Fantasy Baseball Player Notes
2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Notes
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4.
Juan Soto
LF,RF
There aren't enough superlatives in the English language to describe what Soto has done in his career given his young age. Had he merely repeated his incredible 2019 numbers last season, fantasy managers would have been ecstatic. Instead, he upped his walk rate from an elite 16.4% to a truly remarkable 20.9%, cut his strikeout rate down to just 14.3%, and batted .351. Soto does not have the speed or baserunning chops to steal 30 bases in a season, which is the only thing keeping him from being considered worthy of drafting first overall. But given what he's accomplished through his age-21 season, it's truly scary to think of how high his ceiling may be. Draft him as a top-five pick and enjoy the ridiculous production.
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76.
Josh Bell
1B,DH
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.
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87.
Victor Robles
CF
There were plenty of warning signs with Robles' batted-ball data heading into 2020, and they're only greater now after an abysmal season during which he slashed .220/.293/.315. The MLB average in barrel rate and average exit velocity are 6.4% and 88.3 MPH, respectively. Robles clocked in at 4.8% and 83.3 MPH in 2019, and then fell to a ridiculous 1.7% and 82.2 MPH in 2020. His continously poor contact limits any upside, but it's worth noting that he still hit 17 homers and stole 28 bases in 2019 despite it all. Robles is still just entering his age-24 season, so massive long-term growth is still certainly on the table. But for now, it's impossible to justify drafting him as anything more than a fifth outfielder in mixed leagues.
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283.
Luis Garcia
2B
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296.
Carter Kieboom
3B
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306.
Alex Avila
C
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314.
Lane Thomas
RF,LF,CF
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332.
Andrew Stevenson
LF,RF,CF
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429.
Keibert Ruiz
C
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444.
Welington Castillo
C
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454.
Mike Ford
1B
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505.
Yadiel Hernandez
DH,RF,LF
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542.
Ryan Zimmerman
1B
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581.
Tres Barrera
C
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605.
Gerardo Parra
RF,LF
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610.
Raudy Read
C
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654.
Jordy Mercer
SS,2B,3B
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693.
Jake Noll
1B
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743.
Yasmany Tomas
DH
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783.
Nick Banks
RF
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