Who Should I Draft?
Willson Contreras or Josh Bell (2021)
Experts' Pick | ||
| Josh Bell 1B,DH - WSH  | Willson Contreras C,DH - CHC  | |
Expert |
78% Recommended by 39 of 50 experts |
22% Recommended by 11 of 50 experts |
| Rankings | ||
| ECR | # 76 | # 90 |
| Best Rank | # 44 | # 57 |
| Worst Rank | # 122 | # 184 |
| ADP | ||
| Composite | # 135 | # 117 |
| Best Rank | # 108 | # 90 |
| Worst Rank | # 147 | # 132 |
| Projections | ||
| Runs | 79 | 64 |
| Home Runs | 28 | 19 |
| RBI | 91 | 65 |
| Stolen Bases | 1 | 3 |
| Batting Average | .262 | .256 |
| Misc | ||
| Injury Alert | IL10 | - |
| Expert Ranks | ||
| Steve Gardner USA Today | # 79 | # 80 |
| Grey Albright Razzball | # 105 | # 113 |
| Greg Smith The Fake Baseball | # 58 | # 90 |
| Jeff Boggis Fantasy Football Empire | # 78 | # 83 |
| Muntradamus Beast Dome | # 59 | # 86 |
| Dalton Del Don Yahoo! Sports | # 54 | # 85 |
| KJ Fantasy Team Advice | # 62 | # 166 |
| Luke Gloeckner Mr. Cheatsheet | # 66 | # 115 |
| Dave McKay The Fantasy Sports Brain | # 79 | # 95 |
| Tim McCullough Baseball Prospectus | # 81 | # 84 |
| Rudy Gamble Razzball | # 78 | # 108 |
| Wayne Bretsky BretskyBall | # 96 | # 104 |
| Jake Ciely The Athletic | # 56 | # 97 |
| Joe Bond Fantasy Six Pack | # 71 | # 121 |
| Chris Meaney FTN | # 64 | # 84 |
| Mario Mergola Sporfolio | # 76 | # 79 |
| Nick Pollack Pitcher List | # 87 | ‐ |
| Nick Mariano RotoBaller | # 76 | # 99 |
| Michael Waterloo FantasyPros | # 101 | # 105 |
| Donkey Teeth Razzball | # 71 | # 103 |
| Dan Harris FantasyPros | # 70 | # 75 |
| Pierre Camus RotoBaller | # 64 | # 86 |
| Andrew Seifter FantasyPros | # 44 | # 120 |
| Dennis Sosic Fantasy Six Pack | # 70 | # 88 |
| Mick Ciallela Fantrax | # 79 | # 98 |
| Michael Petropoulos BRoto Fantasy | # 104 | # 141 |
| Ariel Cohen FanGraphs | # 70 | # 78 |
| Ryan Amore Pitcher List | # 60 | # 72 |
| Todd D Clark The Fantasy Fix | # 80 | # 107 |
| Brendan Tuma FantasyPros | # 74 | # 79 |
| Jacob W. Dunne New Life Fantasy | # 85 | # 88 |
| Carmen Maiorano FantasyPros | # 91 | # 184 |
| Lucas Spence Pitcher List | # 64 | # 101 |
| Jordan Eisen Field of Vision Sports | # 80 | # 88 |
| Brad Camara FantasyPros | # 54 | # 80 |
| Staff Rankings Roto Ranks | # 79 | # 88 |
| Chris Clegg Fantrax | # 81 | # 86 |
| Joe Pisapia FantasyPros | # 69 | # 80 |
| Nicklaus Gaut RotoBaller | # 52 | # 108 |
| Site Projections RotoChamp | # 121 | # 57 |
| Max Freeze Freeze Stats | # 78 | # 65 |
| Corbin Young FantasyData | # 78 | # 66 |
| Adam Ronis Fantasy Alarm | # 71 | # 67 |
| Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports | # 92 | # 70 |
| Andy Singleton Expand The Boxscore | # 80 | # 72 |
| Andy Behrens Yahoo! Sports | # 92 | # 73 |
| Heath Capps Fake Teams | # 87 | # 81 |
| Andrew Gould FantasyPros | # 87 | # 84 |
| Nate Miller FantasyPros | # 105 | # 86 |
| Mike Maher FantasyPros | # 122 | # 87 |
| Josh Bell 1B,DH - WSH | Willson Contreras C,DH - CHC | |
| 2020 Stats | ||
| At Bats | 195 | 189 |
| Runs | 22 | 37 |
| Hits | 44 | 46 |
| Singles | 33 | 29 |
| Doubles | 3 | 10 |
| Triples | 0 | 0 |
| Home Runs | 8 | 7 |
| RBI | 22 | 26 |
| Stolen Bases | 0 | 1 |
| Caught Stealing | 0 | 2 |
| Walks | 22 | 20 |
| Strikeouts | 59 | 57 |
| Batting Average | .226 | .243 |
| On Base Pct | .305 | .356 |
| Slugging Pct | .364 | .407 |
| On-base Plus Slugging | .669 | .763 |
| Josh Bell 1B,DH - WSH | Willson Contreras C,DH - CHC | |
| 2021 Projections | ||
| At Bats | 514 | 421 |
| Runs | 79 | 64 |
| Hits | 133 | 107 |
| Singles | 77 | 64 |
| Doubles | 26 | 21 |
| Triples | 2 | 2 |
| Home Runs | 28 | 19 |
| RBI | 91 | 65 |
| Stolen Bases | 1 | 3 |
| Caught Stealing | 1 | 2 |
| Walks | 69 | 47 |
| Strikeouts | 129 | 118 |
| Batting Average | .262 | .256 |
| On Base Pct | .350 | .330 |
| Slugging Pct | .486 | .450 |
| On-base Plus Slugging | .836 | .780 |
| Josh Bell 1B,DH - WSH | Willson Contreras C,DH - CHC | |
| News | ||
