Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Notes

Position

Team

Javier Baez Note
	56. Javier Baez SS Everything went wrong for Baez in 2020. His already high strikeout rate increased to 31.9%. His already low walk rated fell to an abysmal 3.0%. He swung less, made contact less, and did not hit the ball as hard as he used to. In the end, Baez earned every bit of his .203 batting average and poor counting stats. But how much weight do you put into a 59-game stretch for a veteran like Baez, particularly when he complained that his inability to watch video between at-bats affected his overall performance. The answer is a little, but not all that much. Baez had a stellar three-year run as a reliable power-speed combination, and he'll be just 28 years old this season. The Cubs lineup won't be overly strong, but Baez should certainly put up numbers closer to his 2017-2019 totals than those he put up in 2020. 4 weeks ago

Anthony Rizzo Note
	74. Anthony Rizzo 1B Rizzo's average dropped to just .222 last year and his counting stats waned, though the latter failing was much more due to the lack of production from the rest of the Cubs lineup. His walk and strikeout rates, however, stayed mostly in line, and his BABIP was an artificially low .218 (career mark of .289), which is partly why there was such a gap between his xBA of .266 and his actual batting average. With that said, Rizzo didn't hit the ball nearly as hard last year, as he saw career worsts in average exit velocity and hard hit rate. He likely won't ever be the player he was at his peak, but there's still plenty in his bat that can help fantasy managers, including the handful of steals he will throw in each year. He's a starting-caliber first baseman still, without question, and he'll go at a discount because of last year's numbers. 4 weeks ago

Kyle Hendricks Note
	76. Kyle Hendricks SP Hendricks is the Rodney Dangerfield of fantasy pitchers in that he never gets the respect he deserves. He's had an ERA above 3.46 once in his career and he's never had a WHIP higher than 1.19. Yes, his strikeout rate is never going to help fantasy managers, but Dave Ross let him go deeper into games last year (Hendricks' 81 innings pitched were among the most in MLB), so he should make up for his lack of strikeout rate with some additional innings. The Cubs probably won't be a great team but the NL Central has mostly weak offenses, so Hendricks should find his way to enough wins to make a difference. Ignore the fact that he outperforms his expected metrics every year. Hendricks is a reliable, high-end SP3 for a fantasy team. Just be sure to take care of strikeouts elsewhere. 4 weeks ago

Kris Bryant Note
	100. Kris Bryant 3B,LF,RF Bryant had a terrible 2020 season, but it seems like fantasy managers are forgetting how consistent he's been. Over the last four seasons, he has a 162-game pace of a .278 average, 29 home runs, 112 run scored, 80 RBI, and five steals. His quality of contact was awful last season, but hard contact has never really been his calling card anyway, and he battled back and wrist injuries. Bryant doesn't deserve a mulligan entirely for last season, but give it minimal weight in your evaluation. 4 weeks ago

Willson Contreras Note
	138. Willson Contreras C Contreras has established a pretty decent baseline for what fantasy managers can expect over the course of a full season. He'll likely give you a floor of 15 home runs and 110 combined runs and RBI, with upside for more. Those numbers don't sound impressive, but they're enough to make Contreras a top-five catcher easily. Given his safety, there's an argument to be made to take him as high as second overall at the position. But, even so, there's no need to select him before the eighth round or so, as there's not an appreciable difference in the production of the next seven or eight catchers beyond J.T. Realmuto. 4 weeks ago

Ian Happ Note
	141. Ian Happ 2B,3B,LF,CF Happ has always made consistently hard contact, but his strikeout rate was simply untenable, hovering around 34% in his first two seasons. But he has cut that down to a more manageable 26% over the last two years, and he's batted .260 with 23 home runs and 58 RBI over 115 games in that span. Happ has some speed even if he hasn't shown it recently, and he'll likely bat leadoff for the Cubs, who may need to manufacture runs more than in previous years. The average probably won't help you much, but he should contribute in four categories at a relatively inexpensive price. 4 weeks ago

