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Spring Training Risers & Fallers: Late-March (2021 Fantasy Baseball)

This is an updated list from an article that can be found here. I encourage readers to check out that article, as well!

As always, Spring Training must be taken with a grain of salt, but here are the risers and fallers from the previous week of Spring Training so far with Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) from FantasyPros. These rankings and statistics are up to date as of March 21st.

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Risers

Corey Seager (SS – LAD): ECR 27
I was all-in on Corey Seager last season, and the young shortstop came through hugely. The Dodgers’ shortstop delivered a career season. In 52 games, Seager posted a .943 OPS and 152 OPS+. Along with Fernando Tatis Jr., he was the best at barrelling up the baseball, and Seager was among the leaders in hard-hit percentage. Now, Seager is building off his success as he has a league-leading six home runs in Spring Training so far. It’s crazy to think, but Seager could put in an even better season than last year.

Josh Bell (1B/DH – WSH): ECR 125
Josh Bell is starting a new chapter in his baseball career. He is beginning the season on a team other than the Pittsburgh Pirates for the first time in his career. So far, his Spring Training with the Washington Nationals is going tremendously well. The 28-year-old first baseman is slashing .367/.444/.900 and has five walks to seven strikeouts. A change of scenery should help Bell bounce back from a career-worst 2020 season. A .850+ OPS should be Bell’s floor in 2021.

Shohei Ohtani (SP/DH – LAA): ECR 170
There will reportedly be no restrictions with Ohtani as both a hitter and pitcher. The two-way player has left a sour taste in many fantasy baseball manager’s mouths after his horrific 2020 season. But, Ohtani was an above-average hitter in both 2018 and 2019. Ohtani has started Spring Training strong, posting a ridiculous 1.809 OPS in 23 plate appearances while also touching 100-MPH from the mound. At this point, he’s almost undervalued. This may be the lowest ranking Ohtani will have for a very long time.

Robbie Ray (SP – TOR): ECR 329
Much like the aforementioned Ohtani, Robbie Ray had fantasy baseball managers disgusted with his performance last season. Ray’s high strikeout rate was still intact, but the ERA and FIP were both above 6. Ray found more success after his trade to Toronto and has seemed a lot more comfortable with the new organization. In four Spring Training starts, Ray has 18 strikeouts to go with a strong 0.805 WHIP. The southpaw could be in line for a bounce-back season and comes at a huge discount as he’s currently rated outside the top 300 players.

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Fallers

Aaron Nola (SP – PHI): ECR 21
The Phillies’ ace has struggled out the gate in Spring Training. Nola’s ERA sits north of 10, and he’s given up 15 hits in just 8 and 2/3rds innings. Nola is about as consistent as they come, so this is just more than likely an outlier, but keep an eye on how he closes Spring Training out and adjust your rankings accordingly.

J.D. Martinez (OF – BOS): ECR 64
The powerful hitting outfielder struggled drastically in 2020 and has continued to struggle so far in Spring Training. Martinez has struck out nearly half of his at-bats and has one extra-base hit in 38 plate appearances. The Red Sox have a decent amount of new faces in their lineup, but it should be potent enough to score plenty of runs. I wouldn’t reach for Martinez, but temper your expectations as he’s been in a slump for quite some time now.

Keston Hiura (2B/DH – MIL): ECR 65
Heading into the 2020 season, Keston Hiura was garnering plenty of hype, and rightfully so as he was coming off a 138 OPS+ season at a shallow second base position. However, Hiura struggled last year as he was a below-average hitter and had a league-leading 85 strikeouts in 59 games. So far, Hiura hasn’t faired much better in Spring Training. Hiura is only 24 years old so, he should be more than fine as time goes on, but much like the previously mentioned J.D. Martinez, just temper your expectations and hope he can end Spring Training on a good note.

Paul DeJong (SS – STL): ECR 191
DeJong was always relatively slept by fantasy baseball and real-life baseball fans alike throughout his career until his all-star campaign in 2019. Now, DeJong is one of the top-rated shortstops and is in a loaded St. Louis Cardinals offense that recently acquired Nolan Arenado. DeJong should have a strong chance to flirt with 100 RBIs and 25 HRs, but he has been abysmal in Spring Training so far. In 12 games, he only has six hits and has an OPS of .573. The combination of a poor 2020 season and a rocky Spring Training make DeJong a risky pick, but the potential is there, especially in such a high-powered offense.

All statistics were taken from FanGraphs, MLB.com, and Baseball-Reference.

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Travis Cain is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For More from Travis, follow him @TravisCain_.

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