| The Nationals opening day roster includes Trea Turner but does not include Josh Bell, Kyle Schwarber, Josh Harrison, Yan Gomes, Alex Avila, Patrick Corbin, Jon Lester, or Brad Hand, according to MASN's Mark Zuckerman. The Nationals are currently dealing with a COVID outbreak, and these absences are all likely related to positive tests and close contact tracing. Mike Maher - The Birds Blitz Tue, Apr 6th | Willson Contreras went 1-for-4 with a run scored Saturday versus the Pirates. He also stole his second base of the season. Jamie Mellor Sun, Apr 11th | |
| Josh Bell and the Nationals avoid arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $6.35 million deal. Brad Camara Fri, Jan 15th | Willson Contreras is absent from Wednesday's lineup against the Brewers. Brendan Tuma - Too Much Tuma Wed, Apr 7th | |
| Willson Contreras went 1-for-3 but his one hit was a two-run homer. He was also hit in the head by a pitch but remained in the game. Jamie Mellor Tue, Apr 6th | ||
| Willson Contreras was the lone offensive bright spot in the Cubs' 5-3 loss to Pittsburgh in the season's first game. Despite officially going 0-for3, he scored twice as well as driving in one. The biggest surprise was Contreras also recorded a stolen base. Jamie Mellor Fri, Apr 2nd | ||
| Willson Contreras agreed to a one-year, $6.65 million deal with the Cubs to avoid arbitration. Jon Mathisen Fri, Jan 15th | ||
| Notes | ||
| Bell looked like a superstar in the making in the first half of 2019, but struggled for much of the second half of the season and then fell off a cliff in 2020. He slashed a mere .226/.305/.364 and hit only eight home runs. His strikeout and ground ball rates took massive jumps, while his walk rate and launch angle plummeted. Bell blamed his struggles on his swing getting long, and you could tell by how often he changed his stance and swing last year that he simply could not figure things out. Now with the Nationals, the 29-year-old Bell will have a chance to revive his career. We've seen the upside, so he's certainly worth drafting at a discount, but he's much more of a borderline corner infielder than a starting-caliber first baseman. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | Contreras has established a pretty decent baseline for what fantasy managers can expect over the course of a full season. He'll likely give you a floor of 15 home runs and 110 combined runs and RBI, with upside for more. Those numbers don't sound impressive, but they're enough to make Contreras a top-five catcher easily. Given his safety, there's an argument to be made to take him as high as second overall at the position. But, even so, there's no need to select him before the eighth round or so, as there's not an appreciable difference in the production of the next seven or eight catchers beyond J.T. Realmuto. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | |
| Was his first half 2019 performance a mirage? Bell has never even come close to matching that first half of a season during any other stretch in his career. He now gets a new home with a stronger lineup around him in Washington. If he can even come close to that breakout half, he will be a steal, otherwise, he will be a decent, albeit replaceable, 1B option. Michael Petropoulos - BRoto Fantasy | At this point Contreras is who he is. I understand the appeal, but when you can get someone like Travis d'Arnaud several rounds later, there is really no reason to draft Contreras at ADP. Michael Petropoulos - BRoto Fantasy | |
| Bell appeared to be enjoying a mid-career breakout two months into the 2019 season but pitchers suddenly stopped throwing him fastballs. The former first-round pick has had a difficult time adjusting back, and that two-month hot streak is beginning to look like an outlier performance. The book isn't closed on Bell being a productive regular, or even a difference-making fantasy asset, but I'm not holding out hope for a return to stardom. Expectations should be tempered. Brendan Tuma - FantasyPros | ||
