09/02/2020
Three guys were higher on in the preseason then the WHOLE fantasy baseball industry. Guys we loved to target but other people weren’t nearly as crazy about. Sometimes reaching 2 rounds for a guy like Ozuna because we knew he could outperform guys getting picked around from pick 40 and on.
1. Marcell Ozuna: We thought it was obvious that the former All-Star spent most of 2019 struggling with a shoulder injury, made apparent by some woeful throws by Ozuna in the field. We had our hopes that Ozuna would bounce back from that 2019 season because he would enter 2020 with no nagging injuries. He is currently 12th in the MLB in OPS.
2. Jessie Winker: Winker was the definition of a sleeper this year, going after pick 250. No one really thought Winker would secure playing time with the Reds signing outfielders Castellanos and Shogo Akiyama. Winker was ANOTHER guy coming off a shoulder injury, you see a pattern here? We believed in Winker because before 2019 he showed ELITE on base abilities, comparable to a guy like Brandon Nimmo. We also believed Winker had way more power upside than Nimmo so we were intrigued by his possible upside. Winker secured playing time and has been amazing to say the least, ranking 2nd in the MLB in OPS. Always bet on talent and skills.
3. Eric Hosmer: We’ll admit it, we didn’t expect Hosmer to be this good. But with him going after pick 200 we KNEW he was a value this year, especially in roto leagues where those Runs/RBI are so important to accumulate. With Hosmer being signed to a huge deal we knew he would be playing everyday and with rumours of Hosmer trying to increase launch angle, we knew there was a lot of upside in the contact oriented Hosmer. Hosmer doesn’t have enough ABs to qualify but if he did he would be ranked 29th in OPS.
If you wanna see more guys like this, check out our videos from the preseason!