Fantasy Baseball Player Notes
2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Notes
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5.
Mike Trout
CF
For one of the first times since he took the league by storm, Trout is not the consensus top pick this year. It's hardly his fault, though it's fair to point out some of the negatives with his 2020 season. He batted a career-low .281, and posted his worst walk- and strikeout-rates since 2015. He also stole only one base. But Trout's move down the overall baseball rankings is due more to his competition for the top spot, rather than his numbers. He was still among the league leaders in quality of contact and every expected statcast metric, and was on pace to hit 50 home runs over the course of a full season. Trout is entering his age-30 season, so although we've seen him rebound from poor stolen base years before, it now seems unlikely that he'll ever get back to much past low-double digits. That keeps him out of the top spot in rotisserie rankings, but his incredibly high floor makes him a top-five overall draft pick.
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25.
Anthony Rendon
3B
Rendon's stock feels like it has dropped dramatically, but there's really nothing in the small sample size of the 2020 season that should alter your outlook much on him. Yes, he didn't hit the ball as hard consistently, but he walked more than ever, maintained his elite strikeout rate, and still put up a roughly 30-homer, 100-RBI pace. Still just 31 years old, there should be plenty left in the tank this season for the veteran, and he should once again be a strong four-category contributor, with a small bit of speed thrown in for good measure.
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101.
Raisel Iglesias
RP
Iglesias bounced back from a sub-par 2019 to post an excellent 2020 season, with a 2.74 ERA, a 0.91 WHIP, and the lowest walk rate of his career. He'll now move to the Angels where he'll keep his role as a closer. Iglesias's numbers should be solid as usual, and his precise value should hinge on whether the Angels use him in more of a multi-inning role like the Reds historically did (which limited Iglesias's save totals), or deploy him as a more traditional ninth-inning option. Either way, Iglesias will be the Angels' stopper, and hence, should be drafted as a strong top-10 RP option.
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124.
Dylan Bundy
SP
Bundy largely made good on the enormous amount of buzz that surrounded him after he moved from the Orioles to the Angels. He set career bests in ERA (3.29), WHIP (1.04), strikeout rate (27%), and walk rate (6.4%). Bundy's fastball, though it continued to trend down in velocity, was more effective than in years' past, in part because he cut way down on his usage of the pitch (just 33.6%, after throwing it at least 42.4% of the time in every previous season). His slider remained one of the best pitches in the game, and his remaining secondary pitches improved, too. At some point, Bundy's fastball velocity is going to become an issue, but there's little reason to expect that to come in 2021. Draft him as as an SP3.
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173.
Shohei Ohtani
SP,DH
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182.
Andrew Heaney
SP
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227.
David Fletcher
2B,3B,SS,LF
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230.
Jared Walsh
1B
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252.
Griffin Canning
SP
It's mostly about health with Canning, who offers a great deal of stability when he's on the mound. You can expect at worst a low 4.00 ERA, about a 1.30 WHIP, and roughly a strikeout per inning. But he did close last season notably strong, pitching to a 3.14 ERA, and a 1.19 WHIP, with a 14.5% swinging strike rate and a 10.4 K/9 mark over his final five starts. That's probably his ceiling, but it shows what he's capable of when he is healthy and gets into a groove. He's a fine pick at his cost (which is minimal), but bake in some injury risk.
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301.
Jo Adell
RF
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312.
Justin Upton
LF
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384.
Jose Iglesias
SS,DH
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393.
Jose Quintana
SP,RP
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424.
Max Stassi
C
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443.
Mike Mayers
RP
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469.
Kurt Suzuki
C
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502.
Alex Cobb
SP
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542.
Jack Kruger
C
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568.
Albert Pujols
1B,DH
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622.
Dexter Fowler
CF,RF
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660.
Ty Buttrey
RP
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670.
Patrick Sandoval
SP
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701.
Felix Pena
SP,RP
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715.
Alex Claudio
RP
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732.
Jaime Barria
SP,RP
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755.
Taylor Ward
LF,RF
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773.
Junior Guerra
RP
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827.
Dillon Peters
SP,RP
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859.
Packy Naughton
SP
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860.
Brandon Marsh
CF,RF
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931.
Jose Suarez
SP
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983.
Franklin Barreto
2B
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991.
Gerardo Reyes
RP
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996.
Luis Rengifo
2B,SS
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1082.
Kyle Keller
RP
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1111.
Jose Quijada
RP
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1122.
Jesse Chavez
SP,RP
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1125.
Brendan McCurry
RP
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1162.
Aaron Slegers
RP
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1200.
Jake Faria
SP,RP
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1222.
Luke Bard
SP,RP
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1329.
Anthony Bemboom
C
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1372.
Phil Gosselin
1B,DH,LF,RF
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1416.
Matt Thaiss
1B,3B
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1456.
Jack Mayfield
3B,SS
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1462.
Scott Schebler
CF,RF
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