Diamondbacks' Jake Lamb: Off to slow start in spring

Lamb is off to a 4-for-22 (.182 average) start at the plate in spring training entering Wednesday's Cactus League game against the Reds.

Analysis:

Despite the poor average, Lamb has hit the ball hard when he has made contact, leaving the yard twice. Fantasy owners earmarking a third-base, corner-infield or utility spot for Lamb shouldn't make too much of his underwhelming performance so far this spring with regards to his outlook for the upcoming campaign, but the 27-year-old could nonetheless have a tougher time repeating the 30 homers and 64 total extra-base hits he delivered last season after it was announced in February that a humidor would be installed at Chase Field in 2018. As Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic notes, a study published last year by University of Illinois physics professor Dr. Alan Nathan revealed that a humidor could reduce home-run production at Chase Field by 25-to-50 percent, a more significant drop than what was experienced at Colorado's Coors Field due to Phoenix's lower average relative humidity. A depressed power environment in Arizona would be particularly damaging for a player like Lamb, who has been no better than a negative-to-neutral fantasy contributor in terms of stolen bases and batting average over his four seasons in the big leagues.