March Madness is always full of surprises, like Farley Dickinson defeating Purdue to become the second No. 16 seed to oust the No. 1 seed.
Or, for the third year in a row, Princeton defeated No. 2 Arizona and the 15th seed won the first round.
It’s really insane!
But March Madness didn’t just relegate to college basketball. Fantasy baseball drafts are full of madness.
The frenzy starts with Michael Harris. Michael Harris, with the Braves he appeared in 114 games, had 64 RBIs, 75 runs scored, 20 stolen bases, . was named his league rookie of the year.
With a stat line like that, it should get you excited, right?
Hmm, maybe I got a little too excited.
According to Fantasy Alarm, Harris’ average draft position is 37.87, but some sites have ADPs of 24.8 (Underdog Fantasy) or 26.1 (RealTime Fantasy). He’s Yahoo and he’s 33.3 years old.
In some cases, that means Harris will be drafted as a top 10 outfielder or among the top 25 overall.
That’s a lot for a player who has played just 114 games. There’s no need to argue about the tools he brings to the table (and he actually brings his entire bag of tools), but while Roto Rage believes Harris is very good, the final For that lofty draft there are concerns that he can’t live up to the status.
Among players with 400 or more plate appearances, Harris’ 41.7% chase percentage (swings on pitches outside the strike zone) was the 12th worst in the majors. This contributed to his 4.8% walk rate, his 18th lowest in the league, and his 24.3% strikeout rate (his 23rd worst mark in the NL).
Harris hit .297, but his over-high BABIP of .361 shows that luck was on his side. His actual average and his insane 56.2 grounder percentage were the fourth highest in the majors.
Oh, and his expected slugging percentage (.460) was more than 50 points lower than his actual slugging percentage of .514. These numbers scream one thing: regression.
How about Harris’ struggle against left-handed pitchers?
In 135 at-bats against left-handers last season, he batted .
He also had a .337 BABIP against southpaws. that’s a problem.
Harris’ problem isn’t his strengths or talents, but his current price tag. Too expensive. To be drafted as a top 25 player and earn a good return, he will need to replicate his success in 2022, and that’s no easy task.
There are too many red flags to pay a premium price to an inexperienced player whose numbers are headed backwards.
Roto Rage will target more accomplished outfielders like Kyle Schwarber (39.69), Randy Arrozarena (47.84) and Cedric Mullins (51.64).
Other outfielders to watch out for are:
Teoscar Hernandez (76.31) goes from hitter-friendly Toronto to pitcher’s heaven Seattle.
That’s not something fantasy managers should consider good luck.
Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds’ (77.31) is a really good player in bad situations. He doesn’t have enough support in the Pirates lineup to give fantasy owners the numbers he can.
He’ll be a good player, but unlikely to be a truly great player…unless he ends up being traded.
Mets’ Sterling Marte (92.29), who had surgery in the offseason and has missed more than 30 games in all but one season since 2016, has slowed his sprint speed and suffered frequent injuries. I am 34 years old. Do the math.
Washington’s Joey Meneses (182.71) has vibes like Frank Schwindell (Cubs’ 2021).
He has a strong swing, but his small sample size and BABIP of .371 raise questions.
Cleveland’s Oscar Gonzalez (188.23) batted .296 with 11 homers, 43 RBIs, 39 runs scored and a .789 OPS in 91 games.
It was a solid debut, but his 3.4% walking rate is in the bottom 1% of the league (similar to his 48.3% tracking rate) and his .345 BABIP is a good indication that regression is near. It’s a sign.
Outfielder
- Ronald Acuna Jr.=Atl
- Aaron Judge=NYY
- Julio Rodriguez = sea
- Juan Soto=SD
- Kyle Tucker-Hou
- Mookie Betts=LAD
- Mike Trout = LAA
- Jordan Alvarez-Hou
- Fernando Tatis Jr.=SD
- Luis Roberto = CWS
- Randy Arrozarena=TB
- Kyle Schwarber-Phi
- Cedric Mullins-Barr
- Adris Garcia-Tex
- Eloy Jimenez = CWS
- Dalton Versho-Thor
- Michael Harris II=Atl
- Corbyn Carroll-Ali
- George Springer-Thor
- Byron Buxton-Min
- Brian Reynolds-Pitt
- Starling Malte = NYM
- Stephen Kwan-Cre
- Tyler O’Neal=StL
- Teoscar Hernandez = Sea
- Seiya Suzuki = ChC
- Anthony Santander-Barr
- Chris Bryant-Koll
- Nick Castellanos-Fai
- Christian Yelich-Mill
- Giancarlo Stanton=NYY
- Jake McCarthy-Ali
- Ian Happ=ChC
- Taylor Ward=LAA
- Andrew Vaughan=CWS
- Brandon Nimmo = NYM
- Mitch Haniger = SF
- Hunter Renfro = LAA
- MJ Melendez-KC
- Jeff McNeill = NYM
- Lars Nootbaar=StL
- Jordan Walker=StL
- Alex Verdago-Boss
- Masataka Yoshida = Boss
- Cody Bellinger=ChC
- Oscar Gonzalez-Cre
- Riley Green-Det
- Ramon Laureano-Oak
- Andrew Benintendi=CWS
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. = Ali
- Will Myers-Shin
- Brian De La Cruz-Mia
- Seth Brown-Oak
- Jared Kelenic = Sea
- Esterly Lewis-Oak
- Whit Merrifield=Tor
- Jorge Sorel-Mia
- Adam Duvall-Boss
- Austin Meadows=Det
- Michael Confort=SF
- Alex Kirillov-Ming
- Garrett Mitchell-Mill
- Jesse Winker-Mill
- Joc Pederson = SF
- Trey Mancini=ChC
- Brendan Donovan-StL
- Austin Hayes-Bull
- Jake Fraley-Singh
- Brandon Marsh-Phi
- Chris Taylor-LAD
- Charlie Blackmon-Col
- Avicel Garcia-Mia
- Max Kepler = Min
- Marcel Ozuna-Attle
- Juan Yepes=StL
- Lane Thomas-Woz
- Oscar Chorus = CWS
- Edward Olivarez=KC
- Manuel Margo=TB
- Harrison Bader = NYY
- Trent Grisham=SD
- Andrew McCutchen-Pitt
- Oswald Cabrera=NYY
- Bubba Thompson-Tex
- Kike Hernandez-Boss
- Randall Grichuk-Kol
- Michael Brantley-Hou
- AJ Pollock = Ocean
- Mike Yastrzemski = SF
- TJ Friedl-Singh
- Jose Siri = TB
- Matt Biering-Dart
- Dylan Carlson=StL
- Mark Cana=NYM
- Jose Lowe = Tuberculosis
- Harold Ramirez=TB
- Lamonte Wade Jr. = SF
- Alec Thomas-Ali
- Sal Frerick-Mill
- Nolan Jones-Col
team name of the week
lux lily tax
Submitted by Ralph LaNoce
