Marlon Byrd has been producing at the plate for the Phillies this year.
Analysis: The twelve year veteran has homered in consecutive games and now has 4 bombs this season. Last year Byrd set a career high in home runs with 24 as a thirty-five/six year old. However, the home runs are not Byrd’s biggest asset. Byrd has 20 runs batted in thus far which is 15th in all of baseball. We may be early in the season but he is on track for 100 plus ribbies which is not a stretch considering he is hitting behind high OBP guys like Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.
Byrd’s strikeout rate of 28% this year is a bit of a concern but over the last year he’s been hacking a lot more in search of the long ball. His swing percentage is at an all time high(58%) and his contact rate is at an all time low(72%). It appears at the advanced age of thirty-five/thirty-six that Byrd has successfully transitioned from a respectable major league hitter to a slugger.
Marlon Byrd is available in 50-65% of fantasy leagues.