Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Notes

Position

Team

Christian Yelich Note
	7. Christian Yelich LF Yelich's 2020 season was, in a word, bizarre. After batting .327 combined from 2018-2019, his batting average dropped to a meager .205 last year. Although he hit the ball as hard as ever, setting career highs in average exit velocity and hard hit percentage, his strikeout rate ballooned more than 10 points to 30.8%. At the same time, Yelich's walk rate jumped up to 18.6%. Unsurprisingly, the reason for the jump in both Yelich's strikeouts and walks was that he simply swung less - just 34.6% of the time after his mark hovered above 44% the previous two seasons. If Yelich takes the same passive approach in 2021, then it's likely that his batting average will remain below what fantasy managers had come to expect. But considering that his season was so out of line with what he'd produced since coming to Milwaukee, fantasy managers should expect far more this season, and feel confident drafting him late in the first round. 3 days ago

Keston Hiura Note
	47. Keston Hiura 2B,DH Hiura looked to be on the verge of superstardom heading into 2020, if he could just cut back on his bloated 30.7% strikeout rate. Instead, he struck out more than ever (34.6% of the time), en route to a league-leading 85 strikeouts. That led to a massive drop in production, notably in batting average, which fell from .303 in 2019 to .212 last year. Hiura was never a high-strikeout player in the minors. He never struck out more than 26.3% in any level and he had an overall strikeout rate of just 21%. If he can manage to cut down on the whiffs, he should be a top option at second base given his power and speed, but for now, drop him down your draft board a bit from where he was heading into 2020. He's still a borderline top-five option, especially since he will add first base eligibility after the Brewers signed Kolten Wong, but exercise more caution. 3 days ago

Lorenzo Cain Note
	124. Lorenzo Cain CF Cain opted out of the season last year after just five games, but he'll play and bat near the top of the Brewers' lineup this year. His steals total dropped to just 18 in 2019, and his sprint speed has been declining in recent years. But he talked openly about wanting to try to steal more bases before he opted out last year, and he's still a safe bet for batting average and double-digit homers. He's been forgotten a bit in drafts this year, but he's a fine fifth outfielder in mixed leagues. 3 days ago

Kolten Wong Note
	158. Kolten Wong 2B

Avisail Garcia Note
	193. Avisail Garcia CF

Jackie Bradley Jr. Note
	206. Jackie Bradley Jr. CF

Omar Narvaez Note
	240. Omar Narvaez C

Orlando Arcia Note
	271. Orlando Arcia SS

Luis Urias Note
	281. Luis Urias 2B,3B

Daniel Vogelbach Note
	283. Daniel Vogelbach DH

Travis Shaw Note
	312. Travis Shaw 1B,3B

Jacob Nottingham Note
	375. Jacob Nottingham C

Manny Pina Note
	380. Manny Pina C

Derek Fisher Note
	398. Derek Fisher RF

Luke Maile Note
	478. Luke Maile C

Billy McKinney Note
	516. Billy McKinney LF

Tim Lopes Note
	523. Tim Lopes LF,RF,DH

Tyrone Taylor Note
	534. Tyrone Taylor RF

Mark Mathias Note
	553. Mark Mathias RF

Jace Peterson Note
	565. Jace Peterson RF

Lucas Erceg Note
	594. Lucas Erceg 3B

Dustin Peterson Note
	629. Dustin Peterson LF

Zach Green Note
	632. Zach Green 3B

Corey Ray Note
	646. Corey Ray CF