If I’m putting all my cards on the table, I’m not even sure where to begin with advice. This season is just plain crazy. Figuring out who, what, where, when and why almost seems impossible. I’m certainly not the first to say this, but it seems like the best thing we can do is to play the hot hand. As Frank the Tank said, we’re going streaking! Not to show of my math skills, but in a 60-game season a 8-game hot streak is the equivalent of 21 game hot streak in a regular season. That’s one hell of a month of baseball. In years past we’ve looked at small sample sizes and pointed out that they were just that, small samples. No such thing as a small sample size in 2020.
Before I jump into a few players to whom I intend to give a shout out, I’d like to bring up a few points. With all of the game cancellations and postponements, fantasy leagues with weekly lineups just aren’t going to work. For years I’ve always hated when a player hits the IL on a Tuesday in a weekly league and I end up practically taking a zero. It seems senseless. In order for things to work, head-to-head points leagues need to have daily lineups this year. Owners need the ability to adjust to the constantly changing landscape. We need to be able to pivot. Losing a week simply because you had more players have their games canceled is garbage. Especially in a season that has so few weeks. While I realize that at this point in the fantasy season it’s too late to make these kind of changes, I still feel compelled to say so.
One of my “go to” stats every year is points per plate appearance (PPPA). How many points does a player get every time he steps into the batters box. While it’s an important stat every year in points leagues, I think more than ever, plate appearances are one of the most valuable commodities this year. This might be an unfair example, but it should get my point across. 51 plate appearances from David Fletcher is worth more than 36 from Mike Trout even if Trout is doing more with his. In a longer season this will likely even out, but time stops for no one in 2020.
All I keep hearing that past few weeks is that Corey Seager looks like the stud everyone thought he was when he came into the league. There’s plenty of truth to that opinion. Seager has three home runs, seven runs batted in and a .347 batting average. But when it comes to points leagues those stats are all noise. In points leagues Corey has 45 points and 0.849 points per plate appearance. While those are great numbers, they’re not the best in the Seager household. Kyle has 53 points (0.929 PPPA). Now in a normal 162-game season I likely wouldn’t blink an eye in his direction, we’re not in Kansas anymore Toto. Kyle Seager has more points than Nolan Arenado and Vladimir Guerrero combined. Let me spell it out in simple terms, both Seagers are must owns in 2020.
If I were in charge of a baseball themed spelling bee the final word would be “Yastrzemski”. I’m not even sure I just spelled it right and I copied it from one of his profile pages. If you missed the boat to grab Yaz off the wire then that ship has sailed. I actually drafted him all of my leagues. He’s a guy I was high on coming into the season. If we had more of a normal draft season this year I probably would have gotten around to sharing that detail. In my last post I said that Michael Brantley should have been my most valuable fantasy hitter selection. Well I think I might have been wrong. When you factor in ADP, Yastrzemski is blowing the competition out of the water.
Speaking of my preseason favorites, did any of you see Dylan Bundy’s gem this week? Good riddance Baltimore. Hello Los Angeles of Anaheim of California of the United States. The only starting pitchers that have been better so far, at least from a fantasy perspective, are Shane Bieber, Trevor Bauer and Sonny Gray. And let’s face it, the fantasy perspective is the only one most of us really care about. Bundy has always had the pedigree, he just couldn’t stay healthy. Dude only has two walks. Are we witnessing his ascension? Lord Bundy. Rise.
Here are some other players that need to in your starting lineup until they prove otherwise.
Donovan Solano – 43 FPTS (0.934)
David Fletcher – 47 FPTS (0.783)
Wil Myers – 40 FPTS (0.816)
Leury Garcia – 38 FPTS (0.791)
Gio Urshela – 42 FPTS (0.976)
Max Stassi – 35 FPTS (1.458)
Teoscar Hernandez – 33 FPTS (0.825)
J.P. Crawford – 43 FPTS (0.704)
JaCoby Jones – 31 FPTS (1.000)
Renato Nunez – 38 FPTS (0.745)
I want to say that you should try and shop around Christian Vazquez, but does it really make sense to move one of the top catchers in the league in this shortened season. You’ve got that position locked in, why screw with it. The answer is, it depends on who you can get in return and who you will replace him with. Max Stassi has apparently come out of nowhere, but is another hot hand that deserves riding.
Best players so far:
C: Max Stassi
1B: Renato Nunez
2B: Whit Merrifield
3B: Kyle Seager
SS: Fernando Tatis
OF: Nick Castellanos
OF: Charlie Blackmon
OF: Mike Yastrzemski
UT: Aaron Judge
SP: Shane Bieber
SP: Trevor Bauer
SP: Sonny Gray
SP: Dylan Bundy
Not exactly the list one might expect. The best part is that you could have drafted this team. Heck you could have picked a few of them off the wire. Did you notice there are three Reds in the list. If Luis Castillo cuts back on the ERA and WHIP, what out in Cincinnati. They gonna be dangerous in a series.
If you are in a redraft league do not hesitate to drop a player you’d normally be less inclined to part with in a full season if he is battling injuries and/or just not hitting. There’s no time for cold streaks. Move it or lose it. In keeper leagues if said player isn’t going to be a keeper, I offer the same advice.
If there is a topic you’d like me to cover, please let me know.
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