Leody Taveras

Leody Taveras

26-Year-Old OutfielderOF
Texas Rangers
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Taveras has been on the fantasy periphery for awhile, but 2023 was the first time we have seen the production begin to match the hype. The 25-year old outfielder finished the season with a palindromic 14 homers, 67 runs, 67 RBIs, and 14 steals over 143 games. The switch hitter continued to do most of his damage from the left side hitting 12 of those 14 homers off righties and hitting 34 points better against them than southpaws. Taveras' season was most frontloaded as he struggled after the break dealing with hand soreness and hit just .233 with four homers after the break. His defense and baserunning keep him in the lineup nearly everyday as long as his body holds up, but his spot in the lineup is what ultimately limits his upside as he should once again hit in the lower third of the lineup. His 2023 is very repeatable and a 20-20 season is possible should Bochy decide to leverage the running game more often in 2024. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#294
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $2.55 million contract with the Rangers in January of 2024.
Idle Friday
OFTexas Rangers
September 27, 2024
Taveras isn't in the Rangers' lineup Friday against the Angels.
ANALYSIS
Taveras hasn't fared well against southpaws this season, putting up a .520 OPS in 101 plate appearances versus lefties, so he'll grab a seat on the bench Friday against Reid Detmers and the Halos. Wyatt Langford will shift to center field as a result, putting Ezequiel Duran in left while Matt Duffy starts at the hot corner.
Read More News
Batting Stats
Loading Batting Stats...
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2024 MLB Game Log
calculator icon
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Sorare
Loading Batting Game Log...
2023 MLB Game Log
calculator icon
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Sorare
Loading Batting Game Log...
2022 MLB Game Log
calculator icon
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Sorare
Loading Batting Game Log...
2021 MLB Game Log
calculator icon
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Sorare
Loading Batting Game Log...
2020 MLB Game Log
calculator icon
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Sorare
Loading Batting Game Log...
Minor League Game Log
calculator icon
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Loading Minor League Batting Game Log...
Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
6
6
10
15
78
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
22
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+18%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+30%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+20%
OPS vs RHP
2022
 
 
+7%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .604 351 39 4 30 10 .233 .293 .311
Since 2022vs Right .711 1073 126 27 115 38 .257 .306 .405
2024vs Left .514 102 11 1 5 1 .189 .270 .244
2024vs Right .670 427 48 11 39 22 .238 .293 .377
2023vs Left .638 150 18 2 16 6 .241 .295 .343
2023vs Right .768 404 49 12 51 8 .275 .318 .449
2022vs Left .643 99 10 1 9 3 .264 .313 .330
2022vs Right .688 242 29 4 25 8 .260 .307 .381
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+12%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+8%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+16%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+12%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .725 690 80 19 76 23 .264 .311 .414
Since 2022Away .648 734 85 12 69 25 .240 .295 .353
2024Home .666 257 26 7 21 8 .238 .283 .383
2024Away .617 272 33 5 23 15 .220 .294 .322
2023Home .789 259 33 9 37 8 .285 .333 .456
2023Away .683 295 34 5 30 6 .250 .294 .390
2022Home .714 174 21 3 18 7 .270 .318 .396
2022Away .635 167 18 2 16 4 .252 .299 .335
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Leody Taveras 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
0.38
 
