This year I’m taking no prisoners with my fantasy baseball overrated posts! No prisoners, baby! I’m a work release program, baby! Wait, that doesn’t sound as intimidating. I’m parole, baby! Meh, that’s not great either. I’m something that takes no prisoners. Sorry, I can’t think of any examples because I was born and bred in America. Maybe someone in Sweden can write in an example. ACKSUALLY, I think we need to make adjustments to “take-no-prisoner attitude.” If you think about it, a take-no-prisoner attitude is supposed to convey a ruthlessly aggressive attitude, but if it were truly ruthless, wouldn’t it be a take-everyone-prisoner attitude? “Hey, mother of a three-year-old who can’t afford to pay a parking ticket, I’m imprisoning you.” That’s way more ruthless, if you ask me. Any hoo! My take-everyone-prisoner attitude is side-eying the biggest and best of MLB. The guys who are supposed to move the pants tent and I’m not talking about those new tents made out of pants being carried by REI! Use our affiliate code: PANTS TENT. I’m talking about the young players who have aroused the nethers and make you say, “I cannot see him being bad. If Grey calls him a schmohawk, then Grey might have hit his head.” Guess what, Rhetorical Audience Member, I ain’t hit my head! (In a few years, at least.) Okay, hullabaloo aside, calling Bobby Witt Jr. a schmohawk is brutal for the brand. I’m supposed to be Mr. Sexy Upside. The Razz in Razzball stands for Razzle! (No, it doesn’t.) Razzhands in the dictionary is “the act of screaming and pointing at upside.” Listen, what good is it to say someone like Joey Meneses isn’t going to be good? That does nothing for us. I also hate, hate, hurve calling a guy a schmohawk who can give you power and speed. Those two categories alone can take the edge off and make it very hard for a player to be overrated. Even if a guy is dreadful, if he gives you 20+ homers and 30 steals, it’s not going to be that bad. Bobby Witt Jr. going at seven overall on ADP, how’sever, well that sure starts the case for overrated off in the right direction. So, what can we expect from Bobby Witt Jr. for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him overrated?
Royals aren’t a bad team. If Sal P. is healthy and Edward Olivares is as good as I think he can be — Edward Olivares sleeper — then the Royals’ hitting can surprise. Oh, they still have massive holes. The Royals are usually holes with some cheese, but now they’re more cheese with some holes. Call them K-Swiss because they got holes from strikeouts. A good lineup would usually be a good thing for a guy, but bear with me here. Not bare, put on your clothes! If the Royals are good, wouldn’t it stand to reason pitchers might actually pay attention to how they pitched Bobby Witt Jr.? Last year, he saw fastballs 58.5% of the time, and he hit them .238 with a .423 SLG. (That’s Statcast, and I’m not going to do my diatribe on why these sites can’t get on same page with stats, but FanGraphs has him seeing fastballs 51.1% of the time.) Was a -7 run value on 4-seamers, which was a tad worse than Josh Harrison. What also didn’t work was offspeed pitches, against those pitches BWJ hit .219 and a .411 SLG. The one pitch he killed was a slider, which he saw the 2nd most at 23.8%. My point, and it’s a long-winded one: If the Royals are better around Bobby Witt Jr., then pitchers could be less likely to throw him the one pitch he can actually hit. You can’t steal first, as they say. Oh, and if it’s opposite day, he hit .188 going the opposite way.
Bobby Witt Jr. was 20th in the major leagues for chasing pitches outside the zone; 41st for swinging strike rate; 23rd for Swing%; 21st for first strike, and 54th for the least amount of pitches seen in the zone. Pitchers know to not throw him a strike, and he will swing like a damn fool. The game plan to get him out is already taking form. In the 1st inning, he hit .197 on the season. Starters with a game plan? They know what to do with him. In September, Bobby Witt Jr. hit one home run total. People are getting wise to him. Throw a 4-seamer just off the outside corner? Not great, Bob, or Bobby, as is this case here. It took me seven minutes to come up with a plan of attack. How long will it take all MLB pitchers? You don’t want a seven-homer, 15-steal guy who’s hitting .200 in July. The upside is enormous, but the downside is just as dramatic. Sorry, but I must, must, increase my ability to call Bobby Witt Jr. a bust!
