Fantasy Baseball Player Notes
2022 Fantasy Baseball Draft Notes
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12.
Ronald Acuna Jr.
RF
In any other year, Acuna, Jr. is an easy top-five pick. The five-category star is a set-it-and-forget-it roster heavyweight. But coming off a gruesome mid-summer ACL tear, he's likely to miss most of April and possibly some of May, and Acuna is unlikely to wreak havoc on the basepaths for the first couple months. He's going to rake once he's healthy, but you might want to pass on Acuna unless you get a significant discount on him.
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14.
Ozzie Albies
2B
Ignoring the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Albies stands alone as the only player to score 100 runs, hit 20 home runs and steal 10 bases over each of the last three full seasons. He's a surefire five-category hitter coming into his prime. If Mookie Betts doesn't maintain 2B eligibility in your league, Albies is the No. 2 second baseman behind Trea Turner.
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20.
Matt Olson
1B
The Braves' new slugger posted career highs across the board last season - 39 HRs, 111, RBI, 101 runs and a .271 BA - and as he enters his age-28 season, he should be in his prime. The elite power is here to stay, and after batting .195 in the shortened 2020 season, Olson made huge strides in his contact rate (80%) last year and batted a very respectable .271. Going from Oakland to the Braves' friendlier ballpark could spike his HR total. Olson is a worthy power anchor.
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35.
Austin Riley
1B,3B
Riley's value swings wildly depending on whether you play in an OBP league or a BA league. In the former, he's a four category stud. In the latter, he's a slightly overvalued three category asset. The young slugger should continue to get better, but reaching last year's ceiling may not be realistic. Kim Kardashian has a better chance of winning an Oscar for Best Actress than Riley does of equaling his 2021 second-half .397 BABIP. That said, while you don't want to reach for him based on his RBI numbers last year, the 3B position isn't as deep as usual, so Riley isn't a bad pick in the fifth or sixth round.
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102.
Eddie Rosario
LF,RF
Rosario re-signed with the Braves after coming over mid-season last year from Clevelan. He's still a productive MLB player but it's unclear if he can recapture the form that made him one of the more underrated assets in fantasy. He's no longer out-performing his expected batting average and he's never hit the ball particularly hard, so the 32 home runs we saw back in 2019 are probably never coming back. But he'll likely approach a 20-10 season in Atlanta and stick in the lineup every day with the addition of the DH in the National League. You could do worse as your last outfielder in a mixed league.
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109.
Marcell Ozuna
LF
Ozuna missed the majority of the season after he was arrested on charges of aggravated assault by strangulation and battery last year. He's 31 years old now and his hard hit rate and average exit velocity declined sharply last year, along with his home run percentage and batting average. It's not clear if his numbers last year were just a blip or the start of a steep decline, but you shouldn't be relying on him as a starter for now.
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168.
Travis d'Arnaud
C
d'Arnaud has plenty of offensive talent, but he's now 33 years old and coming off an injury-plagued season that limited him to just 60 games. That's been the bugaboo for d'Arnaud throughout his career, as he's never had more than 391 plate appearances in a season. If you could guarantee his health, then his power upside and strong supporting cast would likely be enough to make him a top-12 catcher. But there's no way to bank on that, so outside of NL-only or two-catcher formats, don't bother with him in fantasy.
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259.
Sam Hilliard
LF,CF,RF
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302.
Manny Pina
C
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381.
Orlando Arcia
2B,LF
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396.
William Contreras
C
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488.
Chadwick Tromp
C
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