League-specific fantasy baseball formats provide an additional challenge that many have come to enjoy. The draft prep takes on a different approach, as more MLB players become relevant. Late-round targets in mixed leagues turn into mid-rounders. Some of the players left off the board in mixed-league drafts jump onto it for various reasons. The hitters and pitchers below fit into those groups in AL-Only leagues for 2022.
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Hitting Targets
Cabrera is old. The future Hall-of-Famer’s days as a fantasy first-rounder are way, way behind him. That does not mean he can’t still help a fantasy roster, particularly an AL-only one.
Surprisingly, at age 38, Cabrera did his best work at the plate after the All-Star break last year. Across 62 games in the second half, Miggy slashed .274/.333/.429 with eight home runs and 43 RBI. He finished the 2021 campaign with 75 RBI overall, and that is the category of highest potential for him at this point. A decent batting average is probably still doable as well.
Cabrera received nearly 70% of his plate appearances from the cleanup spot last season. The Tigers are planning to contend now and have already enhanced their offense with the addition of Javier Baez (2B,SS – DET). Cabrera is owed $32 million this season. He will still be counted on to produce in the middle of a now deeper lineup.
Fletcher hit a combined .292 alongside a .346 OBP over his first three big-league seasons (2018-2020), so last year’s .262 AVG and .297 OBP were disappointments. It is worth pointing out that a dreadful 10-for-99 slump sank his batting average 30 points in September.
Even with the downturn in AVG, Fletcher swiped a career-best 15 bags in 18 attempts and scored 74 runs while bouncing back and forth from the very top to the very bottom of the Angels batting order. Those two marks are quite useful in league-specific formats.
Regardless of where he is in the lineup, Fletcher will benefit from what should be a strong Angels offense. The ability to skillfully man both middle-infield positions keeps him on the field every day. The 27-year-old played 157 games in 2021. With the potential for runs, steals, and AVG, Fletcher is a solid value at his current ADP.
Speaking of steals, Taylor can get some too. In fact, he finished with double-digit stolen bases for the fifth time in his career last year. Unlike Fletcher, Taylor adds at least a little bit of pop with his speed, as he hit 12 homers to go with 14 steals across 142 games for the Royals. He won his first Gold Glove in 2021 as well. All that led the Royals to hand Taylor a two-year, $9 million extension just before the end of last season.
Yes, Taylor strikes out a ton and is likely to spend the majority of his time hitting toward the bottom of a lineup that is unlikely to provide regular chances for RBI. Be that as it may, there is really nothing to lose given his draft status. Keep in mind that the Royals led MLB in stolen bases last season and have finished in the top four of the league three years running.
Calhoun has the highest homer upside of the group included here. Last year was a forgetful one for the veteran slugger, as he dealt with multiple injuries that limited him to only 182 plate appearances. Calhoun finished 2021 with a meager .670 OPS and just five home runs.
Going back to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Calhoun’s power potential is more evident. Over 54 games that year, despite a .226 AVG, he hammered his way to a .526 SLG and 16 longballs for the Diamondbacks. That is definitely what the spend-happy Rangers were looking at when they decided to ink him to a free-agent contract back in late November.
Calhoun has averaged 25 homers per 162 games over the past eight years. If he can stay healthy in 2022, that is probably an attainable number for him once again. The Rangers’ new-look lineup should provide ample RBI opportunities as well.
Pitching Targets
Before last season, Kaprielian had not pitched more than 68.0 innings (2019) in a single year since the Yankees made him the 16th overall selection of the 2015 MLB Draft. Considering that, it is easier to excuse the 6.46 ERA and 1.37 WHIP the rookie hurler turned in over his final 30.2 innings of 2021. It is his work over the 88.2 IP prior that displayed his potential.
Kaprielian made his first start in the show on May 12 of last year and immediately took up residence in the Oakland rotation. Over 16 starts from then through August 20, the right-hander recorded an excellent 3.25 ERA, 1,17 WHIP, and 23.8% K rate. He racked up 123 strikeouts across 119.1 innings. That workload should tick up for Kaprielian this year.
Giving up a good bit of hard contact (42.3%) along with a high flyball rate (47.3%) is typically a cause for concern, and if not improved, it will almost certainly lower Kaprielian’s ceiling. However, he does work roughly half his games in one of the league’s most forgiving environments for pitchers. Kaprielian took advantage of the confines in Oakland last season, posting a 3.28 ERA and 1.16 WHIP there.
Singer showed plenty of promise during his 2020 rookie campaign. The tall right-hander put up a respectable 4.06 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 61-to-23 K/BB ratio across 64.1 innings that summer. It makes perfect sense that many were relatively high on him heading into fantasy drafts last year.
Instead of the expected progress in his sophomore season, Singer saw his ERA and WHIP balloon to 4.91 and 1.55, respectively. An outrageous .350 BABIP – he had a .260 mark in 2020 – seems to be the main culprit. Despite a slight improvement in his hard-hit rate from the previous year and a near-50% groundball rate, Singer received more than his fair share of poor luck. A 4.11 xFIP provides evidence for that claim.
On the positive side, Singer piled up 131 whiffs across 128.1 innings while improving his HR/9 from 1.12 to 0.98. He was also able to build upon his swinging-strike rate (10.2%) and contact rates (85.9% Z-Contact, 76.4% Contact). Singer’s underlying measures are largely headed in the right direction. He is much better than the ERA and WHIP from last year show.
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Nate Miller is a featured writer at FantasyPros and 8-year veteran of the fantasy sports industry. For more from Nate, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @Miller_RotoDad.
