Fantasy Baseball Player Notes
2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Notes
![]() |
29.
Zack Greinke
SP
Greinke is entering his age-37 season, but still somehow keeps getting it done. His ERA of 4.03 last year was certainly higher than fantasy managers are used to seeing, but it came with a 2.80 FIP and 3.51 xFIP. His strikeout rate was his best since 2017 and his walk rate of 3.3% was the best of his entire career. But his velocity was down about two ticks, with his fastball clocking in at just 87.9 miles per hour. Greinke is as smart a pitcher as there is but it's going to be difficult to succeed over the course of a full 162-game season if his pure stuff continues to diminish. He's one of the few pitchers in the game who is probably capable of pitching 200 innings in 2021, but expect a continued downward trend in his performance.
|
![]() |
42.
Lance McCullers Jr.
SP
McCullers made a successful return from Tommy John surgery after missing the 2019 season and looked almost exactly like the 2018 version of himself. His ERA (3.93) and WHIP (1.16) were within seven-tenths of a point of his 2018 numbers, and his walk and strikeout rates fell just slightly. McCullers relied a bit more on his sinker and less on his curveball than in past years, but the two work well together and he continued to throw them in combination about 80% of the time. In short, what you thought of McCullers heading into 2018 is pretty much what you should think of him now. Unfortunately, that includes concerns about his innings, because after a missed year and 55 innings last year, the chances of him topping 150 innings this season are remote. Buy him at his production, but understand that there's likely a hard cap on his innings total.
|
![]() |
45.
Ryan Pressly
RP
Pressly had his usual solid season, but got the benefit of closing for the Astros after Roberto Osuna's injury. His numbers fell off a bit from the previous two years (his 1.33 WHIP was particularly out of character), but he will almost certainly rebound from the .365 BABIP he allowed. He's slated to again be the Astros' closer, and as such, should provide plenty of saves while giving fantasy managers positive value in ratios. That makes him one of the few reliable closers worth drafting at more than a late-round price.
|
![]() |
71.
Jose Urquidy
SP
|
![]() |
82.
Cristian Javier
SP
|
![]() |
90.
Framber Valdez
SP
Valdez was shaping up to be a fine sleeper this year, after he had a highly successful stint in the Astros rotation last year. But he fractured his finger early in spring training and the expectation is that he'll miss significant time, and possibly the season. Until you hear he's out for the year, draft him late as a potential stash candidate. But based on the early prognosis, he's a bench option at best, who you'll need to stash in an IL spot for most of the year.
|
![]() |
111.
Jake Odorizzi
SP
|
![]() |
230.
Forrest Whitley
SP
|
![]() |
244.
Justin Verlander
SP
|
![]() |
277.
Josh James
RP
|
![]() |
280.
Pedro Baez
RP
|
![]() |
325.
Steve Cishek
RP
|
![]() |
328.
Enoli Paredes
RP
|
![]() |
329.
Joe Smith
RP
|
![]() |
331.
Luis Garcia
RP
|
![]() |
364.
Tyler Ivey
SP
|
![]() |
367.
Ryne Stanek
RP
|
![]() |
480.
Brandon Bielak
SP
|
![]() |
493.
Blake Taylor
RP
|
![]() |
560.
Kent Emanuel
RP
|
![]() |
591.
Austin Pruitt
RP
|
![]() |
651.
Bryan Abreu
RP
|
![]() |
668.
Francis Martes
RP
|
![]() |
671.
Nivaldo Rodriguez
RP
|
![]() |
766.
Andre Scrubb
RP
|