[brid autoplay=”true” video=”374875″ player=”10951″ title=”2019 Razzball Draft Kit Outfielders”]
Hey, guys and five girls, we’re (I’re) back! Today’s 2019 fantasy baseball rankings tackle your favorite (I’m guessing!), the top 40 outfielders for 2019 fantasy baseball. Last year, this post had Cain, Acuña, Merrifield, Mazara, Gallo, Pollock, McCutchen, Pham and Domingo Santana. Well, at least Acuña was able to hightail it outta here! Those who don’t learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them. Or is it, ‘Those whom don’t learn?’ Meh, whatever! As always, my projections are noted for each player and where I see tiers starting and stopping. Also, all of Rudy’s hitter projections are under that easy-to-click link. Anyway, here’s the top 40 outfielders for 2019 fantasy baseball:
21. Michael Conforto – This tier started in the top 20 outfielders in 2019 fantasy baseball. This tier goes from here until Eloy. I called this tier, “You’re Kate Upton’s non-celebrity freebie.” Already gave you my Michael Conforto sleeper. I wrote it while standing in line for bread in war-torn Poland. 2019 Projections: 87/33/98/.268/4 in 569 ABs
22. Eloy Jimenez – Already gave you my Eloy Jimenez fantasy. It was written while submitting a video of someone kicking me in the balls to America’s Funniest Home Video. 2019 Projections: 78/29/90/.291/3 in 589 ABs
23. Joey Gallo – This tier goes from here until Merrifield. I call this tier, “Joey Gallo is an outfielder? To Whit!” As for Joey Gallo, I went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2019 fantasy baseball.
24. Whit Merrifield – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2019 fantasy baseball.
25. Nicholas Castellanos – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Eloy. I call this tier, “Remembering your kids’ names.” By the tier name I mean, these guys have appreciated skills but they are somehow underappreciated. Other underappreciated skills are being kind when your blood sugar is low or remembering your kids’ names. As for Castellanos, I get that it’s lame that The Greek God of Hard Contact can’t connect for more homers. While he presides in his Greek diner, showing his launch angle on his limp disco fry, he demonstrates how he prefers to swing his disco fry for line drives rather than home runs. You can’t fault a guy for wanting to make hard contact, especially not a Greek God. So, he will either have some of the best contact in the game and hit 23 homers or will make just the tiniest of adjustments and hit 35 homers with a .300 average. I’m taking that gamble. 2019 Projections: 93/28/98/.302/3 in 597 ABs
26. Justin Upton – Shouldn’t Justin Upton be in Kate Upton’s tier? No, they’re not related. You’re thinking of a B.J. In relation to Justin, not Kate. And not like that! The reason why I’m saying Justin Upton is underappreciated is, because, well, um, interjection, he just is. He’s had wonky moments in his career, but a 30/10/.250 guy should be ranked around here. 2019 Projections: 77/30/82/.252/11 in 541 ABs
27. Nomar Mazara – Year after year, I expect Mazara to break out in the biggest of ways. He has been compared to a young Miguel Cabrera (by me at least), and every year I write a sleeper post on Mazara. This year, I skipped the sleeper post but I am still all-in. Yes, three years in a row now he’s hit only 20 homers even, odd? P to the erhaps, but he’s still only 23 years old. He might not break out until age 25, but it is coming. He needs to adjust his swing and spend some time in the Ramada Inn Launch Angle seminar being taught by Scott Boras. I admit he will not break out if he’s at a 26% fly ball rate, but two years ago he was at 34% and he’s a career 30% fly ball guy. If he hits 36% fly balls, he will hit at least 29 homers. He is still underappreciated like being able to shake your humiliating high school nickname. 2019 Projections: 83/28/90/.263/2 in 581 ABs
28. Ender Inciarte – The big similarity between the guys in this tier is I like them all more than most ‘perts. Also, Ender, like the rest of these guys, is underappreciated. Like being able to leave a social gathering undetected. Ender has 10-homer power, 30-steal speed and has .280 hitting ability. 30 steals might be peak, since he did get caught a lot last year, but the ability is still there. For one more year, at least. When you draft him, Ender’s not going to raise your freak flag, but he’s always valuable. 2019 Projections: 101/10/45/.278/27 in 615 ABs
