Delino DeShields Jr traveled an interesting path before surfacing as an everyday outfielder for the Texas Rangers. He shares his memorable name with his father who stole 463 bases over the course of 13 Major League seasons. The Astros made Jr. the eighth overall pick in the 2010 draft, the same class that saw Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Matt Harvey selected in the top-10. DeShields spent his first four seasons below the Double-A level where he stole a ton of bases but failed to show signs of a future big leaguer at the plate. Aside from his famous name, the peak of his notoriety came in 2014 when his picture surfaced after being hit in the face by a 90 MPH fastball.
The Astros organization showed their lack of faith in DeShields when they left him unprotected before the most recent Rule-5 Draft. The Rangers grabbed him with the third pick in the first round which requires them to keep him on their active roster or surrender him back to Houston.
DeShields showed enough promise in Spring Training to warrant a spot on the Opening Day roster and got a hit in his first big league plate appearance against Oakland. This proved to be a sign of things to come as DeShields has emerged as a dynamic player that the Rangers’ desperately needed.
DeShields’ main attraction has continued to be his speed, as he’s already stolen 10 bases in 11 attempts on the young season. When looking back over the course of his professional career, he has a success rate of 80% over the course of his 217 swipes. The way that the numbers break down indicate that DeShields has stolen a base roughly 1/3 of the times he’s reached base since 2012 (the disclaimer being that the stats don’t indicate when he’s stolen 2nd and 3rd on the same trip).
DeShields has always excelled on the base path, the problem for him has been getting to first. Good coaching and/or development of a still-only-22-year-old ballplayer have resulted in an improved walk rate in each of the last three seasons. DeShields’ went from walking 10.7% of the time in 2013 to 12% in 2014. So far in 2015, his walk rate is up to 17.6% which has helped him on his way to a .405 OBP. When a guy like DeShields is getting to first 40% of the time, with his speed, good things will follow. With his lack of pop, a walk that creates a stolen base opportunity is his most valuable result at the plate for his DraftKings owners.
When he does swing the bat, DeShields has been efficient and making the type of contact that favors his skills. Among players with 70+ at-bats, he qualifies in the top-10 in lowest swing% (36.4%) and GB% (61%). The low swing percentage and O-Swing% (percentage of swings at pitches outside the strike zone) demonstrates a newfound discipline that has coincided with his improved approach at the plate. The low groundball percentage has resulted in a BABIP of .378 and DeShields is the type of player that can sustain an unusually high BABIP due to his lightning quickness.
According to Fantasy Labs metrics, stolen bases have shown to be more reliable than home runs. The top five base stealers in 2015 (Hamilton, Altuve, Ellsbury, Gordon and DeShields) have an average consistency rating of 51.6% while the top five home run hitters (Cruz, Harper, Frazier, Stanton and Teixeira) have combined for a 43.2% rating.
The speed of DeShields plays perfectly into DraftKings heavy emphasis on stolen bases. As a result, he has compiled an astounding DraftKings resume with both consistency (62% consistency) and upside (25% breakout rating). Fantasy Labs Trends indicates that the only four players with a combination of season consistency > 50% and upside >25% are DeShields, Kris Bryant, Alex Guerrero and Justin Turner.
DeShields’ DraftKings salary has consistently come in between $3,400 and $3,700 over the last 15 games which is a steal for a player that bats 2nd in the order and offers a skill-set that’s designed for DFS success.
