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Jeremy Brewer

Author: Jeremy Brewer

Read some of Jeremy Brewer's 166 posts

Jeremy Brewer

Hitter Profiles: Hot Corner Conundrum

February 6, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball | 6 Comments

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It is February!  We are less than two weeks away from Pitchers and Catchers reporting across Florida and Arozarena.  Sorry, does anybody else have nightmares of Randy dingers?  Just me?  So, as we turn the calendar and everyone is talking about the outlook for Nolan Arenado, I have decided to zig while the rest of the ‘normal’ writers zag.  We kick-off the month with a heavyweight battle between Tempe’s sweetheart Mr. Anthony Rendon and the baby face of Fort Myers in Mr. Rafael Devers.

While 3B has become deeper over the past few years, there continues to be a jockeying for position near the top of the positional rankings.  Looking at NFBC ADP since the beginning of the year Devers and Rendon are going back-to-back near the end of the fourth round.  So how do these two profiles look for the 2021 fantasy baseball season?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jeremy Brewer

Hitter Profiles: What Happens in the Outfield, Stays in the Outfield

January 30, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball | 8 Comments

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The outfield is a special place on the ballfield.  Open grasses, the last line of defense to the long ball and nobody to hear the inevitable self-scolding when something does not go as planned.  Not only is it a special place, but over the years it has allowed us the opportunity to witness immensely talented defensive wizards such as Nelson Cruz, Kyle Schwarber, Matt Adams and even Jose Canseco (who had Canseco on the Razzball bingo board?).

Position scarcity is not what it once was, but outfield is still a rather deep position at the draft table.  Today I profile 3 players you have specifically requested, and all are coming off strong showings in the unique 2020 season.  Let us look and see if we have any diamonds in that rough outfield grass for the 2021 fantasy baseball season.

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Jeremy Brewer

Hitter Profiles: The Christian and Trevor ‘Story’

January 23, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball | 3 Comments

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This week we start getting into hitter profiles for the 2021 fantasy baseball season and what better way to start out than two guys battling it out for draft position at the end of the first round.  Not only that, but Trevor “walking pun” Story and Christian Yelich’s boyish looks are just too tempting to pass up for any writer.  The downfall being that there are way too many jokes to write and so little word count to do so.  Like honestly, we could go into a Story about the how good the Marlins could have been if they cared about winning when they had Yelich.  But alas, wasting time when I could have just stuck the pun in the title and moved on.

Alright, let us get to why you are reading, each week I will be grabbing two hitters that are close to each other in ADP and breaking down their 2020 (and likely 2019) with what I would expect in 2021.  Then we will make like a good old western, take everybody out back and have a true standoff until a winner prevails.  Let us jump into this and see where it takes us!

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Jeremy Brewer

Hitter Profiles: Playing Not to Lose!

January 16, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball | 22 Comments

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Back in my playing days, coaches would always talk about playing to win.  If you are trying not to lose, then you have already lost the game as fear has let itself in.  They were right and maybe if I had listened, I would be dominating the little league circuit rather than writing this article.  Alas, here we are and playing not to lose is finally coming in handy!

There are three categories that can ensure a team does not win a championship at the draft table.  These categories are not sexy enough or simply forgotten in the draft before it gets too late.  For that reason, I take a specific yet simple strategy on these categories…Do Not Draft Player X!  Within the first 10 rounds of a draft, I will intentionally avoid certain players to ensure the floor of my team is where it needs to be going into the later rounds of the draft where I must fill out my roster.  I do not care how far a guy falls, he damages the overall picture I am trying to paint with my roster.  Here is the breakdown of those categories:

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Jeremy Brewer

Top 50 Middle Infielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball – The Final Countdown

September 18, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Top 50 Middle Infielders |

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There is just under two weeks left in the regular season.  In single-season leagues, there is no more waiting.  It is perfectly acceptable to drop the struggling star while playing for the category wins.  While this column all season has been focused on 2020, unless you are in the running at this point you are moving on to 2021.  Even if you are in the running, you might have one foot out the door of 2020.  I know most of the world does…

In keeping with the 3 Up, 3 Down and 3 to Watch theme, let us take a look at a few of my favorite names up the middle of the infield to watch going into 2021:

  • Dansby Swanson – I will admit I was not a believer in Swanson going into this season and it seems there is still some doubt in the industry. Is anybody else questioning why he is only 85% owned in Yahoo leagues?
  • Whit Merrifield – There was concern this year that Merrifield was not going to run enough to stay relevant. Not only has he been running, but he is on a 30/30 pace for an entire season.  Merrifield has a high floor and will be consistently undervalued playing for the Royals.
    • Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jeremy Brewer

Top 50 Middle Infielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball – Deadline Edition

September 5, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Top 50 Middle Infielders | 19 Comments

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There are just over three weeks left in the regular season.  The real and fantasy trade deadlines have passed.  Did the trade deadline give us much movement in the top 50 middle infielders for the rest of the 2020 fantasy baseball season?  At my extremely unofficial count, we saw 4 notable middle infielders move at the deadline.  A quick breakdown of the impact to their production the rest of the season:

