Instead, things instead went in the opposite direction. 

It is hard to feel good about the overall performance of Walsh to this point as he is hitting .220 with 15 home runs, 44 RBI, and 40 runs scored as of Sunday. That is hardly what we were looking for from the Angels first baseman based on the draft capital required this winter. While we are looking at things in total, Walsh has really fallen off a cliff as of late. 

In 29 games and 101 at-bats in the second half of this season, Walsh is hitting just .168 with only two home runs and three RBI. To be frank, it really takes effort to be that bad. 

So, what is the issue?

Walsh made solid contact last season, but the first baseman really does not stand out from the pack with a decrease in barrel rate to 9.3% that he really could not afford. At the same time, though, Walsh’s average launch angle has increased from 7.8 degrees to 10.6 degrees this season. Neither are generally indicators of high home run totals, but it was hard to argue with the results we saw in that department last season and in the first half of 2022. The increased launch angle is also cancelled out by the decreased barrel rate and, for better or worse, his hard-hit rate and average exit velocity have stayed essentially flat year over year. 

From an approach perspective, things are generally similar. Walsh’s strikeout rate jumped from 26% to 30% with his walk rate decreasing from 8.2% to 5.6% when comparing 2021 to 2022. For someone who is not a power hitter, it is not ideal to see his fly ball rate increase from 29.6% to 36.3% with the offset spread equally between his line drive and ground ball rates. If we are going to really look for a warning sign, it would be his 45.7% ground ball rate. 

At the plate, Walsh’s OSwing has stayed essentially flat (33.4% compared to 34.4%) and the same can be said with his Swing% (49.1% vs. 49%) – while he did have a slight dip in his contact rate (77% to 75.2%). 

Last season, we saw the absolute best Walsh has to offer. In the second half of this year thus far, we are now seeing the absolute worst. From a long-term perspective, Walsh still has ability as a solid first baseman who will likely be a value pick next year as a corner infield option. Still, I would not be especially bullish on him. For the purposes of the remainder of this season, Walsh is best left on the waiver wire unless his performance dictates otherwise. 

 

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