With the top 40 outfielders for 2021 fantasy baseball, we’ve finished all the hitter recaps. We meaning me, but I’ll include you. No, that’s not a cue to try to hold my hand. Why are you now patting my butt? Don’t muss my hair! The pitching recap will begin next. You can hardly wait. No, you! To recap, the end of the season rankings are based on our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater. I felt the easiest way to keep it objective would be to go this route. This way when I say a player finished 30th and I ranked them 23rd in the preseason, it carries more weight than Willians Astudillo. Anyway, here’s the top 40 outfielders for 2021 fantasy baseball and how they compare to where I originally ranked them:
21. Tommy Edman – Already gave you my top 20 2nd basemen for 2021 fantasy baseball recap.
22. Jared Walsh – Already gave you my top 20 1st basemen for 2021 fantasy baseball recap.
23. Giancarlo Stanton – Remember those old-timey pornography reels where you flip through it and the girl, wearing pretty much all her clothes, runs around the room as she’s chased by an old lecherous man? Well, that was me and Giancarlo up until this year. This year, mi amigo, I was out, and I didn’t regret it at all. He was fine, don’t get me wrong. But also kinda whatever. How about that Yankees’ offense giving him 64 runs? In 2013, he scored 62 runs in almost 100 fewer ABs in Marlins’ lineup that lost 100 games. Preseason Rank #4 for Utility-Only, 2021 Projections: 71/33/82/.254/2 in 461 ABs, Final Numbers: 64/35/97/.273 in 510 ABs
24. Ryan Mountcastle – Already gave you my top 20 1st basemen for 2021 fantasy baseball recap.
25. Robbie Grossman – He deserves a bit of credit for posting a .357 OBP and 14.6% walk rate. How much credit? Well, depends on how embarrassed you wanna be when people ask you what you’re doing and you tell them, “Defending Robbie Grossman by using his OBP.” Cool stuff, nerd! Preseason Rank #101, 2021 Projections: 61/15/66/.238/10 in 464 ABs, Final Numbers: 88/23/67/.239/20 in 557 ABs
26. Kris Bryant – Already gave you my top 20 1st basemen for 2021 fantasy baseball recap.
27. Avisail Garcia – Really made some errors in the preseason by backing off guys late. When the Brewers signed JBJ in the spring (late-winter?), I dropped Avisail down in my rankings, after liking him, so, yeah, that sucked. Also, similar to Meadows, Duvall, Giancarlo and others, can we say definitively that if you had good outfielders, you struggled in runs? Cause it seems that way. Preseason Rank #75, 2021 Projections: 53/20/64/.248/6 in 447 ABs, Final Numbers: 68/29/86/.262/8 in 461 ABs
28. Chris Taylor – Already gave you my top 20 2nd basemen for 2021 fantasy baseball recap.
29. Austin Meadows – Didn’t like Meadows in the preseason, and now. Dot dot dot. Am I supposed to like his final numbers? Is 27/4/.234 good? Because if you would’ve told me, he’s gonna be bleh for runs and go 27/4/.234, I would’ve said, I’m not too keen on that, and that sounds like a top 80 outfielder. Preseason Rank #24, 2021 Projections: 71/22/54/.257/10 in 411 ABs, Final Numbers: 79/27/109/.234/4 in 518 ABs
30. Ronald Acuna Jr. – Can we talk about how there were a ton of injuries or underperforming hitters this year, and almost all of them came from the outfield? Six of the top eight OFs last year missed significant time or were just generally awful: Acuña, Betts, Trout, Cody Belanger, Yelich and Luis Robert. Six of eight of the top drafted outfielders! That’s nuts. Okay, look at how many at-bats Tildaddy had last year to put up his stats. I am howling at how good he was per game. He had less than 300 at-bats and went 24/17. If he stays healthy, he’s going 50/40. Yes or no and, if “no,” why are you a hater? Preseason Rank #1, 2021 Projections: 116/39/97/.277/25 in 601 ABs, Final Numbers: 72/24/52/.283/17 in 297 ABs
31. Myles Straw – Straw was exactly as valuable as Tildaddy. El oh–*sobs loudly* You know I love Straw’s productivity, I can’t eat bobas without ’em. As for Myles, it’s all smiles! Aw, give me a high five. In your imagination! Don’t touch me! I liked Straw coming into this year, but he did seem stuck as a 4th outfielder. Thankfully, the trade to Cleveland happened and the Guardians have nothing but playing time for everyone. Preseason Rank #80, 2021 Projections: 46/2/41/.264/29 in 370 ABs, Final Numbers: 86/4/48/.271/30 in 564 ABs
