[brid autoplay=”true” video=”512770″ player=”10951″ title=”Razzball 2020 Draft Kit Sleepers 012320″]
As we continue our 2020 fantasy baseball rankings, we head into the homestretch of ranking hitters. For those confused, homestretch isn’t when you shoot up in bed late at night, remembering there’s a bag of Doritos under your nightstand and go reaching for them. That is the opening to my short film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dorito. The main character has just been “Frito-laid off” and is described as Pringley and Ruffled. Last year, this post had Franmil Reyes, Kyle Schwarber, and Lewis Brinson. Well, they’re not all gems. My point (PLEASE!) there is some value to still be found in the outfielders, it’s just a matter of finding it, like in the landmark film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dorito. Here’s Steamer’s 2020 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2020 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers. As with the other rankings, my projections are included and where I see tiers starting and stopping. Anyway, here’s the top 80 outfielders for 2020 fantasy baseball:
ALL PROJECTIONS ARE BASED ON 60 GAMES PLAYED, DUE TO COVID-19. BE SAFE OUT THERE!
61. Alex Verdugo – This tier started in the top 60 outfielders for 2020 fantasy baseball. This tier ends at Adam Eaton. I called this tier, “O.J.’s killing it.” As for Verdugo, I’m excited about drafting Verdugo. Of course, like the rest of this tier, I’m excited to a point, and am not exactly reaching for him in the top 20 overall. If I squint hard enough, I can see Verdugo being much better than outfielders 100 spots around of him in ADP. If previous seasons are any indication (and they likely are), Verdugo does hit too many ground balls and nowhere near a decent amount of fly balls. The good news (that is barely good, which is why he is still ranked this low), his 8.8 launch angle last year was up from 3.4 the year before, which obviously led to less ground balls. The bad news, 8.8 launch angle is still kinda goofy flat. The moderately okay news, his ADP is cheap enough to take a flyer. The neither-here-nor-there news, skeet shooting seems like fun. The wow-I-really-tried-to-like-Verdugo-much-more-than-this news, see the image in the below tweet. I obviously could only build up this much enthusiasm, but I still like him at his price and go over him in the video at the top of the page. UPDATE: Traded to the Red Sox. Did I just come back from REI? Because someone’s built a tent in my pants! Verdugo’s launch angle is still an issue, as mentioned in the above blurb, but in Fenway he can shoot line drives into the right field stands with a flick of the wrist. Perhaps I was already predisposed to liking Verdugo, but I almost love him now. I’m so close to moving him into my top 40 outfielders, and I’m all-in for Verdugo now, and I’ve adjusted his projections. UPDATE II: No wonder I keep searching him (see tweet below), his value keeps changing bi-weekly. He had a back injury last year, and now is claiming to have a stress fracture. The Red Sox are saying it’s not a long-term concern. He hasn’t played since August 4th and it’s not long-term? You say so! UPDATE III: Even with the delayed season start, I don’t trust him to be right, because his back was a mess since last August. Hopefully this is the last update for Verdugo. 2020 Projections: 29/6/21/.291/2 in 168 ABs
Chrome tells me these are my six most visited URLs in January — during the offseason, I checked on Alex Verdugo’s stats as much as my checking balance. pic.twitter.com/1uKlcznaQe
— Razzball (@Razzball) January 11, 2020
62. Jo Adell – Already gave you my Jo Adell fantasy. It was written without the help of my waitstaff. 2020 Projections: 17/5/19/.257/3 in 143 ABs
63. Garrett Hampson – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball.
64. Jurickson Profar – Went over him in the top 20 2nd basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball.
65. Brian Anderson – Went over him in my top 20 3rd basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball.
66. Adam Eaton – There’s two Eatons. One injured who does nothing, and one who goes 15/15/.280. It’s not up to you which one it is, or him, it’s up to the universe (or Yelp) which Eaton we’re getting. 2020 Projections: 33/5/20/.282/5 in 190 ABs
67. Lorenzo Cain – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until Canha. I call this tier, “Craps and old.” If you’re really liking something, you put that shizz in caps and bold. Well, this tier is craps and old. If Yelich can’t return from his knee injury, or something else happens to him, the Brewers are a blink away from being one of the worst offenses — Cain, Braun, Urias, Arcia, Avisail, Smoak, Gyorko, and whatever they have at 3rd base are inches from being <craps and old>awful</craps and old>. Cain is top five for something in the majors — top 5 for caught stealings. His sprint speed in one year went from the 88th best in MLB to the 185th. Even his home run trot slowed — going from 63rd in MLB to 204th in MLB. Pujols better hurry up and slow down or he’s going to be passed. 2020 Projections: 26/4/20/.258/5 in 202 ABs
68. Kevin Pillar – As of this writing, Pillar is still a free agent, and he’s either going to sign with some team and ruin the playing time for someone I like or he’s going to sign in Asia. That’s my ‘two wildly different scenarios’ prediction. UPDATE: Signed by the Red Sox. The Red Sox could be moving on from Jackie Bradley Jr., but just bench him indefinitely? That seems unlikely. I’m sure the Sawx would like to trade JBJ for a middle reliever. Hey, I know, trade him for Brusdar Graterol! Only the fifth time in the last week he’d be on the team bus. Red Sox might consider doing a Sixth Sense remake with Bruce Willis having dinner with Brusdar Graterol. I’d say spoiler alert, but where have you been for the last 30 years? So, Pillar is a solid bat in Fenway if he gets 550 ABs. Incredibly, Pillar has seemed like a platoon guy for the last five years and always gets his ABs, so might be a solid fifth outfielder. 2020 Projections: 23/7/24/.264/4 in 180 ABs
69. Justin Upton – His good seasons appear closer in the rearview than they actually are. Steamer has him down for 30/5 in roughly 145 games. That’s thinking you’re getting a ‘B.J. Upton from Kate Upton’ optimistic. Five steals feels silly high at this point in his career, coming off a knee procedure. Turning 33 years old in 2020’s season, and that’s the point when I really start to pump the brakes. Also, with no actual data except anecdotal, some guys age into more disciplined hitters who just slow down and lose their BABIP (Miggy, McCutchen). Other guys, like Upton, just start swinging at everything and lose their BABIP (Chris & Khris Davis). 2020 Projections: 25/9/29/.223/1 in 182 ABs