BB Rate
7.9%
 
K Rate
21.2%
 
BABIP
.272
 
ISO
.123
 
AVG
.229
 
OBP
.289
 
SLG
.352
 
OPS
.641
 
wOBA
.285
 
Exit Velocity
89.0 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
28.8%
 
Barrels/PA
4.2%
 
Expected BA
.244
 
Expected SLG
.380
 
Sprint Speed
24.5 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
39.8%
 
Line Drive %
19.0%
 
Fly Ball %
41.2%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
Loading Advanced Batting Stats...
Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
Loading Games Played by Position...
Loading MLB Defensive Stats...
Batted Ball Stats
Loading Batted Ball Stats...
Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
Want more matchup stats?
Loading Matchup Stats...
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Subscribe Now
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Leody Taveras See More
Collette Calls: Bold Hitter Predictions Accountability
40 days ago
Jason Collette reviews the hits and misses from his hitting half of his preseason bold predictions, including big hits on Brenton Doyle and Mark Vientos.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Last Ups
44 days ago
Ryan McMahon and the Rockies finish the season with six straight home games.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: The Playoff Push
51 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.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Scoring is Way Down
58 days ago
The Cleveland Guardians are one of six teams with seven games the week of September 9 to September 15. See how they and the rest of the MLB rank in Todd Zola's weekly hitter rankings.
The Z Files: What It Takes
62 days ago
Todd Zola provides some data to help you determine whether even Aaron Judge is capable of slugging your team into contention over the season's final stretch.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Taveras is in a tenuous situation in that his speed and defense are good skills, but the Rangers have plenty of players with that profile these days with both Eli White and Bubba Thompson possessing those same skills and at the same position as Taveras. Leody has the leg up, in a way, as he is out of options while the other two are not which all but guarantees Taveras breaks camp with a job whether it be with Texas or another club. His speed is elite, yet his stolen base track record is anything but as he was caught five times in 16 tries last season. The Triple-A numbers continue to offer some promise, but it would be nice if that success came east with him from Surprise, Arizona after spring training since he cannot go back to Round Rock without being exposed to waivers.
The primary value of Leody Taveras involves stolen bases with seven home runs, 18 stolen bases, and a .188 batting average in 319 plate appearances throughout his MLB career. Taveras went 18 of 19 in stolen bases (94.7%), and the Rangers showed the willingness to run with 106 (No. 4) stolen bases in 135 attempts. With the groundball-heavy profile (46.7%), the switch-hitting outfielder showed a league-average barrel rate of 6.3%. Unfortunately, what Taveras lacks in contact quality isn't made up in plate discipline, given below league average contact rates evidenced by a career 78.4% Z-Contact% and 73.6% Contact%. The Rangers outfield looks crowded with Kole Calhoun, Adolis García, Nick Solak, and Willie Calhoun, although the latter should DH. Taveras could steal bases if playing time opens up but hurt in other categories. That said, Taveras isn't worth drafting outside of deep draft and hold formats.
Taveras was below league average (94 wRC+) at Double-A in 2019 and has no experience at Triple-A, yet he didn't embarrass himself in his MLB debut. His 32.1 K% was understandably over 10 points higher than at any level of the minors, but his .168 ISO was a career high and he walked at a 10.4 percent clip. Perhaps most importantly for fantasy, Taveras' sprint speed was in the 96th percentile and he is one of just 14 hitters projected by Steamer to hit double-digit homers while stealing 20-plus bases in 2021. Nobody should expect him to hit over .250 in his age-22 season, but he should be the Rangers' everyday center fielder as long as he is not completely overwhelmed. As a clear long-term fixture in Texas, Taveras doesn't have the playing time floor that Danny Santana had entering 2020, making him a reasonable target in the middle rounds for fantasy managers who missed out on earlier speed targets.
Taveras didn't light the world on fire in his age-20 season, but he did what he needed to do to remain a relevant prospect after being a below-league-average hitter at every stop above rookie ball from 2016-2018. He logged a 117 wRC+ in a return trip to the Carolina League, and was 21-for-26 on stolen-base attempts after going just 19-for-30 on the bases at High-A in 2018. Success in his return to High-A was expected. His real test came after a midseason promotion to Double-A, where he returned to being a mediocre producer across the board. All told, he logged a 17.5 Hard% between the two stops, which is a very poor mark, and negates the fact that he uses the whole field and lifts the ball at acceptable rates. At this point, a good outcome for Taveras would be an everyday center fielder who hits around .265 and steals 20 bases annually while hitting in the bottom third of a big-league lineup.
