Who Should I Draft?
Kenta Maeda or Josh Hader (2021)
Experts' Pick | ||
| Kenta Maeda SP,RP - MIN  | Josh Hader RP - MIL  | |
Expert |
63% Recommended by 32 of 51 experts |
37% Recommended by 19 of 51 experts |
| Rankings | ||
| ECR | # 16 | # 18 |
| Best Rank | # 5 | # 12 |
| Worst Rank | # 36 | # 56 |
| ADP | ||
| Composite | # 47 | # 54 |
| Best Rank | # 45 | # 51 |
| Worst Rank | # 61 | # 61 |
| Projections | ||
| Strikeouts | 177 | 104 |
| Wins | 12 | 4 |
| Saves | 0 | 30 |
| ERA | 3.83 | 2.91 |
| WHIP | 1.13 | 0.98 |
| Misc | ||
| Injury Alert | IL60 | - |
| Expert Ranks | ||
| Andy Behrens Yahoo! Sports | # 17 | # 31 |
| Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports | # 15 | # 16 |
| Steve Gardner USA Today | # 17 | # 26 |
| Site Projections RotoChamp | # 16 | # 22 |
| Grey Albright Razzball | # 15 | # 18 |
| Muntradamus Beast Dome | # 28 | # 37 |
| Dave McKay The Fantasy Sports Brain | # 17 | # 19 |
| Andrew Gould FantasyPros | # 15 | # 24 |
| Wayne Bretsky BretskyBall | # 15 | # 31 |
| Chris Meaney FTN | # 16 | # 20 |
| Heath Capps Fake Teams | # 16 | # 19 |
| Mario Mergola Sporfolio | # 13 | # 17 |
| Nick Pollack Pitcher List | # 14 | # 27 |
| Nick Mariano RotoBaller | # 14 | # 21 |
| Mike Maher FantasyPros | # 16 | # 18 |
| Michael Waterloo FantasyPros | # 15 | # 56 |
| Dan Harris FantasyPros | # 15 | # 21 |
| Pierre Camus RotoBaller | # 15 | # 21 |
| Max Freeze Freeze Stats | # 15 | # 17 |
| Dennis Sosic Fantasy Six Pack | # 15 | # 28 |
| Mick Ciallela Fantrax | # 16 | # 19 |
| Todd D Clark The Fantasy Fix | # 16 | # 19 |
| Brendan Tuma FantasyPros | # 13 | # 26 |
| Jacob W. Dunne New Life Fantasy | # 17 | # 19 |
| Carmen Maiorano FantasyPros | # 10 | # 12 |
| Lucas Spence Pitcher List | # 16 | # 19 |
| Jordan Eisen Field of Vision Sports | # 15 | # 22 |
| Nate Miller FantasyPros | # 11 | # 23 |
| Staff Rankings Roto Ranks | # 16 | # 18 |
| Corbin Young FantasyData | # 16 | # 19 |
| Chris Clegg Fantrax | # 15 | # 20 |
| Nicklaus Gaut RotoBaller | # 5 | # 18 |
| Jeff Boggis Fantasy Football Empire | # 17 | # 16 |
| Tim McCullough Baseball Prospectus | # 18 | # 17 |
| Donkey Teeth Razzball | # 18 | # 17 |
| Brad Camara FantasyPros | # 19 | # 17 |
| Jorge B. Edwards Fantasy In Frames | # 19 | # 18 |
| Joe Bond Fantasy Six Pack | # 20 | # 16 |
| Adam Ronis Fantasy Alarm | # 20 | # 19 |
| Michael Petropoulos BRoto Fantasy | # 21 | # 16 |
| Ryan Amore Pitcher List | # 22 | # 16 |
| KJ Fantasy Team Advice | # 22 | # 17 |
| Andy Singleton Expand The Boxscore | # 22 | # 17 |
| Greg Smith The Fake Baseball | # 22 | # 17 |
| Joe Pisapia FantasyPros | # 23 | # 17 |
| Rudy Gamble Razzball | # 23 | # 15 |
| Andrew Seifter FantasyPros | # 24 | # 19 |
| Ariel Cohen FanGraphs | # 26 | # 16 |
| Luke Gloeckner Mr. Cheatsheet | # 33 | # 18 |
| Dalton Del Don Yahoo! Sports | # 34 | # 20 |
| Jake Ciely The Athletic | # 36 | # 16 |
| Kenta Maeda SP,RP - MIN | Josh Hader RP - MIL | |
| 2020 Stats | ||
| Games Played | 11 | 21 |
| Games Started | 11 | 0 |
| Innings Pitched | 67.1 | 19.1 |
| Wins | 6 | 1 |
| Losses | 1 | 2 |
| Saves | 0 | 13 |
| Blown Saves | 0 | 2 |
| Holds | 0 | 0 |
| Hits Allowed | 40 | 8 |
| Earned Runs | 20 | 8 |
| Home Runs Allowed | 9 | 3 |
| Strikeouts | 80 | 31 |
| Walks | 10 | 10 |
| ERA | 2.70 | 3.79 |
| WHIP | 0.75 | 0.95 |
| Kenta Maeda SP,RP - MIN | Josh Hader RP - MIL | |
| 2021 Projections | ||
| Games Played | 30 | 62 |
| Games Started | 29 | 0 |
| Innings Pitched | 160.7 | 64.6 |
| Wins | 12 | 4 |
| Losses | 8 | 3 |
| Saves | 0 | 30 |
| Blown Saves | 0 | 7 |
| Holds | 0 | 3 |
| Hits Allowed | 136 | 39 |
| Earned Runs | 68 | 21 |
| Home Runs Allowed | 23 | 9 |
| Strikeouts | 177 | 104 |
