Last year there were only four players that made it to the 20/20 club. Those players were A.J. Pollock, Ryan Braun, Paul Goldschmidt and Manny Machado. The year before, 2014, there were five members. Carlos Gomez, Ian Desmond, Michael Brantley, Brian Dozier and Todd Frazier. In 2013 there were nine. Carlos Gomez, Mike Trout, Andrew McCutchen, Hunter Pence, Will Veneble, Coco Crisp, Ian Desmond, Carlos Gonzalez and Shin-Soo Choo. Back in 2009 there were 14 players that hit at least 20 home runs and stole at least 20 bases. Attendance at the 20/20 club has been steadily falling. Are the days of the 20/20 player disappearing? How is Mike Trout’s name only listed once? What happened to Carlos Gomez? Coco Crisp? Will Veneble? More like Will Vdisable.
So how does the 2016 landscape look for 20/20 hopefuls? Based on each players’ current pace, here are the players on track for 20/20…
Jose Altuve, 26/41
Eduardo Nunez, 20/38
Melvin Upton, 24/36
Ian Desmond, 28/28
Mike Trout, 34/26
Mookie Betts, 34/24
Paul Goldschmidt, 28/20
Bryce Harper, 34/20
No one should be surprised to find Jose Altuve listed here. He has been the best player all season. But what about Eduardo Nunez? Where did the power come from? Any time you pick up a 20/20 guy from the waiver wire, you’ve got to pat yourself on the back. Same goes for Upton. I wonder how many people dropped Justin to pick up Melvin. The number is probably small, but it would have been the right move. Look at Ian Desmond vying to make it three of the last four seasons.
How many of these players will actually achieve the goal? I say all of them except Nunez who will fall just short in homers. That would give us seven for 2016. But I think there will be more. There are a few players that are currently just off the mark. They include Francisco Lindor (19/24), Odubel Herrera (19/22), Gregory Polanco (22/17) and Xander Bogaerts (17/20). I don’t know which, but I believe that one of these players will punch their ticket to the 20/20 club.
So much for my preseason projections which excepted no hitter to go 20/20. Perhaps that’s because I prefer to air on the side of caution, but still, not one? In other related news, the 30/30 and 40/40 clubs have closed their doors.
Perhaps 15/15 is the new 20/20? If so, we’d have to look at Anthony Rendon, Leonys Martin, Ian Kinsler, Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Correa as our new clientele. Or was it orange is the new black. I can’t remember. By the way, that show sucks. Decent finale, but the other 98 percent was a big Charle Barkley terrible. It’s actually the one show where a naked Lena Dunham might not look so bad. And… I just threw up a little in my mouth. There is no show in which she looks good naked.
So what does this all have to do with Points Leagues? Not much if I’m being honest. As I’ve said many times before, points are points. I don’t care how my players earn points. A 6-point solo home runs is no more valuable than three singles, a walk, a stolen base and a run scored. However, when a player hits 20/20, it’s usually a strong indicator of a well rounded player that is going to net you more fantasy points than the player that goes 10/15. While this is not always the case, it’s enough for me. Let points be points. An that’s my point.
One last bit I’d like mention. Based on current pace here are the top ten hitters by the end of the season based on points. Altuve, Josh Donaldson, Mookie Betts, David Ortiz, Mike Trout, Nolan Arenado, Wil Myers, Edwin Encarnacion, Anthony Rizzo and Bryce Harper.
