Fantasy Baseball Recap

Fantasy baseball’s long season is over. Draft day was 7 months ago and much has changed since then. Each of these guy’s value has changed drastically over the course of the baseball season. Note: Risers weren’t necessarily bad in past years; they just took their game to the next level. Droppers weren’t necessarily bad this year; they just dropped off a bit this year.

Biggest Risers

Mookie Betts: Likely the AL MVP, Mookie Betts took a major step forward in 2018. He set new career highs in slugging percentage, OBP, OPS, OPS+, batting average, runs, stolen bases, home runs, and WAR. He likely is a top 2 draft pick in 2019 fantasy baseball drafts.

Matt Chapman: Chapman made himself a superstar in 2018. Although his defense isn’t taken into account in fantasy, his offense is enough to warrant a decent draft pick in 2019. Although he’s not a threat on the base paths, he has a lot of power(.508 slugging) and has raised his OBP to an acceptable rate (.356).

Trevor Bauer: He was on pace to be a top Cy Young candidate when he got injured. Despite not getting a chance at the Cy Young, he put on a masterful performance this year. In 175.1 innings, he had a 2.21 ERA(compared to a 4.19 in 2017), a 198 ERA+, 2.44 FIP, 221 strikeouts, and a 1.09 WHIP.

Christian Yelich: Likely the NL MVP, Yelich put on a show in the final month of the season. He added massive power to his game, going from a .439 slugging in 2017 to a .598 slugging in 2018. He set new career highs in runs, hits, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, batting average, OBP, OPS, slugging percentage, and OPS+.

Gerrit Cole: Coming off of two mediocre years, Cole established himself as a star in 2018. He had a similarly great year in 2015, but it was considered a fluke until this year. In 200.1 innings, he had a 2.88 ERA, with 276 strikeouts(12.4 SO/9).

Miles Mikolas: After returning from Japan, Mikolas had an outstanding year. He finished the year with a 2.83 ERA in 200.2 innings. While his strikeout rate will probably limit his fantasy value, his walk rate and ability to limit runs will give him value going forward.

Aaron Nola: Coming into the year with a career 3.94 ERA, Nola broke out and had a 2.37 ERA in 2018. In 212.1 innings, his WHIP was .975, along with a 175 ERA+ and 224 strikeouts (9.5 SO/9)

Jacob deGrom: deGrom was already a good pitcher coming into the year. But 2018 was historical. He finished the year with a 1.70 ERA, 216 ERA+, 1.99 FIP, and 269 strikeouts in 217 innings.

Patrick Corbin: In 2018, Corbin made his first all-star team since 2013. But he was much better in 2018 than he was then. He had a 3.15 ERA, with a 2.47 FIP, a 137 ERA+ and an 11.1 SO/9 in 200 innings.

Kyle Freeland: Freeland has performed at an elite level in 2018 in Colorado. He had a 2.87 ERA in 202.1 innings. While his FIP(3.67) and his WHIP(1.245) suggest that he is due for some regression, he has been historical in 2018, considering that he pitches half his games at Coors Field.

Zack Wheeler: A former top prospect, Wheeler figured it out in 2018. Coming into 2018, he was a 4th starter and not expected to perform at a high level. However, he had a 3.31 ERA, 3.25 FIP, and a 1.12 WHIP in 182.1 innings in 2018.

Javy Baez: An MVP candidate, Baez took a big step in 2018. He added a ton of power in 2018, raising his slugging percentage by over 70 points. He drove in 111 runs and increased his value massively.

Biggest droppers

Gary Sanchez: Expected to be one of the top catchers in baseball, he failed massively this year. Playing in only 89 games due to groin injuries, he hit under .200 with a sub-.300 OBP and a sub-.700 OPS. Disappointing to say the least.

Miguel Sano: Coming off a solid year in 2017, Sano did enough in 2018 to warrant getting sent down to single A. He hit .199, with a sub-.300 OBP and a sub-.700 OPS.

Zack Godley: Godley shows signs of being an ace in 2017, only to see that disappear in 2018. He had an atrocious 4.74 ERA and had a negative WAR.

Carlos Correa: Correa wasn’t as bad as some of the players on this list but he definitely lowered his value in 2018. Hitting only .239, with a .405 slugging and a mediocre 102 OPS+, Correa was really disappointing in 2018.

Brian Dozier: Coming off of two straight solid years, Dozier was expected to be a good source of power from 2nd base. But he failed to muster up anything this year, as he finished with career lows(for a full season) in nearly every statistic.

Yoenis Cespedes: Considering he only played 38 games, Cespedes was a major disappointment. He was expected to drive in a bunch of runs and be a major source of power. But, due to several injuries, he was limited and severely lowered his 2019 value.

Joey Votto: Not a horrible year for Votto, but not his norm. He still led the league with a .419 OBP, but that was down from .454 last year. His OPS dropped nearly 200 points, largely due to his lack of power in 2018.

Josh Donaldson: Donaldson only played 52 games in 2018, limiting his value. His batting average dropped to .246 and his OPS dropped over 140 points. He bounced back after getting traded to the Indians, although it was too late to affect his overall numbers.

Corey Seager: Coming into 2018, Seager was highly praised, winning the Rookie of the Year and finishing 3rd in the MVP in 2016. He had another good season last year, although Tommy John surgery limited him to 26 games this year. His value plummeted due to it.

Stephen Strasburg: 2018 was extremely disappointing for Strasburg. His ERA was raised over a run, his innings dropped massively. His strikeout numbers were still there but his home run rates rose, along with the number of hits he gave up.

Yu Darvish: Limited to 40 innings in 2018, Yu Darvish proved the doubters right. General managers across the league refused to give him a big contract until the Cubs signed him February. He finished the year with a 4.95 ERA in an injury-plagued year.