Jeff Samardzija has plenty of things going for him heading into 2016 that should help with a bounce-back year

We’ve all been burned at some point by a player who didn’t live up to our expectations, but fantasy baseball requires a short memory and you have to be unbiased when making decisions. Now we’re not saying all must be forgiven, but there’s reason to believe that some players will bounce back.

Who might some of these players be you ask? Our featured experts have done the research and provided their picks on who should rebound in 2016. Nobody’s saying you have to pick these guys, but don’t cross them off your list just yet.

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Bounce-back Candidates

Q1. Name a pitcher you expect to bounce back after disappointing fantasy owners in 2015

Jeff Samardzija (SP – SF)
Over the last two seasons, Samardzija hasn’t been the same dominating kind of pitcher in the American League that he was in the National League with the Cubs. Yet, little has changed about his pitching style. His velocity remains intact, he still throws the same repertoire of pitches and has his deceptive motion skills intact as well. The biggest difference has been far fewer groundballs generated and more home runs given up. The move to San Francisco’s pitcher-friendly confines should help a bit, as should their elite infield defense. However, it’s the presence of pitching coach Dave Righetti on staff that should make the biggest difference for Samardzija, whose pitching mechanics are probably behind the change in groundball rate. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Samardzija bounce back to be something approximating the pitcher he was in early 2014, before the Cubs traded him to Oakland.”
– Tim McCullough (RotoExperts)

“Jeff Samardzija regressed quite a bit in 2015 due to a number of factors. He pitched in a hitter’s park with a poor defense behind him and if the stories of tipping pitches are true, he should be useful in 2016 given his change of scenery. Samardzija saw his strikeout rate drop to 17.9% last year, after mowing down at least 23% of the batters he faced from 2012 to 2014. Velocity was not to blame and with a shift of over 10% of his batted balls from the ground to the air, troubles were likely to follow. The Giants have an elite defense and the shift to San Francisco is rather drastic when compared to pitching in US Cellular Field in Chicago. He also will not have to face a designated hitter in the National League, which can sometimes go overlooked when a pitcher changes leagues. If you factor in a positive regression of his strikeout rate closer to 20%, it’s not unreasonable to expect improvement in nearly every other category.”
– Adam Sutton (DraftStars)

Yordano Ventura (SP – KC)
“It’s hard to say that someone from the defending World Series champions will “bounce-back,” but that’s the case for Ventura. His ERA fell from 3.20 in 2014 to 4.08 last season. However, Ventura kicked it into high gear after the Midsummer Classic. In those 15 starts, Ventura posted a 9-2 record and a 3.56 ERA. He also collected 98 strikeouts in 91 innings of work.”
– Adam Meyer (Fox Sports)

Nathan Eovaldi (SP – NYY)
“While it would be surprising to see Nathan Eovaldi emerge as a matchup-proof starter, he finished 2015 strong with a respectable 3.43 ERA through his final 14 starts and 71 strikeouts over 84 innings. Eovaldi’s solid finish was linked to the addition of a split-fingered fastball to his repertoire, and this offseason he is working on his curveball. Already with 110 starts and 614 1/3 innings on his resume, the late-round flier projects to follow-up his nice finish to the 2015 season entering his age-26 campaign in 2016, and he could be especially profitable if he adds a third quality pitch to his arsenal.”
– Neil Parker (Fantasy Sports LR)

Q2. Name a hitter you expect to bounce back after disappointing fantasy owners in 2015

Carlos Santana (1B,DH – CLE)
“2015 wasn’t kind to Carlos Santana. His .395 slugging percentage and 29.6 hard-hit percentage were career-low marks, and his 18.3 line-drive percentage was his worst return since 2011. The former backstop will always be more valuable in formats using on-base percentage and points leagues, as he has a career .365 OBP, but there is upside across the board. After all, Santana returned 72 runs and 85 RBI in a down season. Add a few more long flies to those counting stats with a slight uptick in batting average, and Santana — entering his age-30 season — checks out as an excellent endgame option capable of yielding a four-category return.”
– Neil Parker (Fantasy Sports LR)

Yan Gomes (C – CLE)
“Gomes is currently 11th in ADP among catchers in NFBC leagues. He fell from grace in 2015. The batting average dropped from .278 to .231. The home runs and RBI numbers were also close to cut in half. However, Gomes tried to rush back from an MCL injury. In the final week of the regular season, Gomes was 6-17 (.353) and concluded the year on a 10-game hitting streak. Hopefully, he can return to his 2014-form where Gomes was fourth in the league among catchers with 135 hits.”
– Adam Meyer (Fox Sports)

Hanley Ramirez (1B,LF – BOS)
“In 2015, Ramirez put together what can only be described as a historically bad first season with the Red Sox. While some point to a shoulder problem as the issue, Ramirez was so bad for so long last season that injury alone simply cannot explain away the problem. He was a liability to fantasy owners both at the plate and in the outfield if they happened to own any Red Sox hurler. Ramirez comes to spring training this year with a new plan in place to have him play first base, a far less taxing position on his 32-year-old body. Hopefully, whatever shoulder issues he had has healed, and with that, whatever attitude problems that led to the cavalier approach to his job and poor production will follow. The bottom line is that he just can’t possibly be as bad as he was last year.”
– Tim McCullough (RotoExperts)

Ian Desmond (SS – FA)
“There were a myriad of hitters that disappointed in 2015, but injuries were distinctly possible to blame for the likes of Hanley Ramirez, Anthony Rendon, Carlos Gomez and more. One hitter that sticks out as a disappointment is shortstop Ian Desmond, who still needs to find a team as of late February. Desmond had a dreadful first half of 2015, posting a .211 AVG to go with seven home runs and five stolen bases. This comes after being drafted as the third shortstop in most instances while sporting an overall draft position of 27.5 (using FantasyPros’ ADP). I actually recommended Desmond as a strong buy candidate in July as owners surely were soured with their poor investment. If you managed to pluck him away, you were rewarded with a rebound in production that was more in line with his previous two seasons. He fizzled in the final month, but he likely provided some owners with a great boost heading into their fantasy playoffs. Desmond was a disaster in 2015, but if he can find a home soon, he’s an intriguing bargain at a tough position to fill. While I don’t think the 20-plus stolen base seasons will return at age 30, he should still be good for double-digit numbers in that category. The strikeouts will always be a concern, but owners will have a tough time finding his type of power at the shortstop position.”
– Adam Sutton (DraftStars)

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Thank you to each expert for naming their bounce-back candidates. Be sure to give them a follow on Twitter and leave your comments below.