Justin Bour

Bour's strong 2017 now looks like an aberration after his numbers fell across the board last season. His ISO fell 70 points to an unremarkable .177, while his slash line dropped from .289/.366/.536 to .227/.341/.404. He looks like nothing more than a platoon first baseman, with a solid 123 wRC+ against righties to go along with an ugly 68 mark against lefties, and the Marlins didn't hesitate to unload him at the trade deadline on a Phillies team looking for some extra power off its bench. Bour landed in what looks like a favorable playing-time situation with the Angels and is just good enough to be a fine budget bat for fantasy rosters.

Marlins Park is a pitcher's park, right? Someone should tell Bour this because it seems he does not believe it to be so. He is just one of seven first baseman to have an ISO (slugging minus batting average) of at least .200 in each of the past three seasons, joining the likes of Joey Votto, Anthony Rizzo and Edwin Encarnacion to name a few. A look at his batted-ball profile shows a hitter who has increased his hard-hit rate three consecutive seasons (to 38.8 percent last year) and his 2017 power surge saw one of every four flyballs he hit leave the yard. Bour does most of his damage against righties, but has also been getting progressively better against lefties as his batting average against them has improved by 20 points in each of the past two seasons. The only issue with Bour is who is he going to drive in if Derek Jeter and company sell off the roster for yet another rebuild in Miami.

A preseason favorite of many to build on his breakout 2015 campaign, Bour was headed in that direction before an ankle injury forced him to the disabled list in early July. At the time, he had slugged 15 homers, pacing past the previous season's 23. Bour was activated in early September, appearing in 22 more contests but failed to add onto his homer total. In fact, he swatted only three extra-base hits in the last month. The lefty has slugged all 38 of his home runs off righty throwers the last two seasons, which largely explains why he's strictly a platoon player. Keep in mind that the right field fences in Marlins Park were brought in and lowered prior to the 2016 season. The venue still depresses lefty power but not to the same extent as before. Bour should again be a target for those looking for cheap power at corner or utility without dampening batting average.

Finally given a chance at age 27, Bour gave the Marlins about 129 games of a league-average first base bat. He doesn't make much contact, and his eye is average at best, but Bour can put a charge in one as evidenced by his 23 home runs (10 at Marlins Park) — an impressive number, especially for a guy who was a 25th round pick in 2009. Bour showed similar power at every level of the minor leagues, and at 27, he should have a few years of peak power production left in him. Unfortunately for fantasy owners, because Bour plays in one of the worst possible parks for a power hitter, any significant growth to the power numbers seems unlikely. He should once again contribute middling production in batting average and below-average runs scored, but there is the potential for him to easily top the 73 RBI he posted last year if Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton can stay healthy in front of him in the lineup.

Despite his status as just a mid-level prospect in a healthy Miami farm system, Bour put his power on display at Triple-A New Orleans during his age-26 season, slashing .306/.372/.517 with 18 home runs, 27 doubles and 72 RBI in 103 games in the minors. The left-handed first baseman showed well during a brief stint with the big club down the stretch, batting .284 with a solid .361 OBP over 74 at-bats. Miami deployed a disappointing platoon of veterans at first base led by Garrett Jones and could benefit from an injection of youth at the position as they continue to hand over the keys to their success to a stable of up-and-coming talent. Bour possesses solid plate discipline, posting a 10.8% walk rate during his first exposure to major league pitching while striking out 22.9% of the time, and he showed more than enough to earn a long look in spring training. Matching the power numbers Bour posted in the hitter friendly PCL last season may be a stretch while making the move to spacious Marlins Park, but a solid batting eye and gap-to-gap power will keep him productive if given at-bats. He'll likely fill a reserve role for the Marlins following the addition of Mike Morse.