8 Mike Moustakas, 3B

If you knew coming into this year that a 24-year-old player who hit .242 with 20 home runs and 73 RBI in 2012 would increase his walk rate significantly while dropping his strikeout rate by over 5 percent, you'd probably draft him a little earlier than usual and expect big things. But this player is Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, and he has found a way to improve most of his peripherals while laying a goose egg in the stats that matter for Fantasy owners. 

Moustakas is hitting .178, with a .183 BABIP (a normal BABIP is around .290-.300). He's walking more, striking out less, and he's hitting ground balls at a lower rate than any time in his career. But he's only getting hits on 14 percent of his ground balls and he's continuing to pop up at a rate of about 18 percent. In short, Moustakas has been very unlucky. 

This is why I'm holding him in all my leagues and waiting for the inevitable turnaround. Moustakas is a very good hitter (let Ned Yost fire you up about it) and it's not like he's wildly swinging at pitches outside of the zone, or failing to show patience at the plate. It's ugly now, but Moustakas will continue to play every day and is due for a major correction in his stats. If you've held on this long to the bad, you might as well continue holding for the inevitable good. 

Royals manager Ned Yost has no plans to give up on struggling third baseman Mike Moustakas, the Kansas City Star reports.

"The kid is going to be fine," Yost told the Star. "Yes, he’s fighting it right now. They’re all fighting it. They want success. They want to bring a championship to Kansas City. At times, the desire to win overwhelms them.

"I’ve been in baseball my whole life. I know which kids are going to work and which kids aren’t. He’s going to work. I’ve seen it too many times. (Being patient) with young guys works. It works."

Heading into Saturday's action, Moustakas has hit .189/.261/.331 with four home runs in 142 plate appearances.

Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas has gone hitless in his last three games.

Moustakas went on a hot streak prior to his mini-slump, hitting a home run in three straight games. Moustakas has since gone 0 for 13 with five strikeouts. He'll look to end the streak against Angels pitcher Jason Vargas Tuesday. Moustakas is hitting .200/.277/.348 in 115 at-bats. 

Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas hit 20 home runs in his breakout 2012 campaign, and Fantasy owners were only expecting more moving forward from the 24-year-old. Thanks to his third home run in as many nights Friday, he is finally starting to look like the borderline No. 1 third baseman that Fantasy owners thought they were getting during the draft.

He is still batting just .228 on the season, but with his low strikeout rate and emerging power, we should definitely expect that to improve moving forward. Moustakas has been hurt by a .226 batting average on balls in play that ranks as the 17th-lowest in the majors this season. If Moustakas' BABIP was even just .277, his career rate, he would be looking much more respectable.

Even given his power surge, I think Moustakas has room to improve moving forward. It might be too late, but Moustakas still seems like the type of player smart Fantasy owners buy low on.