Here is part two of my burning questions for the week.
Is Kyle Schwarber a top 100 player next season?
This isn’t breaking news, but Schwarber is storming through the major leagues. Fantasy owners have jumped on board, and he’s owned in 73% of Yahoo leagues and 79.9% of ESPN leagues. Chances are his owners will be keeping him in most keeper formats, so the real question lies with his value in re-draft leagues for 2016.
Schwarber’s 2016 position eligibility will drive his value going into drafts next year. If he’s eligible at catcher, there’s no doubt he’s a top 100 player and you could argue he’s a top 50 player and the second catcher off the board behind Buster Posey. Schwarber ranks 16th on ESPN’s player rater at catcher after a mere 105 plate appearances that have him slashing .341/.429/.604 with six home runs and 21 runs driven in. If he gets consistent playing time down the stretch here in 2015, there’s a chance he could leapfrog players like Yadier Molina (14th), A.J. Pierzynski (11th) and Salvador Perez (10th) to finish as a top-10 catcher this season.
ESPN’s eligibility rules require a player to start 20 games at a position to retain eligibility for next season. So far, Schwarber has started 12 games at catcher, four games in the outfield and five games as a designated hitter. In his last 10 games, Schwarber has started five games at catcher and six in the outfield. His defense behind the plate has been less than stellar, as he’s allowed 11 steals in 14 attempts and let seven wild pitches get past him.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon seems content with playing Schwarber semi-regularly to ease him into the daily major league grind. Keep in mind he was drafted only last year and his progress to the majors has been stunning. As the season winds down, every out is examined under a microscope and the Cubs can’t afford to develop Schwarber at catcher this season if his defense continues to suffer. This means that he could be in danger of getting those 20 starts at catcher to retain eligibility at the position for next year. He’ll definitely play, but where he plays matters for 2016 drafts.
If Schwarber get those 20 starts at catcher, I’d happily take him in the top 75 and rank him as the second catcher behind Posey. If he’s outfield eligible, I still think he’s worthy of top 100 consideration, but I would wait to see if he’s taken by an eager Cubs fan at my drafts. If he carries his team in the playoffs, expect a meteoric rise through the ranks like Michael Wacha saw after his postseason run in 2013.
How should I prepare for the fantasy playoffs?
Playoffs in fantasy baseball really only apply to head-to-head leagues where the top teams square off in match-ups that often last more than just one week. The best thing you can do to help yourself for the playoffs is to keep an eye on your competition.
If you’re currently in first place, or have a playoff spot all but guaranteed, I recommend focusing on the teams you could be facing in your playoff match-ups. Just because you have a healthy lead in first place doesn’t mean your first-round opponent will roll over and you’ll coast to the championship. You want your team to match up well against all of your possible playoff opponents, so pay attention to how they are managing their teams. Is one of them punting saves for help in other categories? That means you can get away with using only one or two closers in your match-up against that team. Try to find the weaknesses of each team and start to construct your team to match up against them now rather than when the playoffs start. It gives you the jump on the helpful available talent and forces other managers to plug holes with higher risk players.
Normally, you want to have your roster set so that you have bench spaces dedicated to pitching rather than hitting. Longer match-ups favor counting categories like wins and strikeouts, as ratios will be something that you can attempt to correct later on. Getting a healthy lead in wins and especially strikeouts can allow you to fade pitcher match-ups in an attempt to save your ratios if you have a lead. Points leagues favor pitching so the more pitchers you have at your disposal for the playoffs, the better. I’ll explore this topic more in the coming weeks.
JP Gale is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from JP, check out his archive and follow him @gojpg.