Craig Kimbrel Note
	172. Craig Kimbrel RP As a whole, Kimbrel's 2020 numbers were abysmal. A 5.28 ERA, a 1.43 WHIP, and a walk rate of 17.4%. And yet, there were some encouraging signs. Not only did his strikeout rate bounce back to 40.6%, but he was actually an elite pitcher after his first four outings. How elite? He pitched to a 1.42 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP, and stuck out 53.1% of the batters he faced. It wasn't perfect, as Kimbrel still walked five batters per nine innings over that stretch. But he showed that he still has some has left in the tank. Although he never reclaimed the closer's job despite his strong finish, it's a good bet that the Cubs hand him the ninth-inning role to start, as they try to rebuild his trade value in the final year of his deal. That means Kimbrel should at least get save chances for the first several weeks of the season, and, as such, should be drafted as low-end second closer with just a modicum of upside. 4 weeks ago

Joc Pederson Note
	241. Joc Pederson 1B,LF,RF

Zach Davies Note
	262. Zach Davies SP Davies has quietly put together two quality seasons, with a 3.55 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 2019, and a 2.73 ERA and 1.07 WHIP last year. Notably, he started throwing more changeups in 2020, which led both to an increased swinging strike rate and strikeout rate. But his xERA was still 5.01, and although he routinely outperforms his expected stats, it's a reminder not to get too high on a pitcher who amounts to a command specialist. The upside is that after a trade to the Cubs, he'll face mostly weak offenses, which should help to boost his floor a bit. 4 weeks ago

Adbert Alzolay Note
	375. Adbert Alzolay SP

Jason Heyward Note
	389. Jason Heyward CF,RF

Nico Hoerner Note
	451. Nico Hoerner 2B,3B,SS

Brandon Workman Note
	458. Brandon Workman RP

Rowan Wick Note
	478. Rowan Wick RP

David Bote Note
	492. David Bote 2B,3B

Alec Mills Note
	501. Alec Mills SP,RP

Andrew Chafin Note
	560. Andrew Chafin RP

Jason Adam Note
	584. Jason Adam RP

Austin Romine Note
	625. Austin Romine C

Pedro Strop Note
	629. Pedro Strop RP

Ryan Tepera Note
	659. Ryan Tepera RP

Jake Marisnick Note
	675. Jake Marisnick CF

Eric Sogard Note
	721. Eric Sogard 2B,3B,RF

Jake Arrieta Note
	730. Jake Arrieta SP

Dan Winkler Note
	813. Dan Winkler RP

Trevor Williams Note
	823. Trevor Williams SP

Jonathan Holder Note
	827. Jonathan Holder RP

Cameron Maybin Note
	862. Cameron Maybin LF,RF

Robert Stock Note
	876. Robert Stock RP

Justin Steele Note
	906. Justin Steele SP

Keegan Thompson Note
	948. Keegan Thompson SP

Cory Abbott Note
	964. Cory Abbott SP

Kyle Ryan Note
	984. Kyle Ryan RP

Shelby Miller Note
	1021. Shelby Miller SP,RP

Brad Wieck Note
	1044. Brad Wieck RP

Tony Wolters Note
	1050. Tony Wolters C

Tyson Miller Note
	1075. Tyson Miller P

Dillon Maples Note
	1117. Dillon Maples RP

Adam Morgan Note
	1143. Adam Morgan RP

Trevor Megill Note
	1166. Trevor Megill RP

Ildemaro Vargas Note
	1190. Ildemaro Vargas 2B,3B

Matt Duffy Note
	1284. Matt Duffy 2B,3B

Manuel Rodriguez Note
	1291. Manuel Rodriguez RP

Brailyn Marquez Note
	1297. Brailyn Marquez RP

Rex Brothers Note
	1343. Rex Brothers RP

Kohl Stewart Note
	1344. Kohl Stewart SP,RP

Joe Biagini Note
	1371. Joe Biagini RP

P.J. Higgins Note
	1406. P.J. Higgins C

Jose Lobaton Note
	1428. Jose Lobaton C

Michael Hermosillo Note
	1457. Michael Hermosillo LF

Rafael Ortega Note
	1460. Rafael Ortega LF,CF

Sergio Alcantara Note
	1475. Sergio Alcantara

Ian Miller Note
	1533. Ian Miller CF,RF

Patrick Wisdom Note
	1536. Patrick Wisdom 1B