29. Victor Robles – Already gave you my Victor Robles fantasy. I wrote it while wondering if Robert Durst was related to Fred Durst. 2019 Projections: 78/12/47/.281/29 in 524 ABs
30. Lorenzo Cain – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Pollock. I call this tier, “AIDS with cilantro.” By the tier name I mean, this tier is making outfielders worse and they weren’t good to begin with, i.e., making something bad worse. The outfielders are just not great. I’m surprised they’re this bad this quickly, so I went to look at last year’s Player Rater to see how they were last year. They were not great then either. Not sure why I thought they were better, but they just aren’t. As for Cain, why is Cain…Sugar! making something bad even worse? I.e., it’s like Nickelback featuring Kid Rock, covering MmmBop. His ground balls went from 44% to 54% year over year. For a guy who is going to be 33 years old in April with diminishing speed? That is like a fanny pack on your racist uncle. Just making something bad worse. 2019 Projections: 83/10/41/.281/25 in 557 ABs
31. A.J. Pollock – I will say about the AIDS with cilantro tier, there’s very little chance these guys are still on board to draft, if you follow my rankings. If Robles is drafted before Cain or Pollock in more than 5% of leagues, I will eat my hat. Granted, I am wearing a hat made of a tostada. Pollock’s strikeouts went up 6%, and he’s now swinging at everything. That is surely going to get worse, and don’t call me Shirley. That is like Piers Morgan mating with Piers Morgan. Just making something bad worse. UPDATE: Pollock signed with the Dodgers, because they had an itch Joc couldn’t scratch. This does nothing for my confidence in Pollock suddenly staying healthy and I already miss everyday at-bats for Pederson. Thanks a lot, Pollock! Damn, I said that aloud…at a pierogi festival…in Warsaw. I really need a better travel agent. 2019 Projections: 69/24/76/.248/11 in 503 ABs
32. Mitch Haniger – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until McCutchen. I call this tier, “Benefits of an arranged marriage.” Let’s see, you don’t have to waste time on dating apps. Can’t really blame yourself when you hate your spouse after three months. You get a cow and goat at your front door as gifts. And, who knows, maybe your parents have good taste. In other words, there’s obvious drawbacks with guys in this tier, but there’s enough benefits. As for Haniger, he’s very similar to teammate, Kyle Seager. (At least teammate as of this writing, but they might be on different teams any day now.) You can set your watch to how remarkably similar Haniger’s stats year over year, if you had a watch with a fly ball rate hand and HR/FB% hand. “It is a half past the fly ball rate and…Ugh, I need a Fangraphs glossary to tell the time.” Haniger seems like a lock for 27/7/.280. Of course, he might only have 27 runs and RBIs, because the M’s are secretly filming simultaneous sequels to Major League and Brewster’s Millions. Get your tickets on Fandango now! 2019 Projections: 83/27/89/.282/7 in 577 ABs
33. Yasiel Puig – Here’s what I said when he was traded to the Reds, “Not sure why the Dodgers rehired Dave Roberts, but I’m impressed the Dodgers realized that Dave Roberts had zero capacity for managing a team. “What’s he doing?” “I don’t know.” That’s two Dodgers execs watching Dave Roberts juggle three VHS copies of the movie Platoon. “I don’t think he understands what we meant when we asked him to juggle platoons.” “Yeah.” “So, we should trade Puig?” “Maybe trade like five guys.” “Okay.” So, Puig goes back to the Reds, but they’re no longer an island nation in the Caribbean. Now, they’re in Ohio. In five years, people will be like, “I forgot Puig played for the Reds for three months.” Yes, I think he’ll likely be traded in July. Either way, he will get everyday at-bats and should get a nice boost in fantasy value. The Reds were surprising solid last year on offense, and I see no reason why that would end.” And that’s me quoting me! 2019 Projections: 73/27/83/.273/11 in 502 ABs
