AL-Only fantasy baseball leagues present a unique distinction for owners come draft day and as they traverse through the regular season. The skill factor in fantasy circles needs to be increased as there are less obvious players available for drafting, given the deflated overall player pool. On the flip side, owners that know their stuff can be well-positioned for picking upside players that may not typically be drafted in leagues that incorporate both the AL and NL. Some hitting and pitching targets to consider in AL-Only fantasy leagues are listed below.
- Fitz’s Positional Primers
- Justin Mason’s Draft Day Cheat Sheet
- Players the Experts Draft
- Latest Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft
Players to Target in AL-Only Leagues (2023 Fantasy Baseball)
Hitters to Target
Chapman’s 2023 fantasy average draft position (ADP) is lower than we have ever seen it, and I am not entirely sure why. Sure, the former All-Star may no longer be the consistent hitter he was back in his heyday in Oakland, but the guy is still no slouch.
Chapman is coming off back-to-back years in which he clobbered 27 home runs apiece, and last year he sat in the top 7% of the MLB in average exit velocity and hard-hit percentage. As a matter of fact, the 29-year-old has individually ranked in the top-15 of average exit velocity (aEV) in three out of the last four seasons he’s played in, including last year.
Going into his second campaign in Toronto, Chapman will again be batting in the middle of one of the more potent lineups in the league. He is projected for right around 30 home runs in 2023, which would have him be an absolute steal in fantasy drafts with his current seventh-to-eighth-round projection in AL-Only leagues. Savvy fantasy owners should be relentlessly picking him up at this cost while they still can.
Picked up by the Red Sox this offseason, 27-year-old Adalberto Mondesi will be suiting up for a team other than the Royals for the first time in his seven-year career. The problem for the veteran speedster has been his health, which has not cooperated for a large part of his tenure so far. News out of Boston is that Mondesi is ramping up his activity for the first time since suffering an ACL tear last season. Once deemed fully healthy, he has a strong chance of taking over at shortstop for the BoSox.
The last (and only) time Mondesi played in more than 100 games in a season (2019), he slashed .263/.291/.424, swiped 43 bags and led the MLB in triples with 10. Case and point, this guy is fast. Vegas knows it too, and despite the expectation for Mondesi to begin the 2023 campaign on the injured list (IL), he is still the odds-on favorite to lead the league in steals. With the MLB implementing larger bases this year, he could even be primed to set a new career high. Mondesi is available at the back end of drafts right now, even in AL-Only leagues, and could be worth the risk given his unique upside and potential.
The number two prospect for the White Sox organization is primed to crack the 2023 Opening Day roster for the team and will likely break camp as one of the starting outfielders. Colas has as much potential as any prospect in the MLB, and he looks ready as a 24-year-old following a six-year stint both overseas and in the minors.
Colas is already off to a blazing spring training start for Chicago, and he is batting .400 (12/30) through 14 games with two round-trippers, a double and a steal. Oh, and maybe most impressively, he has only struck out once out of those 30 at-bats. Let’s also not forget in the minors last year, Colas slashed to the tune of .314/.371/.524 with 23 home runs and 51 XBHs in 117 games played. The hype is real with this guy, and right now, he can still be had in the 15th or 16th (!!) round of AL-Only fantasy drafts.
Pitchers to Target
Signed to a three-year, $63 million contract in December, Bassitt returns to the American League after one season with the Mets. He is expected to be penciled in as their number three or four starter in what should be a contending team in the AL East.
Bassitt posted a 15-9 record over 30 starts in 2022 with a 3.42 ERA and 167:49 K:BB ratio. He finished in the top five percent of the league in allowed exit velocity while hurling the most innings of his eight-year career. Now heading into his age-34 campaign, Bassitt projects for similar numbers as the current 25th starting pitcher off the board in AL-Only leagues. He feels like a much stronger and safer option when compared to some guys going ahead of him, like Tyler Glasnow and Chris Sale.
Detmers is a guy who needs to be on fantasy managers’ radars in 2023, especially at his current ADP of 114.0. He is just 22 years old and coming off an impressive 2022 in which he posted a 7-6 record over 129.0 innings with a 3.77 ERA and 122:46 K:BB ratio. This season, he will slot in at the back of the Angels’ rotation, though he could easily take over as their number two guy behind Shohei Ohtani before April even concludes.
Detmers has some of the filthiest off-speed pitches in the entire MLB, exemplified by his 2.4-inch increase in verticality on his slider when compared to the league average in 2022. He should easily be able to set a career-high in strikeouts in 2023 with that advantage. Detmers also improved on his hard-hit allowances and sweet spot percentage statistics from 2021 to 2022, and he looks primed to make another jump this upcoming season.
Detmers has looked sharped thus far in spring training, appearing in three games and allowing two earned runs while posting an 11:4 K:BB ratio over eight innings pitched. He should be set to hit the ground running as the calendar flips over in a few weeks.
The Rangers’ closer could be a sneaky bet for saves in 2023, as Texas has seemingly improved their roster dramatically enough to contend. Jose Leclerc will enter 2023 without any competition for the job, and it will be his to lose. The 29-year-old has spent his entire six-year career with the Rangers, and he should have a good chance of breaking out.
Leclerc posted a solid 2.83 ERA over 47.2 innings in 2022, but his K/9 rate actually dipped by over three points from 2021 (10.20). That said, his career rate is still in line at 12.05, and positive regression should see him creep back closer to that number this year. Leclerc ranked in the top 25% of the MLB in fastball velocity in 2022 and was in the top 1% of fastball spin rate. When his stuff is on, it is truly electric. Right now, Jose Leclerc is the 14th relief pitcher off the board in AL-Only fantasy leagues. He almost certainly deserves to be picked closer to the top 10.
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