Who Should I Draft?
Marco Gonzales or Craig Kimbrel (2021)
Experts' Pick | ||
| Marco Gonzales SP - SEA  | Craig Kimbrel RP - CWS  | |
Expert |
61% Recommended by 31 of 51 experts |
39% Recommended by 20 of 51 experts |
| Rankings | ||
| ECR | # 57 | # 61 |
| Best Rank | # 36 | # 35 |
| Worst Rank | # 161 | # 108 |
| ADP | ||
| Composite | # 163 | # 164 |
| Best Rank | # 136 | # 153 |
| Worst Rank | # 185 | # 233 |
| Projections | ||
| Strikeouts | 142 | 79 |
| Wins | 11 | 3 |
| Saves | 0 | 24 |
| ERA | 4.25 | 3.65 |
| WHIP | 1.23 | 1.21 |
| Misc | ||
| Injury Alert | - | - |
| Expert Ranks | ||
| Andy Behrens Yahoo! Sports | # 56 | # 108 |
| Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports | # 52 | # 55 |
| Steve Gardner USA Today | # 46 | # 61 |
| Site Projections RotoChamp | # 36 | # 52 |
| Grey Albright Razzball | # 57 | # 72 |
| KJ Fantasy Team Advice | # 56 | # 83 |
| Luke Gloeckner Mr. Cheatsheet | # 65 | # 69 |
| Dave McKay The Fantasy Sports Brain | # 55 | # 58 |
| Tim McCullough Baseball Prospectus | # 55 | # 74 |
| Wayne Bretsky BretskyBall | # 55 | # 63 |
| Joe Bond Fantasy Six Pack | # 58 | # 63 |
| Chris Meaney FTN | # 66 | # 71 |
| Heath Capps Fake Teams | # 57 | # 65 |
| Adam Ronis Fantasy Alarm | # 67 | # 86 |
| Mario Mergola Sporfolio | # 52 | # 73 |
| Nick Pollack Pitcher List | # 57 | # 89 |
| Nick Mariano RotoBaller | # 53 | # 59 |
| Michael Waterloo FantasyPros | # 48 | # 63 |
| Donkey Teeth Razzball | # 65 | # 68 |
| Pierre Camus RotoBaller | # 68 | # 98 |
| Jorge B. Edwards Fantasy In Frames | # 52 | # 63 |
| Dennis Sosic Fantasy Six Pack | # 45 | ‐ |
| Mick Ciallela Fantrax | # 59 | # 62 |
| Michael Petropoulos BRoto Fantasy | # 51 | # 58 |
| Jacob W. Dunne New Life Fantasy | # 56 | # 64 |
| Lucas Spence Pitcher List | # 58 | # 75 |
| Jordan Eisen Field of Vision Sports | # 50 | # 80 |
| Staff Rankings Roto Ranks | # 56 | # 58 |
| Chris Clegg Fantrax | # 51 | # 87 |
| Joe Pisapia FantasyPros | # 71 | # 103 |
| Nicklaus Gaut RotoBaller | # 69 | # 98 |
| Todd D Clark The Fantasy Fix | # 59 | # 58 |
| Jeff Boggis Fantasy Football Empire | # 60 | # 55 |
| Andrew Gould FantasyPros | # 62 | # 54 |
| Brad Camara FantasyPros | # 63 | # 58 |
| Max Freeze Freeze Stats | # 67 | # 50 |
| Mike Maher FantasyPros | # 68 | # 64 |
| Andy Singleton Expand The Boxscore | # 68 | # 48 |
| Jake Ciely The Athletic | # 72 | # 35 |
| Dan Harris FantasyPros | # 73 | # 68 |
| Carmen Maiorano FantasyPros | # 74 | # 42 |
| Brendan Tuma FantasyPros | # 78 | # 61 |
| Greg Smith The Fake Baseball | # 80 | # 58 |
| Nate Miller FantasyPros | # 82 | # 67 |
| Ariel Cohen FanGraphs | # 85 | # 70 |
| Ryan Amore Pitcher List | # 85 | # 47 |
| Rudy Gamble Razzball | # 87 | # 54 |
| Dalton Del Don Yahoo! Sports | # 88 | # 54 |
| Andrew Seifter FantasyPros | # 107 | # 51 |
| Muntradamus Beast Dome | # 107 | # 76 |
| Corbin Young FantasyData | # 161 | # 39 |
| Marco Gonzales SP - SEA | Craig Kimbrel RP - CWS | |
| 2020 Stats | ||
| Games Played | 11 | 18 |
| Games Started | 11 | 0 |
| Innings Pitched | 70.1 | 15.0 |
| Wins | 7 | 0 |
| Losses | 2 | 1 |
| Saves | 0 | 2 |
| Blown Saves | 0 | 1 |
| Holds | 0 | 3 |
| Hits Allowed | 59 | 10 |
| Earned Runs | 24 | 9 |
| Home Runs Allowed | 8 | 2 |
| Strikeouts | 64 | 28 |
| Walks | 7 | 12 |
| ERA | 3.10 | 5.28 |
| WHIP | 0.95 | 1.43 |
| Marco Gonzales SP - SEA | Craig Kimbrel RP - CWS | |
| 2021 Projections | ||
| Games Played | 29 | 56 |
| Games Started | 29 | 0 |
| Innings Pitched | 172.4 | 54.1 |
| Wins | 11 | 3 |
| Losses | 10 | 2 |
| Saves | 0 | 24 |
| Blown Saves | 0 | 11 |
| Holds | 0 | 4 |
| Hits Allowed | 174 | 40 |
| Earned Runs | 81 | 22 |
| Home Runs Allowed | 26 | 8 |
| Strikeouts | 142 | 79 |
| Walks | 38 | 26 |
| ERA | 4.25 | 3.65 |
| WHIP | 1.23 | 1.21 |
| Marco Gonzales SP - SEA | Craig Kimbrel RP - CWS | |
| News | ||
