Will Billy Butler Blow Up in 2010?

Billy Butler hit .301 with 21 HRs and 93 RBI last year. Was that just the tip of the iceberg?  

While I don’t see the soon-to-be 24- year-old cranking out 30+ HRs and 120 RBI, I think he continues to progress.

His first half resembled what he has done for most of his career, hitting .290 with 8 HRs , 38 RBI, and a .789 OPS.

Solid numbers, but nothing that would make fantasy owners drool.

Then came his second half where Billy hit .314 with 13 HRs, 55 RBI, and a .925 OPS. All of the sudden he has fantasy owners clamoring for him.

That and his newfound ability to hit righties. In his first two years, he hit .272, .715 OPS and .244, .597 OPS. Last year, however, he made great strides hitting .289, .805 OPS.

Suddenly, Butler is a complete hitter.

Though he’s not a big name, I wouldn’t mind having him as my No. 1 fantasy first baseman (click to see 1B rankings ).

Prediction:  .310,  90 runs, 25 HRs, 105 RBI, 2 SBs

Past profiles

Arizona Diamondbacks:  Brandon Webb
Atlanta Braves: Yunel Escobar
Baltimore Orioles:  Adam Jones
Boston Red Sox:  Clay Buchholz
Chicago Cubs:  Geovany Soto
Chicago White Sox:  Jake Peavy
Cincinnati Reds:  Joey Votto  
Cleveland Indians:  Grady Sizemore
Colorado Rockies: Ubaldo Jimenez
Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera
Florida Marlins: Cameron Maybin
Houston Astros: Lance Berkman


Originally published at LestersLegends.com .