70. Mark Canha – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball.
71. Seth Brown – This is a new tier. This tier goes from here until the top 100 outfielders for 2020 fantasy baseball. I call this tier, “345, 344, 343…” The tier’s name comes from you counting the loss of hairs on your balding dome if you’re relying on these guys for too much. There’s a chance though that you never get to 342 and the ellipsis is misleading. All of these guys are late round flyers in deeper mixed leagues. They all have some upside and downside, so they might be more risk than you want in the deeper leagues. For those leagues, the tiers after this will be a little safer, if boring. As for Brown, already gave you my Seth Brown fantasy. I wrote it while saying, “Hello Sharks,” in the mirror. 2020 Projections: 19/8/21/.277/2 in 149 ABs
72. Derek Fisher – I should’ve wrote a Derek Fisher sleeper post, which is what I say right before I see he might hit .195. But, damnit, that upside is sexy. Between him, Teoscar, the offspring of the 2003 All-Star Game and Lourdes, the Jays have one sexy eh-eff lineup. Though, in one week, they might hit 12 runs one game and get shutout five games in a row. 2020 Projections: 19/8/23/.225/4 in 151 ABs
73. Avisail Garcia – Here’s what I said when he signed with the Brewers, “Want a gut call based on nothing except lasagna from the night before? Avisail is one of those guys who peaks very late and last year (20/10/.282 in 125 games) was the start of a solid multi-year run. If this happens, I will point to this prediction repeatedly all year. If it fails to materialize, we will never talk about this again. Also, he has a bit of a playing time crunch because the Brewers pulled a 2019 2Many LeMans.” And that’s me quoting me mentioning 2Many LeMans, a reference from the top 20 1st basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball! 2020 Projections: 20/8/21/.284/1 in 151 ABs
74. Dylan Carlson – Already went over my Dylan Carlson fantasy. It was bursting at the seams with bad grammar. UPDATE: Moved him way up in my rankings as he starts to feel inevitable to break camp and push Bader to the bench, or worse, Bader becomes the guy who relays managing decisions from La Russa on the phone to Shildt. “What’s that? Yes, your hair is feathered fantastically! Shildt needs to know where to position his infielders. What? Yes, we promise not to harm any marsupials. God damn it, Tony!” That’s Bader running manager relay. While my projections need updating in the Carlson’s outlook post linked to above and some of the stuff about offseason acquisitions (since it’s from November), but as I say there, Carlson does appear to be better than Bader, and I’m leaning into that now. For more, click that link. 2020 Projections: 25/8/27/.244/4 in 149 ABs
75. Austin Hays – Already gave you my Austin Hays fantasy. It was a post that had such a nice time last night and hopes to see you again. 2020 Projections: 24/7/19/.244/4 in 188 ABs
76. Tyler O’Neill – I’m seeing Tyler O’Neill as a starter in the Cards’ outfield. Not in my mind’s eye like I’m a psychic who only opens when there’s a customer. I’m seeing it at depth charts. Thinking of it as an underlined, millennial 100 that absolutely is true feels foolish to think. The best thing going for O’Neill is Harrison Bader was given the starting job last year and looked like he was swinging with one of those wet noodles that falls off the grill and onto the ground at a Mongolian BBQ. Could see a scenario where we get to the end of March and I remove 100 ABs from O’Neill’s projections and he ends up more of a platoon guy. So, you could be counting, “345, 344, 343…” while you call your balding dome, Head O’Neill. Of course, there’s a reason why we’re even here excited for him. He’s got a 20-ish launch angle and might have a 20+% HR/FB, i.e., Michael Conforto 250 draft picks later. 2020 Projections: 23/9/26/.243/1 in 168 ABs
77. Trent Grisham – Already went over my Trent Grisham fantasy. It was written while saying, “I have so many fans,” to eye rolls at a ceiling fan store. 2020 Projections: 24/7/19/.254/5 in 168 ABs
78. Sam Hilliard – lready gave you my Sam Hilliard fantasy. It was originally written under ‘Thug Life’ on Tupac’s chest. 2020 Projections: 13/7/19/.242/2 in 116 ABs
79. Christin Stewart – Ya know the crazy thing about Christin Stewart? He’s always in the Twilight of his career! Give me that pun love! No? Okay. You’re tough. Like looking at the Tigers’ lineup. I’m guessing Stewart will get 450 ABs because the Tigers have literally no one else, and Stewart might be the only one who benefits from getting at-bats. Not exactly counting on greatness, but as a late-round flyer in deep leagues, he might be okay. Wow, rave review! 2020 Projections: 18/8/21/.238 in 167 ABs
80. Garrett Cooper – Went over him in the top 20 1st basemen for 2020 fantasy baseball.
