Fantasy Baseball Player Notes
2022 Fantasy Baseball Draft Notes
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9.
Kyle Tucker
RF
This former uber-prospect didn't disappoint in his first full MLB season, delivering the goods in five categories. There's room for more, as Tucker played 140 games and was typically slotted in the bottom half of the Astros' batting order. Tucker's contact rate is on the rise, he makes plenty of hard contact, and his flyball rate is what you're looking for in a power hitter. Tucker will probably never bee among the stolen base leaders, but he swiped 14 bags last year and has 20 SB upside. Tucker might just be scratching the surface of his talents. He figures to go somewhere close to the first-round/second-round turn, but he's destined to be a perennial first-rounder.
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16.
Yordan Alvarez
LF,DH
Power is his calling card, and Alvarez didn't disappoint in that department last year, mashing 33 HRs with 104 RBI. He had a healthy .277 batting average in 2021 and has a career mark of .290, so the power doesn't come at the expense of BA. The power peripherals are outstanding - he's in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity, maximum exit velocity and hard hit percentage. There could be a 50 HR season lurking here. Alvarez has just one SB in 233 career games, and he's had surgery on both knees. But if those granddad knees hold up, you're likely to be please with your return on investment.
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39.
Jose Altuve
2B
After a forgettable short season in 2020, Altuve tied a career high with 31 home runs last year, scored a career-high 117 runs and had 83 RBI despite hitting in the leadoff spot. The peripherals suggest that Altuve's 2021 HR total was somewhat fluky and park-aided. Altuve used to be good for 30+ stolen bases a season, but he's had 11 SBs in his last two full seasons combined. The days of .300 batting averages may be gone, too. Altuve has been below .300 in each of the last three seasons and has batted .277 over that span. We should at least be able to count on a lot of runs with Altuve batting at the top of a stacked lineup, but the ceiling here isn't what it used to be. Exercise caution as Altuve enters his age-32 season.
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54.
Alex Bregman
3B
After his monster 2019 season (.296, 41 HRs, 112 RBI), Bregman's last two campaigns have been disappointing. Quad and hamstring issues limited him to .348 ABs last season, and he batted .270 with 12 HRs, 55 RBI and 54 runs. Uninspiring Statcast numbers suggest that another 40 HR season isn't in the cards. Bregman is a career .281 hitter, however, and he'll make worthwhile contributions in RBI and runs. Just don't pay for the Bregman of 2018-2019.
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97.
Trey Mancini
1B,DH,RF
Mancini was one of the best baseball stories of 2021 as he returned from missing the 2020 season due to cancer to put up a productive year. He dipped significantly from his outstanding 2019 numbers (.291/.364/.535), but his underlying metrics largely held firm. The truth is that Mancini was just a bit lucky in 2019, as he outperformed his expected numbers in nearly every category, and was comparably unlucky in 2021, underperforming those same numbers by similar amounts. His true version likely lies somewhere in between, and that's not a bad thing. Expect an improvement from most of his numbers last year, but bank on 25 homers, rather than the 34 he totaled in 2019, particularly with the new dimensions in left field in Camden Yards.
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111.
Yuli Gurriel
1B
Gurriel returned to being the player he was prior to 2019's massive power outburst - a player who will help you in batting average and hit 15-20 homers with counting stats helped by batting in a strong Houston lineup. He should easily do that again this year, despite entering his age-38 season. Gurriel doesn't strike out much, but he just doesn't offer the qualitty of contact necessary to be a fantasy asset absent an aberration like his 2019 season. Book the usual - a near .300 average with 15 home runs - and stick him in your corner infield spot in deeper leagues. Just give up dreams of more.
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120.
Michael Brantley
LF,RF,DH
Brantley is one of the most consistent players in all of fantasy baseball, and so long as you're looking for what he gives you, there's nothing wrong with that. He's a lock to bat .300 and he'll generally offer decent runs and RBI totals batting in a strong Houston lineup. But the power that we saw in 2019 was an aberration at this point, and unless MLB uses juiced balls again, Brantley is likely to end up in the 10-12 home run range. At an advancing age, there's always reason to be concerned that he'll fall off a cliff, but nothing in his profile suggests that is imminent. Draft him for batting average but make sure you can make up the speed and power elsewhere.
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167.
Christian Vazquez
1B,C
Vazquez's power fell off a cliff last year, as his barrel percentage and hard-hit rate plummeted to some of the worst in the league. He's 31 years old now, about the time that a catcher begins to head downhill, so expecting a rebound is probably overly optimistic. He'll likely still have decent runs and RBI for a catcher just by virtue of playing for the Red Sox, but he's no longer someone to draft as your starting backstop in a one-catcher league.
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197.
Jeremy Pena
SS
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270.
Chas McCormick
LF,CF,RF
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290.
Martin Maldonado
C
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306.
Jake Meyers
CF
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353.
Niko Goodrum
2B,SS,LF
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369.
Aledmys Diaz
1B,2B,3B,DH,LF,SS
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374.
Jason Castro
C
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424.
Mauricio Dubon
2B,3B,CF,LF,SS
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445.
Lewis Brinson
LF,CF
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482.
Korey Lee
C
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589.
Taylor Jones
1B,LF
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643.
Pedro Leon
SS,CF
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716.
Alex De Goti
2B
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