Just looking at the slash line, you might think that there were no real positives to take away from Taveras' 2018 season. However, Taveras showed a strong handle on the strike zone for a 19-year-old, posting a 16.6 K% and 8.8 BB% against High-A competition. He had a 21.7% line-drive rate, which was right around league average and a significant improvement on his mark at Low-A. The center fielder's batted-ball distribution was also more favorable, as Taveras trimmed his pull rate slightly, adding more balls to center field. Taveras has 60-grade speed but needs to improve his reads and instincts as a base stealer -- he was caught 11 times in 30 attempts. The speed should keep him in center field for another decade or so, easing pressure on his bat. Taveras may head back to High-A to begin 2019, but should end up spending most of the year at the Double-A level as one of the youngest hitters in the Texas League.
Taveras' season may have provided one of the best offseason buying opportunities on the dynasty landscape. He was a slightly below average hitter (96 wRC+) in the Sally League and showed very little power (.111 ISO). There's nothing about his season that will lead his owner to declare him untouchable. However, an 18-year-old who is a lock to stay in center field, should hold plus speed into his late 20s and posted a 92:47 K:BB in 577 plate appearances against full-season pitching is a player worth cherishing in dynasty leagues. An extremely projectable 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, Taveras shows athletic, fluid motions and should grow into double-digit homer power. A realistic floor for Taveras is Ender Inciarte, while a realistic ceiling is the good version of Starling Marte. His value in the marketplace is reminiscent of Amed Rosario after the 2015 season. He won't come dirt cheap, but Taveras could finish 2018 as a top-10 prospect. This might be the last chance to get in at an affordable price.
The Rangers inked Taveras to a $2.1 million bonus as one of the top international free agents in 2015. At the time, he was joining one of the top farm systems in the game. Several mammoth trades and a couple high-profile graduations later, and Taveras sits atop that system entering his age-18 season. A surefire top-100 prospect in his own right, Taveras is deserving of the honor. The cousin of retired outfielder Willy Taveras, Leody is bursting with tools. His hit tool and speed both earn plus grades, and he has the body (6-foot-2, 185 pounds) and bat speed to eventually grow into average or better power. All told, this is a potential up-the-middle star who could get MVP votes someday. He has not yet played in a full-season league and posted a 59 wRC+ in a 29-game run with short-season Spokane, but the fact that he was even playing in the Northwest League as a 17-year-old speaks volumes about how advanced Taveras is. He could finish 2017 as a top-10 prospect in the game.
More Fantasy News
Getting rest Wednesday
OFTexas Rangers
September 25, 2024
Taveras isn't in Texas' lineup for Wednesday's game against the Athletics.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Homer, steal in win
OFTexas Rangers
September 22, 2024
Taveras went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, a stolen base and three total runs scored in Sunday's 6-5 win over the Mariners.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Fills box score in win
OFTexas Rangers
September 17, 2024
Taveras went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run, a stolen base and an additional run scored in Tuesday's 13-8 win over the Blue Jays.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Records first September RBI
OFTexas Rangers
September 15, 2024
Taveras went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 5-4 loss to Seattle.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Not starting Friday
OFTexas Rangers
September 13, 2024
Taveras is absent from Friday's lineup against Seattle.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Latest Fantasy Rumors
Role not secure
OFTexas Rangers
June 20, 2024
Taveras' starting spot could be in jeopardy once the Rangers return to full strength, reports Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News.
ANALYSIS
The 25-year-old hit the bench Wednesday for the second time in the past five games, but he delivered a two-run homer off the bench for his first extra-base hit of June. Taveras has a .612 OPS this season and has especially struggled this month, going 4-for-50 with 29.6 percent strikeout rate in 16 games. Evan Carter should remain sidelined by his back injury for at least the next couple weeks, but Taveras may not retain his everyday role in center field much longer if he's unable to build on Wednesday's long ball.
See All MLB Rumors