Fantasy Baseball Player Notes
2021 Fantasy Baseball Draft Notes
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1.
Jacob deGrom
SP
deGrom barely missed out on winning his third straight Cy Young Award last year, but it was yet another dominant season. For the third straight year, he came in with a WHIP under 1.00, an ERA under 2.50, and a strikeout percentage above 31%. deGrom is getting up there in age, but it's worth remembering that he has fewer miles on his arm than most pitcher entering their age-33 season, given that he didn't transition to pitching until late in his college career and missed significant time with injuries during his time in the minors. deGrom has shown no decline in his game, and should hopefully (finally) begin to pile on more wins this year pitching for a better team in front of an improved bullpen. He should be the first or second starting pitcher taken and is an obvious first-round pick.
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23.
Carlos Carrasco
SP
Carrasco returned strong from his battle with leukemia in 2019 to post a 2.91 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 2020. Pretty much everything was back to normal with Carrasco's production other than his walk rate, where he went from several years under 6% to a 9.6% mark in 2020. That's likely just the oddities of a shortened season, however, and now that Carrasco is with the Mets, his stock should only go up. Not only should the Mets provide him with a better chance at wins, but their infield defense should be above average and Carrasco will play in a more favorable park. In other words, it's all gravy for Carrasco, and he can be drafted as an SP2.
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28.
Edwin Diaz
RP
Diaz's overall numbers bounced back in a monstrous way last season. He dropped his ERA from a bloated 5.59 in 2019 to a 1.75, and upped his strikeout rate to a career-best 45.5%. He was among the league leaders in nearly every expected statistic (batting average, slugging percentage wOBA, and ERA), and he cut his HR/9 rate from 2.33 to just 0.70. Diaz's walk rate actually regressed, however, as he issued free passes to nearly five batters per nine innings. That's not often a recipe for success from a closer, but Diaz can survive at that rate if he continues to keep the strikeouts up and limit the long balls. In the end, Diaz does carry some risk given his history, but he should be drafted as one of the upper echelon closers in the game, if not a touch behind the truly elite options.
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76.
Marcus Stroman
SP
Stroman missed the entire 2020 season after battling a calf injury and then opting out, but he'll return to the Mets after accepting the team's qualifying offer. Stroman's strikeout rate jumped after his trade to the National League, but with a career 58.7% ground ball rate, he'll need the Mets' infield defense to be better than it was in 2019. The trade for Francisco Lindor should help, as should his reported development of both a new split changeup and four-seam fastball. Stroman has always had a decent floor, but now out of the AL East and with some tweaks to his arsenal coming, he possesses plenty of upside as a late-round draft pick.
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113.
Noah Syndergaard
SP
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116.
Taijuan Walker
SP
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132.
Seth Lugo
SP,RP
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165.
David Peterson
SP
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166.
Trevor May
RP
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193.
Joey Lucchesi
SP
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254.
Dellin Betances
RP
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371.
Aaron Loup
RP
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375.
Jeurys Familia
RP
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419.
Sam McWilliams
SP
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430.
Robert Gsellman
SP
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435.
Jordan Yamamoto
SP
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448.
Thomas Szapucki
SP
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452.
Tommy Hunter
RP
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470.
Miguel Castro
RP
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535.
Jacob Barnes
RP
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555.
Corey Oswalt
RP
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600.
Arodys Vizcaino
RP
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606.
Jerry Blevins
RP
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608.
Drew Smith
RP
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642.
Daniel Zamora
RP
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644.
Sean Reid-Foley
RP
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646.
Stephen Tarpley
RP
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697.
Yennsy Diaz
RP
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741.
Franklyn Kilome
RP
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813.
Mike Montgomery
RP
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