Chip Hale predicts big things for David Peralta

1. Chip Hale said on Thursday that he thinks David Peralta will have a breakout season in 2016, something akin to what A.J. Pollock did last year.

“I think he is going to be the guy this year that sort of blossoms like A.J. [Pollock] did last year,” Hale said to Fox Sports. “… He’s a grinder and the way he plays the game — I think one thing baseball fans are starting to get back to and appreciating is the way to play the game and that’s why I think fans do care for our team and do really get into it, because we play the game the right way and we will continue to do that — and David is one of those leaders. His nickname is the ‘Freight Train’ and he plays like a freight train.”

If Hale is right about this, there is no question the Diamondbacks will have one of the best lineups in baseball. Peralta has been trending upward ever since he made his MLB debut as a 26-year-old in 2014. Last year, he batted .312/.371/.522 with 17 home runs and 78 RBI, establishing himself as a viable everyday option.

Advanced analytics  put him ahead of some of the game’s best players. His fWAR of 3.7 last season was higher than Adam Jones, Justin Upton, Adrian Gonzalez and Jose Abreu. His wRC+ of 138 was higher than Kris Bryant, Manny Machado, Yoenis Cespedes and A.J. Pollock.

On a side note, David Peralta is a typical fantasy sleeper. He is ranked 166th overall on Yahoo’s rankings and 57th overall on ESPN’s. He’s very undervalued– especially if you’re playing on Yahoo this year.