| Walks | 46 | 24 |
| ERA | 3.83 | 2.91 |
| WHIP | 1.13 | 0.98 |
| Kenta Maeda SP,RP - MIN | Josh Hader RP - MIL | |
| News | ||
| Kenta Maeda is set to undergo season-ending surgery on Wednesday, according to Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. Ari Koslow Fri, Aug 27th | Josh Hader converted the save Saturday against the Mets, walking one and striking out one in one inning. Connor Rooney Sat, Sep 25th | |
| Twins' SP Kenta Maeda is seeking second opinions on his forearm injury, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Jack Mannis Tue, Aug 24th | Josh Hader picked up another save Saturday against the Cubs, allowing one hit, walking one, and striking out two. Connor Rooney Sun, Sep 19th | |
| Kenta Maeda was placed on the 10-day IL due to forearm tightness. It is unclear when he will be back. Kamran Hoda Mon, Aug 23rd | Josh Hader picked up save 32 Friday against the Cubs, allowing one hit and striking out one in one inning. Connor Rooney Sat, Sep 18th | |
| Kenta Maeda exited Saturday’s start against the Yankees with forearm tightness. Chris Schommer Sat, Aug 21st | Josh Hader earned the save Saturday against Cleveland, striking out two in one inning. Connor Rooney Sat, Sep 11th | |
| The Twins are pushing Kenta Maeda's next start back to Saturday against the Yankees. Brendan Tuma - Too Much Tuma Wed, Aug 18th | Josh Hader earned the save Wednesday against the Phillies, walking two in a scoreless inning. Connor Rooney Thu, Sep 9th | |
| Notes | ||
| Fantasy managers rejoiced when Maeda was traded from the Dodgers to the Twins, but he surpassed even the loftiest of expectations. In the short season, Maeda went 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA, a 0.73 WHIP, and a 32.3% strikeout rate. In addition to simply being let loose with his innings, Maeda made a tangible change to his pitch mix, throwing far fewer fastball and more sliders and changeups (though his fastball was as effective as it had ever been last year, too). Maeda surely won't be able to repeat his numbers from 2020, as he allowed just a .208 BABIP, had an 80.2% LOB rate, and benefited from being able to feast on solely the NL and AL Central lineups. But even with some regression, he should still be a rock solid SP2, and should be drafted as such. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | Hader wasn't quite as dominant as he had been the previous two years, largely due to a spike in walk rate and the slightest of declines in strikeout rate. But he still tallied 13 saves, third-best in baseball, and had a miniscule 0.95 WHIP. If you parse it closely, it was just a bizarre season for Hader, who didn't give up a run through his first nine appearances, but subsequently allowed four runs in an inning. He walked five batters in a game, but didn't allow a single walk in any game after that, a span of 11 appearances. In other words, there seems to be a lot of noise in Hader's "decline," which likely would have been ironed out over the course of a full season. Draft him as the top closer off the board with few concerns. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | |
| In 2020 Maeda joined Jacob deGrom and Shane Bieber as the only three starters to finish top-five in both xFIP and xERA. It was a dominant campaign as his new team, the Twins, finally unleashed him in a way the Dodgers never did. Maeda also finished top-five in swinging strike rate last summer. He admittedly faced the easiest "hub" against AL/NL Central foes, but a large number of his 2021 starts will come against similar opponents. There's still profit to be had with his current ADP. Brendan Tuma - FantasyPros | ||