32. Mookie Betts – If I’m being honest, I didn’t have Betts in any league, so I wasn’t entirely aware of how yawnstipating he was. Yo, that ain’t “Best Betts Ball” at all. Where on earth did his steals go? What’s up with the shizzy BABIP? Did he get hurt in April and hide it for five months? He nearly did in 60 games in 2020 what he did last year in twice as much time. I’m writing his whole season off on an injury. That was not Betts’ best-is. Preseason Rank #3, 2021 Projections: 121/30/91/.301/24 in 607 ABs, Final Numbers: 93/23/58/.264/10 in 466 ABs
33. Jesse Winker – This is likely obvious, but what good am I if not pointing out the obvious? Winker in 423 ABs and a waiver wire guy for the other 175 ABs was better than prolly a top 20 outfielder, or at least as good as Giancarlo. Winker’s 423 ABs plus waiver wire guy or Meadows? It’s not close. This is coming from someone who isn’t a huge Winker fan either. He’s fine, but he needs to be wrapped in gauze and only DH to stay anywhere near a field for 120 games. Preseason Rank #58, 2021 Projections: 64/24/75/.277/2 in 471 ABs, Final Numbers: 77/24/71/.305/1 in 423 ABs
34. Joey Gallo – A solid takeaway for my ego is my projections aren’t that far off, even if the rankings are goofy off — gooffy? This is mostly a by-product of lots of guys just not performing. Gallo did what I expected of him, and somewhere we lost 16 other outfielders who were between him and his ranking in the preseason. What I tell myself is if guys stay healthy and do what they should, they will meet my expectations. It’s fun in my world where everything is predictable. Preseason Rank #50, 2021 Projections: 71/34/87/.204/7 in 507 ABs, Final Numbers: 90/38/77/.199/6 in 498 ABs
35. Kyle Schwarber – Going to leave his runs and RBIs alone, and remove his HRs from his random hot week in June and see how far he falls in the rankings. Are we ready? He’d be the 41st best outfielder! Okay, not that dramatic, but that was me leaving his runs and RBIs alone. If I would’ve removed them too, he would’ve been around Adam Frazier’s value, which is around 45th overall for outfielders. That’s only removing one week of stats, and he falls ten spots in the final rankings. Preseason Rank #45, 2021 Projections: 80/32/94/.239/3 in 503 ABs, Final Numbers: 76/32/71/.266/1 399 ABs
36. Alex Verdugo – Excuse my French, but, holy shizzballs, em-effing outfielders were bad. Verdugo was a top 36th outfielder and went 13/6. Someone run over my foot to take away the pain of the outfield. Verdugo’s Launch Angle actually went up, and his fly ball rate is still hilariously bad. I do not get it. The Red Sox traded Benintendi for essentially the same player. Preseason Rank #30, 2021 Projections: 103/19/59/.304/7 in 568 ABs, Final Numbers: 88/13/63/.289/6 in 544 ABs
37. A.J. Pollock – This won’t come as a surprise, but the Dodgers’ stacked lineup is both a blessing and curse for Pollock. A blessing because he doesn’t get 400 ABs but still gets as many RBIs as, say, Joey Gallo. A curse because he can’t play every day, due to too many options. Those players are also options for Pollock to ask to help him screw in a light bulb, hearing it takes thousands of people to turn the room. Preseason Rank #62, 2021 Projections: 58/22/67/.262/7 in 424 ABs, Final Numbers: 53/21/69/.297/9 in 384 ABs
38. Andrew McCutchen – Basically, if you played 140-ish games, and weren’t in a completely horrific lineup, you’d make the top 40 outfielders whether you hit 35 HRs and .200 or 12 HRs and .290 and everything in-between. McCutchen was in The In-Between. Is that a Stranger Things thing? Preseason Rank #67, 2021 Projections: 73/17/54/.257/7 in 442 ABs, Final Numbers: 78/27/80/.222/6 in 482 ABs
39. Amed Rosario – Already gave you my top 20 shortstops for 2021 fantasy baseball recap.
40. Mark Canha – Yet another accumulator, which is fine, but when it comes with a .231 average, it’s so hard to get enthused. Hey, guys, four ladies and one nun, what the eff? Thankfully, we’re done with hitter recaps, because these guys were not great. It’s ironic that it ends with Canha, because I’m finding it hard to laugh. Preseason Rank #65, 2021 Projections: 71/23/83/.246/6 in 437 ABs, Final Numbers: 93/17/61/.231/12 in 519 ABs
