Plentiful playing time early? Fowler should have plenty of opportunities to prove worthy of consistent playing time early in an abbreviated 2020 season, Mark Saxon of The Athletic reports. Impact Saxon was responding to a reader question about how much leeway manager Mike Shildt will give Fowler, who's had plenty of struggles at the plate over the last two seasons, to work through any difficulties before curtailing the veteran's playing time to some degree. The view is that Fowler has bought himself some slack by displaying legitimate signs of a resurgence in 2019 after a career-worst campaign a year prior, establishing new high-water marks in home runs (19) and RBI (67) while slashing .238/.346/.409 over 574 plate appearances. His overall career body of work should buy him a certain amount of time if he stumbles out of the gates, but Saxon also points out Fowler is likely to have promising prospect Dylan Carlson looming over his shoulder with the high probability of expanded rosters being a component of any 2020 campaign.
MAY 25, 2020 • ROTOWIRE