Unowned
Stuart Fairchild, OF
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Scouting report
Fairchild's been able to hit the ball in the air more consistently as his swing's lower half usage has become more athletic over time. Once extremely stationary, he now has a slow, but small leg kick and is loading his hands deeper than he was while first with the Reds. His groundball rate has dropped from 50% during his first pro season, to 40% during the first half of 2018, to the 30-37% range in the three half-seasons since then, and somehow his strikeout rate dropped all the way to 12% during his 2019 six-week stint at Double-A Chattanooga. Those trends caused me to 40+ FV Fairchild last year, as it seemed he had a shot to have a 2020 breakout, but continued looks have me skeptical about his ability to handle offspeed and breaking stuff. Fairchild's still got big league quality pop/defensive ability in center field, but he's likely a part-time player suited to face lefties and guys who throw lots of fastballs. (Alternate site, Fall Instructional League)