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A fantasy baseball It Was A Good Day.
Just wakin’ up in tha mornin’, gotta thank Junior Vlad,
I don’t know but today seems kinda odd,
No barkin’ from any pitchers’ elbows makin’ me look for replacements,
And momma cooked a breakfast and left it by my door — her basement’s,
I got my grub on, but didn’t pig out,
My insulin I didn’t need to dig out,
Rollin’ around in a field of daffodils,
Not even worried about lactose that I can’t metabolise,
Rememberin’ what it’s like to feel alive,
Lookin’ for a prospect who’s got speed, power and line drives,
Forgettin’ that I have allergies, and a doctor-restricted diet of 1500 calories,
Not sneezing, thinkin’ about the best rookies for 2022 fantasy baseball galleries.
Findin’ an empty cola can to use as an ashtray,
Talkin’ about the best 2022 fantasy baseball prospect, gotta say It Was A Good Day.
Last year’s top rookie in my rookie outlook series was Randy Arozarena. Year before that, it was Luis Robert. The year before was Vlad Jr.; the year before–You get the picture! Every year there’s a #1 rookie going into the upcoming season. Ergo/Therego: Welcome to the 2022 fantasy baseball rookie series and Bobby Witt Jr.! This feels a little more precarious than past years because usually I like to have some inclination from the team that they’re going to start the year with the player. Could the Royals suppress Bobby Witt Jr.’s playing time for another six years, then convert him to a pitcher for another five years just to avoid paying him? Yes, that’s what cheap teams do. So, what can we expect from Bobby Witt Jr. for 2022 fantasy baseball?
First off, dubya tee eff, Royals:
No minor leaguer should ever get a 30-30 season because they should’ve just been called up https://t.co/668pHOyqyA
— Razzball (@Razzball) October 1, 2021
Side note about the tweet: In college, I took a bartending class. I can’t remember how to make a Cape Codder, Rum Jungle or anything really, but I do remember one piece of advice. The teacher told us that when asking a person if they want another drink to nod at them “yes” while asking because subconsciously it will get them to answer yes. My bartending teacher, in retrospect, wanted everyone to get drunk, and was an aspiring car salesman. Any hoo! I bring this up now because it’s 30/30, but I saw that dumb tweet by the Omaha Storm Chasers writing it as 30-30, so I wrote it as 30-30 like they were nodding, asking me if I wanted another drink. Moving on!
Something that tweet doesn’t make clear is that 30/30 was across two levels. In Double-A for 61 games, Bobby Witt Jr. went 16/14/.295, then followed that in Triple-A for 62 games (17/15/.285). The .285 average on Bobby Witt Jr. was with a .314 BABIP (low for him) and a 22.5% strikeout rate. He’s not going to be Wander Franco or even Vlad Jr. with batting average straight out the box, literally. He has more power than Wander, and more speed than Cake Batter. Close on the former, not close on the latter.
The power:
Bobby Witt Jr takes Cole Winn 440+ ft to dead center, as he puts one off the batter’s eye #TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/Q1Wy2upOyp
— Legendary UCLA Coach John Obi-Wan Gandalf (@ProspectJesus) June 9, 2021
There were a ton of videos highlighting homers from him, but that tweet’s from our Podcaster Geoff, and I love how it shows the ease he takes one out to the deepest part of the park. If you pause it around the four-second mark, you can imagine that swing producing a fly-out or weak pop-up. The ball jumps up, screams, “Bye-bye” and jetted in the jet like Special Ed. Is it just me or does he look like a young Ryan Braun? Remember, Ryan Braun used to be an easy 30/30 guy. Prior to the pesky FedEx driver!
The speed:
ICYMI: Bobby Witt Jr. has wheels.https://t.co/DuRWgxGakI pic.twitter.com/XPUcNPPjYW
— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) March 5, 2021
At the twenty-two second mark, you see Bobby Witt Jr. smack the pitcher on the ass, unless you’re in Kentucky where that’s edited out with a black bar. But if you notice, that’s Reds’ major league pitcher, Tony Santillan. Sure, not exactly a major league All-Star, but it shows that Witt will have no problem doing any of this in the majors. He’s ready, but are the Royals ready to start paying him? I don’t know. This is always the trickiest part of projecting rookies. He was ready last spring; of course, he’s ready now! My guess is the Royals suppress his playing time a tad — think like two weeks down in the minors. Or the Royals’ front office goes on Ultimate Couponing on HGTV, wins $2500 in cupboard organizers and sells them for a $75 profit, which affords them the opportunity to call Witt Jr. up to start the year. Either way, I’m interested in drafting Bobby Witt Jr. in all leagues, and I could see his price zooming up in March if the Ultimate Couponing scenario appears likely. For 2022 fantasy baseball, I’ll give Bobby Witt Jr. projections of 71/22/68/.272/24 in 504 ABs with a chance for more.