| Marco Gonzales took the no-decison on Wednesday against Boston, allowing three runs on three hits over six innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. Ari Koslow Thu, Sep 16th | Craig Kimbrel had a rough ninth inning, allowing a one out double followed by two walks and a sacrifice fly that scored a run. He did chip in two strikeouts though. Ethan Biddle - The Work of Ethan Biddle Mon, Sep 13th | |
| Marco Gonzales earned the win on Friday against Arizona, allowing three runs (all unearned) on four hits over six innings with three strikeouts and one walk. Ari Koslow Sat, Sep 11th | Craig Kimbrel pitched the seventh inning on Saturday, allowing one hit while striking out three batters. Ethan Biddle - The Work of Ethan Biddle Sun, Sep 5th | |
| Marco Gonzales earned the win on Saturday against Arizona, allowing five runs on eight hits over five innings with two strikeouts and one walk. Ari Koslow Sun, Sep 5th | Craig Kimbrel came into the ninth with a seven run lead but ended up giving up three earned runs on two hits and a walk. He would strike out two batters though. Ethan Biddle - The Work of Ethan Biddle Sat, Aug 28th | |
| Marco Gonzales earned the win on Sunday against Kansas City, allowing two runs on five hits over seven innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Ari Koslow Sun, Aug 29th | Craig Kimbrel pitched one inning, allowing one hit while also striking out one batter to earn his 24th save of the season and first with the White Sox. Ethan Biddle - The Work of Ethan Biddle Fri, Aug 27th | |
| Marco Gonzales took the no-decision on Monday against Oakland, allowing three runs on five hits over six innings with two strikeouts. Ari Koslow Tue, Aug 24th | Craig Kimbrel didn't allow a ball to leave the infield on Monday, but lost the game after an infield hit, a wild pitch, a sacrifice ground ball, and another wild pitch. He would also walk a batter and strike out two. Ethan Biddle - The Work of Ethan Biddle Tue, Aug 24th | |
| Notes | ||
| If you want to buy into performances from the 2020 season, then you'll have Gonzales significantly higher than you would otherwise. He made major gains last year, including up his strikeout rate to a career-best 23.1% and lowering his walk rate to a career-best 2.5%. Bu even with the gains, Gonzales's swinging strike rate was only 8.4% (below his career average), and his fastball velocity is close to the worst in the league. As a pure back end of the rotation starter, he's fine, but do not expect anything close to a 3.10 ERA again, and bake in regression for his strikeouts. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | As a whole, Kimbrel's 2020 numbers were abysmal. A 5.28 ERA, a 1.43 WHIP, and a walk rate of 17.4%. And yet, there were some encouraging signs. Not only did his strikeout rate bounce back to 40.6%, but he was actually an elite pitcher after his first four outings. How elite? He pitched to a 1.42 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP, and stuck out 53.1% of the batters he faced. It wasn't perfect, as Kimbrel still walked five batters per nine innings over that stretch. But he showed that he still has some has left in the tank. Although he never reclaimed the closer's job despite his strong finish, it's a good bet that the Cubs hand him the ninth-inning role to start, as they try to rebuild his trade value in the final year of his deal. That means Kimbrel should at least get save chances for the first several weeks of the season, and, as such, should be drafted as low-end second closer with just a modicum of upside. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | |
| Over his final 14 appearances (12 2/3 IP) Kimbrel registered a 27:7 K:BB ratio to go along with a 1.42 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. I'd like confirmation from the Cubs that he's entering the season as the closer before going "all in" on drafting him, but as long as he gets the ninth inning I'll be interested. Kimbrel has likely turned off many fantasy managers with some ugly blowup performances the past two years. This creates a buying opportunity. Kimbrel is a perfect candidate to draft for those who prefer to wait on saves. Brendan Tuma - FantasyPros | ||