34. Stephen Piscotty – He might’ve just had a career year and still only hit 27 homers with two steals while hitting .267. Did he? Piscotty doesn’t know! His peripherals don’t scream that he can’t repeat his previous season. A year that saw him finish 27th for outfielders on our Player Rater. But the numbers don’t also say he’s going to take a huge step forward still. See, like the benefit of arranged marriage, at least you can now drive in the HOV lane, but there’s also a drawback. 2019 Projections: 76/26/90/.272/4 in 572 ABs
35. Domingo Santana – Here’s what I said this offseason, “(Domingo was) traded to the Mariners. Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, Sunday Santana is free at last! I haven’t been this excited for a Sunday since the first Easter. That one was a letdown, don’t you do the same, Domingo! Sunday Funday Santana got so screwed out of so many millions of dollars it makes me feel for him. If he kept starting every day on the Brewers, he would be looking at a $60+ mill deal somewhere. And, as much as I like Domingo, it’s hard to argue with what Lorenzo Cain and Yelich did on the Brewers. As my inappropriate uncle says about a lactating woman, you can’t cry over spilled MILF. Like a great pair of boxers, Domingo has room to breath and I’m looking forward to drafting him everywhere again.” And that’s me quoting me! 2019 Projections: 77/27/83/.257/8 in 533 ABs
36. Andrew McCutchen – Here’s what I said this offseason, “Signed with the Phils. Lots of talk about how this was a terrible deal for the Phils. I don’t particularly love McClutchin’ His Knee for fantasy, but seems like a great deal for the Phils. Listen, much love and respect to Nick Williams and Roman Quinn, even re2pect to them, if you prefer, but McCutchen’s uni number for a while was 22 so that’s re22pect, and, if you’re gonna be a contender, ya gotta make contender moves. Contenda, even, and getting McCutchen is a contenda move.” And that’s me quoting me! 2019 Projections: 94/23/72/.251/11 in 571 ABs
37. Tommy Pham – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until the top 60 outfielders for 2019 fantasy baseball. I call this tier, “An empty IKEA box by the curb.” By the tier name I mean, you could have a durable, not-too-descript, usable piece for your team, but you also might blow your top from aggravation. As for Pham, he had one weird-ass season last year. It took him having a broken foot in the 2nd half, a seemingly season-ending injury, for him to suddenly become as valuable as you thought he would be last preseason. He hit five homers and .386 in September after breaking his foot, and I guess getting inspired by Daniel Day Lewis’ My Left Foot performance. His BABIP was .484 in September though, so a teensy bit high. Like .150 points high. Pham could be usable, but I’m not getting in the weeds for the aggravation. Or as Ron Kovic might say, “Never get in the weeds in Pham, man.” 2019 Projections: 92/19/68/.281/18 in 512 ABs
38. David Peralta – The weird part of this tier that I’m disparaging is I liked or flat-out loved every guy in this tier in the past. Myers and Peralta were like my baby boos for so many years. I didn’t like Pham last year, but loved him in his breakout the year before. Now, I think there’s just a bit too much heat on all of them. Peralta’s previous year screams career year and looks like way more of a 20-22 homer guy than a 30-homer guy like he was last year. Unlike the M’s, I don’t think the Diamondbacks’ offense is going to be a huge drain. Peralta can still be decent, but, sticking with the tier theme, is he worth the aggravation that it took to put together that Wäddafäcker dresser from IKEA? 2019 Projections: 69/21/81/.291/5 in 555 ABs
39. Wil Myers – Went over him in the top 20 3rd basemen for 2019 fantasy baseball.
40. Aaron Hicks – Which players are going to be the Peralta and Hicks for next year? I don’t know, but they’re likely in the next tier or a tier after. I prolly already wrote a sleeper post on him or them. I’ve got magic in my fingertips. So, why rank Hicks, someone who I’m not drafting, before the guy who I want to draft who is a sleeper? Because there’s just more risk with some of the guys in the next tier. In a perfect scenario, I will wait until guys in this tier are drafted, then draft one of the guys in the next tier. 2019 Projections: 77/19/71/.258/9 in 445 ABs