  • Ty France
    • There will be increased playing time for somebody who put up a .399/.477/.770 line in AAA during 2019. I know it was at El Paso in the PCL, but any chance to give this guy consistent playing time is worth it and it sounds like Seattle has been targeting France for some time.
  • Tommy La Stella
    • La Stella has been a solid contributor this year and was an all-star last year. He joins a team that is going to be playoff bound and has much more to be playing for as the season rounds out.  Boasting a league leading strikeout rate, he has some deeper league appeal
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Jeremy Brewer

Top 50 Middle Infielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball – A New Story at the Top

August 15, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Top 50 Middle Infielders | 25 Comments

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One third of the season is in the books and things are going exactly as planned across the league!  With such a predictable season, it should be little surprise that our Middle Infielder Rankings are stable…right?  That could not be further from the truth.  At this point, we are enjoying our first  glance at the first place Marlins, the Cardinals have played a mere 5 games and the Astros look like a hot mess.

With so much change and outside influence, it should be no surprise that our rest of season rankings are going through a shakeup from top to bottom.  With that movement comes a new #1 for our list: Trevor Story.  Let us take a quick look at his hot start and why it is not just a hot start but the beginning of a bigger breakout and a chance to lay claim to the top spot the rest of the season.

When Story first entered the league, he was carrying a lofty 30+ K%.  Through the first 18 games of the season, he has walked (10) nearly as often as he has struck out (11) resulting in a minuscule 13% K rate.  So, are we seeing real improvement in his approach at the plate?  Let us dig a little deeper

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Jeremy Brewer

Top 50 Middle Infielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball – Rest of Season Rankings

July 31, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Top 50 Middle Infielders | 3 Comments

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We are now just over a week into the season and all bets are off.  In most years, we should be taking a longer view of these rankings and accounting for the ebb and flow of the season.  In this uncertain environment we do not have time to wait to see if a guy is just having a slow start to the season.  To win in what may be a ‘coin flip’ at the end of the season we must play the hot hands and cut bait on the sleepers that aren’t showing the promise we projected.  Sure, there will be mistakes along the way, but the bigger mistake is being left behind.

A few things to focus on this week:

  1. If you are playing for the Phillies, Marlins, Blue Jays or Yankees you are dropping in the rankings. There are rumblings of playing 7 inning doubleheaders to catch up on the season and anybody on those teams will take a hit.  If playing for the Marlins was not penalty enough…
  2. Who is off to a hot start or cold start? We can’t really base anything off of one-week, but as I mentioned in the intro I would much rather move on too early than wake up and realize the season is over because I didn’t want to bench or drop that high draft pick.
  3. Finally, we need to look at opportunities again. We have just hit the point where any call ups will have an extra year of time control.  Nothing like the roar of the crowd (or silence of cardboard cut outs) to get somebody off to a hot start to their career.

3 Up!

Dansby Swanson – Dansby Swanson broke out last year in a big way.  With shortstop (and middle infield) being so deep this year, he was getting sleeper love but is still owned in less than 70% of Yahoo leagues.  I will be honest and admit I was not fully buying the breakout leading up to the season.  On the other hand, he did increase his Barrel %, Launch Angle and Hart Hit % in 2019 and has not slowed down this year.  I get it is early, but he is top 5% in the league in Barrels and xSLG.  If he is available, grab him now and ask questions later.

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Jeremy Brewer

Top 50 Middle Infielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball: “Spring” Training Edition

July 8, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Top 50 Middle Infielders | 2 Comments

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Wait…Baseball!?  If I am being honest, I did not think we would have a season to watch and give us a distraction from the upcoming election season…ohhh and that whole Global Pandemic thingy.  But really, it is amazing to think we will have a season and there will be numerous unique adaptations from a fantasy perspective as we no longer have the benefit of patience over a long season.  A hot month can lead to an MVP campaign or the Mendoza Line!

We also cannot forget the bigger picture.  These players are real people in a highly unique situation.  All I can do is hope for their continued safety as they try their best to give us an escape from 2020.

So how am I reacting in the middle infield rankings?  Let us look at four key areas of change.

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Jeremy Brewer

Top 50 Middle Infielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball: Preseason Edition

February 17, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Top 50 Middle Infielders | 25 Comments

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Welcome to my inaugural post for the top 50 Middle Infielder rankings for the rest of the 2020 fantasy baseball season.  Throughout the year, I will be updating my rankings and calling out those movers and shakers.  For those of you here looking to gather some insights, welcome.  For those of you looking to steal my rankings and use them against me, I am not afraid!

Let’s take a quick look at the landscape up the middle of the diamond.  Middle infield is deep this year, more specifically shortstop is stacked.  This isn’t Jason Bartlett’s shortstop class of 10 years ago.  The top four all have an argument for being first round picks.  After that, there are all-stars abound with blemishes (Can Altuve hit without a buzzer?  How often will Gleyber play against Baltimore?  Will Tatis regress or grow?).  Once we get past the top 20-25, there is a steep cliff that will leave you wishing you had invested earlier.

Now let’s get into a few key guys standing out from the pack in the rankings.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
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