Santiago Espinal

Santiago Espinal

30-Year-Old Third Baseman3B
Cincinnati Reds
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Espinal is one of those players who is much more useful to a real baseball manager than he is to a fantasy manager. Espinal offers John Schneider someone who can play three positions on the infield as well as a high-contact hitter for situational hitting opportunities as they are presented. Those things are not valued as much in fantasy where Espinal's lack of power and speed limit his production to what he can do with batting average. Life was good in 2021 when he was a surprising .311 hitter but that has faded each of the past two seasons as the BABIP luck dragons have stopped fighting for him and are now working against him. The dual position eligibility is helpful on AL-Only draft days in the end game, but there is no fantasy upside hiding in the weeds here. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season
From Preseason
#596
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $2.73 million contract with the Blue Jays in January of 2024. Traded to the Reds in March of 2024.
Inks deal with Cincy
3BCincinnati Reds
November 22, 2024
Espinal and the Reds agreed to a one-year, $2.4 million contract Friday to avoid arbitration, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
ANALYSIS
Espinal was traded from the Blue Jays to the Reds in March and had a .246/.295/.356 slash line with nine home runs and 11 steals in 118 games during 2024. He should fill a utility role for Cincinnati again in 2025.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
12
14
25
9
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
4
13
12
5
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+26%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+49%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+4%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+28%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .776 375 46 10 55 6 .281 .341 .434
Since 2022vs Right .615 761 67 8 66 13 .244 .295 .321
2024vs Left .835 131 16 6 24 5 .289 .344 .491
2024vs Right .562 260 16 3 21 6 .226 .270 .292
2023vs Left .657 116 14 1 16 0 .252 .302 .355
2023vs Right .633 138 16 1 9 2 .244 .316 .317
2022vs Left .826 128 16 3 15 1 .301 .375 .451
2022vs Right .646 363 35 4 36 5 .256 .304 .342
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+14%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+24%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+5%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+13%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .711 576 56 10 67 11 .278 .326 .386
Since 2022Away .621 560 57 8 54 8 .233 .294 .327
2024Home .720 199 20 6 25 7 .264 .321 .399
2024Away .580 192 12 3 20 4 .229 .267 .313
2023Home .658 145 16 1 16 2 .263 .313 .346
2023Away .625 109 14 1 9 0 .227 .306 .320
2022Home .737 232 20 3 26 2 .298 .338 .399
2022Away .651 259 31 4 25 4 .238 .309 .342
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Santiago Espinal compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.44
 
BB Rate
6.1%
 
K Rate
13.8%
 
BABIP
.265
 
ISO
.109
 
AVG
.246
 
OBP
.295
 
SLG
.356
 
OPS
.650
 
wOBA
.288
 
Exit Velocity
85.9 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
21.2%
 
Barrels/PA
1.5%
 
Expected BA
.258
 
Expected SLG
.344
 
Sprint Speed
22.9 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
38.8%
 
Line Drive %
24.4%
 
Fly Ball %
36.8%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Santiago Espinal See More
Lineup Lowdown: National League
60 days ago
Ozzie Albies has temporarily given up switch hitting after returning from a broken left hand, but he's Atlanta's No. 2 hitter against both righties and lefties nonetheless.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Last Ups
63 days ago
Ryan McMahon and the Rockies finish the season with six straight home games.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: The Playoff Push
70 days ago
Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers are one of 14 teams with a seven-game schedule from September 16-22. Todd Zola highlights the matchups and unveils his weekly hitter rankings.
Sorare MLB: Upgrades, Holds and Downgrades
72 days ago
Jacob deGrom returns from Tommy John surgery this week, but don't be so quick to assume he can help your team right away in the final weeks of 2024.
NL FAAB Factor: Waiver Wire for the Week
76 days ago
This week's set of National League pickup recommendations includes DL Hall, who was recently recalled by the Brewers.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
Espinal was projected to be a utility player for Toronto, but the club had to pull the plug on the Cavan Biggio project and Espinal rewarded the club's investment into him with strong defense and timely hitting around its more well-known thumpers. Espinal did not do any one thing well from a fantasy perspective, but the batting average did not hurt, the six steals helped, and 50+ runs and RBI's for a player that could play three spots in season and was an end-game selection in AL-only formats was nice to have. He only has multi-eligbility in leagues where 10 games is enough to qualify, but is likely to once again have in-season flexibility even if he is hitting 9th in this talented lineup with little offensive upside.
The 27-year-old hit a surprising .311 with two homers and six steals over 222 at-bats last year, and Espinal heads into Opening Day as the Blue Jays' top infield utility player. Cavan Biggio is hardly a lock to keep the starting second base job, however, and if his 2021 struggles continue, Espinal could once again get more playing time than expected.
The expanded roster and a pre-season injury to Brandon Drury gave Espinal an opening to make his major-league debut in 2020. Bo Bichette's knee injury further allowed Espinal to make 21 appearances at shortstop, as well as a few games at third base. That versatility is Espinal's calling card, as he's appeared at every position besides right field, first base and catcher during his career. He'll need that defensive versatility to stick in the big leagues, as he offers a contact-heavy profile with very little else at the plate. As the Blue Jays' roster currently stands, Espinal would have the chance to start at either second or third base, though it's been rumored that the team is in the market for infield help. Espinal would be the first to lose his job in that scenario, and even if he enters the season as a starter along the infield, he's unlikely to meaningfully contribute in any offensive category.
More Fantasy News
Fills in at second base
3BCincinnati Reds
September 26, 2024
Espinal started at second base and went 1-for-3 in Wednesday's 5-2 loss to Cleveland.
ANALYSIS
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Absent from lineup
3BCincinnati Reds
September 20, 2024
Espinal is not in the lineup for Friday's contest versus the Pirates.
ANALYSIS
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Slides to second base
3BCincinnati Reds
September 10, 2024
Espinal started at second base and went 0-for-4 in Monday's 1-0 win over Atlanta.
ANALYSIS
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Getting call at third base
3BCincinnati Reds
September 4, 2024
Espinal will start at third base and bat eighth in Wednesday's contest against the Astros.
ANALYSIS
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Two RBI, stolen base in win
3BCincinnati Reds
September 2, 2024
Espinal went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a stolen base in Monday's 5-3 win against the Astros.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Could end up on IL
3BToronto Blue Jays
May 21, 2023
Espinal is being evaluated and could be placed on the injured list, Mike Wilner of the Toronto Star reports.
ANALYSIS
Espinal exited Saturday's loss to the Orioles in the eighth inning after injuring his hamstring, and he could be set for an extended absence. Otto Lopez was added to the taxi squad Sunday, and he would likely replace Espinal on the active roster if Espinal ends up on the IL.
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