Fantasy Baseball Player Notes
2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Notes
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60.
Matt Olson
1B
Olson again hit for a ton of power last year, and ranked in the top nine percent of the league in average exit velocity for the third straight season. But he struck out 31.4% of the time, which contributed to a massive average drop to just .195. Olson had a bit of bad luck, as his xBA was .224, but still, it was by far his worst career mark. Although he'll never be a high average hitter, it's a good bet that he'll return something this year closer to his .245 career mark. Combine that with his likely near-40 home run season, and he'll make a fine mid-round selection and starting first baseman for any fantasy team.
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66.
Matt Chapman
3B
Chapman lost a significant chunk of his 2020 season to a torn labrum in his hip, and had surgery to repair the injury. It seems obvious that the injury was bothering him all year, as evidenced by his massive jump in strikeout rate (35.5%) and corresponding drop in walk rate. There's little reason to give Chapman's 2020 season any credence given what he'd shown the previous two years. Expect him to bounce back to the 30-homer bat with decent all-around production that we had come to expect, and enjoy the discount that his numbers from last year provide.
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85.
Ramon Laureano
CF,RF
Laureano had a down 2020, which included a .213 batting average and a sharp decline in his Statcast data, as well as his steal attempts. But he had provided a fairly solid baseline over the two prior seasons, with a .288 batting average, 29 home runs, and 20 steals while being caught just three times over 171 games. Laureano doesn't excel anywhere, but he'll chip in almost everywhere, and you can get him beyond the 12th round in most drafts. He's an ideal fourth outfielder in mixed leagues.
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127.
Sean Murphy
C
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137.
Mark Canha
1B,LF,CF,RF,DH
Fantasy managers seem to have declared Canha's 2019 season as a fluke after he hit just five home run last year, but much of his 2020 seems to suggest 2019 was fairly legitimate. Canha built on his massive gains in walk rate in 2019 (13.5%) and increased it to 15.2%, and his quality of contact largely remained the same. He's got 20-homer power still, and he'll likely lead off or bat second for the A's. You won't need to pay much for him and given his average draft position, there's a high probability of a profit.
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187.
Elvis Andrus
SS
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231.
Stephen Piscotty
RF
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257.
Mitch Moreland
1B
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311.
Chad Pinder
2B,3B,LF,RF
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353.
Tony Kemp
2B,LF,CF
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405.
Jed Lowrie
2B,DH
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413.
Seth Brown
1B,LF
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445.
Aramis Garcia
C
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486.
Austin Allen
C
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525.
Vimael Machin
3B,SS
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532.
Ka'ai Tom
CF,RF
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595.
Luis Barrera
CF
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622.
Greg Deichmann
RF
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634.
Skye Bolt
CF
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660.
Nick Allen
SS
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686.
Pete Kozma
2B,SS
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