I realize that the fantasy baseball community might not contain the biggest group of romantic devils, but the tie into Valentine’s day was too good to pass up. As a bonus, later in the article, I will include a list of some inexpensive Valentine’s gifts that will be sure to please. But on the fantasy baseball front, there are a handful of players that fall out of the top tier of most rankings that I would have no problem taking on draft day.
COREY SEAGER – SS – LA DODGERS
Seager needed the 2019 season to get back in the groove after hip and Tommy John surgery in 2018. Remember, this is a guy who was the 2016 rookie of the year in which he batted .308 with 26 HR, 105 R, and 72 RBI. The encouraging news coming out of 2019 was that Seager’s exit velocity improved each month of the season, with noted improvement on off-speed pitches. In fact, if you throw out the first month of 2019, Seager would have been on pace for .282/.335/.517 with 28 HR, 102 R, and 124 RBI. Another change that happened in 2019 is when the Dodgers hired Robert von Scoyok, who is known as the launch angle guru. So now we take a look at Seager’s launch angles. He had an LA of 14.1 in 2019, which was much higher than his career average. This led to an increased fly ball rate of 39.2% compared to his 29.3% in 2016. So it is pretty obvious that he, like others, is being coached to elevate the ball. All of this leads to the fact that I would love to draft this 25-year-old who could post .280 avg with 30-plus HR while setting some more career-high RBI numbers.
As promised, here are some inexpensive Valentine’s day gift ideas.
1. What I Love About You Journal or any kind of love-themed journal. can usually find at discount/dollar stores
2. Buy a bunch of travel-sized toiletries, like mini lip balms, shampoos, and lotions. Place in basket or gift bag.
3. Buy them an extra phone charger for home or the car. (Everyone needs an extra phone charger.)
4. Name a star after them. You can do it for $18.95 online and print the certificate.
5. Get some of their favorite snacks and junk foods from a corner store. (nice basket or gift bag too)
6. Make them a coupon book for free things that they can use at any time.
7. Make them a playlist on Spotify or AppleMusic, etc.
8. Get a coaster, printed cocktail napkin or even print a menu from wherever you had your first date and put it in a dollar store frame.
Now back to baseball
MATT BOYD, PITCHER, DETROIT TIGERS
Last year, Boyd was a tale of two extremes. His strikeouts surged and he looked like an ace for much of the first part of the season. But his ERA finished at 4.56 and he was plagued by the home run ball as the year went on. If we can assume that the issue can be taken care of, he has some nice stats in 2019 that would indicate that he could even be better in 2020. In 2019, he cut his walk rate down to a career-low 6.4 percent. His skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) was also a terrific 3.61, which was down from a previous career-best of 4.31. Hopefully, he will continue to throw strikeouts as his 30.2 percent strikeout rate in 2019 obliterated his previous best mark of 22.4 percent, tying him for ninth among qualifying pitchers. This is partially due to his slider being a deadly weapon, that led to his 43.4 whiff rate and a 26.0 put-away rate in 2019. It held batters to a .192 average in 146 batted ball events. There is a lot to love here.
MARK CANHA – 1B – OAKLAND A’S
I am going to kick myself for trading him away in one of my leagues. He was especially effective in the second half of the season, posting a .301/.415/.528 slash line with 14 home runs, 36 RBI, 44 runs and three stolen bases in 67 games. Having outfield eligibility in most leagues helps his value as well. This improvement should allow him to see regular at-bats in 2020. The main reason for the improvement at the end of 2019 was his improvement in plate discipline. By not chasing pitches out of the zone, Canha got better pitches to hit and made the most of it, hitting more home runs from a 1-0 count than any other situation. If this can even come close in 2020, he is a guy you would love to get if you miss out on the top level first basemen, or if you are looking for a reliable corner infielder and/or backup.
1 Comment
Leave your reply.