These OBP/OPS/PTS “Universal” Rankings are for leagues where speed is devalued and the value of good real life hitters who get on base and hit for power are juiced up. It still isn’t a perfect ranking (is there such thing as a perfect dynasty ranking?), but I believe it is helpful in a universal sense for points leagues and category leagues too that play with OBP, or add in a 6th or 7th hitting category. Here is the July 2021 OBP/OPS/PTS “Universal” Dynasty Baseball Rankings: 1-450:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND MUCH MORE, INCLUDING:
-10 Dynasty Baseball Players to Target
-Dynasty Baseball Trade Strategies at the Halfway Point (Contending, Mid Pack, Rebuilding)
-Top 300 June 2021 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings
-2021/22 Top 50 First Year Player Draft Dynasty Baseball Rankings

1) Shohei Ohtani LAA, RHP/DH, 27.0 – Living legend. He has an elite power/speed combo in the box (31 homers and 12 steals) and an elite strikeout rate on the mound (30.7%). He’s truly the first elite all category player in the history of fantasy baseball (except for saves/holds obviously).

2) Ronald Acuna ATL, OF, 23.7 – The major strikeout gains he made earlier in the year didn’t stick as Acuna has a 30% K% in his last 51 games.

3) Fernando Tatis Jr. SD, SS, 22.6 – Shoulder injury is still in the back of my mind which is where it belongs as long as he keeps putting up insane production

4) Vlad Guerrero Jr. TOR, 1B, 22.4 – 95.3 MPH exit velocity is 2nd best in the league behind Aaron Judge. Machado is #3 at 93.8 MPH. With these rankings devaluing speed, I was tempted to put Vlad #2, but Acuna and Tatis have the longer track record.

5) Juan Soto WASH, OF, 22.8 – Surface stats aren’t elite (.853 OPS), but the underlying numbers are (.422 xwOBA). His inevitable monster 2nd half has already started with homers in his last 2 games. Flip a coin between Soto and Vlad.

6) Mike Trout LAA, OF, 29.11 – On track to return shortly after the all-star break. He’s getting a little long in the tooth (which I just learned derived from the fact horse teeth grow as they age), and has been injury prone, but he’s elite when healthy.

7) Bryce Harper PHI, OF, 28.8 – 12.9% BB% is actually a career low, which means he has nowhere to go but up, and he’s been damn good as is with a .416 xwOBA.

8) Mookie Betts LAD, OF, 28.9 – Underwhelming year with a .809 OPS. Whiff% (18.3%) and sprint speed (27.3 ft/sec) are career worsts

9) Jose Ramirez CLE, 3B, 28.8 – Career best 91.2 MPH exit velocity and .388 xwOBA

10) Rafael Devers BOS, 3B, 24.8 – Career best 8.2% BB% and is still smoking the ball with a 93 MPH exit velocity

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND MUCH MORE, INCLUDING:
-10 Dynasty Baseball Players to Target
-Dynasty Baseball Trade Strategies at the Halfway Point (Contending, Mid Pack, Rebuilding)
-Top 300 June 2021 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings
-2021/22 Top 50 First Year Player Draft Dynasty Baseball Rankings

Welcome to Prospects Week at Imaginary Brick Wall! I was very lenient on my definition of a prospect on this one, including everyone under the rookie threshold. 2021/22 FYPD guys are also included. Here is the Top 300 June 2021 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND A TON OF OTHER CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING UPDATED DYNASTY RANKINGS, TOP 50 FIRST YEAR PLAYER DRAFT RANKINGS, DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY!

1) Wander Franco TB, SS, 20.4 – The Man, The Myth, The Legend. The one we only speak about in whispers. His time has come.

2) Jarred Kelenic SEA, OF, 21.1 – His time came … and went. We speak his name out loud now. (You already know how I feel about Kelenic. Go get him.)

3) Julio Rodriguez SEA, OF, 20.5

4) Bobby Witt Jr. KC, SS, 21.0 – Power has exploded with 11 homers and a 51.4% FB% in 38 games at Double-A. K% is down to a reasonable 25.6%

5) CJ Abrams SD, SS, 20.8

6) Vidal Brujan TB, 2B, 23.4

7) Noelvi Marte SEA, OF, 19.8

8) Marco Luciano SF, SS, 19.9 – Shook off his slow start and is now slashing .316/.402/.605 with 5 homers and a 24/16 K/BB in his last 30 games.

9) Spencer Torkelson DET, 3B/1B, 21.9 – Like Luciano, Tork shook off his early season struggles and is now destroying Double-A with a 158 wRC+ and 11.5% K% in 6 games.

10) Luis Matos SF, OF, 19.4 – 13.3% K% is elite and more power is coming with a 44.2% FB%. Tack on speed with 13 steals and I’m not sure why he isn’t considered elite everywhere.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND A TON OF OTHER CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING UPDATED DYNASTY RANKINGS, TOP 50 FIRST YEAR PLAYER DRAFT RANKINGS, DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY!

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)

With the 2021 MLB Draft quickly approaching, it’s time to get excited for the new wave of talent that is about to hit pro ball. All of these players will be included in my deep prospects rankings coming later this month. Here is the 2021/22 Top 50 First Year Player Draft Dynasty Baseball Rankings:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND A TON OF OTHER CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING UPDATED DYNASTY RANKINGS, A DEEP PROSPECTS RANKING COMING LATER THIS MONTH, DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY!

1) Jordan Lawlar HS, SS, 18.11, 6’2”, 185 – Lawlar has a relatively simple, quick swing that he uses to make tons of contact with the ability to lift the ball. He has plus speed and the power should develop naturally to above average at the least. Plus SS defense combined with the plus hit tool gives him a safe floor, and the upside is considerable. ETA: 2025 Prime Projection: 91/22/84/.279/.348/.468/20

2) Marcelo Mayer HS, SS, 18.6, 6’3”, 188 – Mayer stays loose and easy in his stance before unleashing a vicious lefty swing that has monster offensive potential written all over it. He doesn’t have Lawlar’s speed, giving Lawlar the edge in 5×5, but in points and 6+ category leagues he is right there with him. ETA: 2025 Prime Projection: 91/25/93/.284/.354/.484/8

3) Kahlil Watson HS, SS, 18.2, 5’11”, 168 – Watson’s upside is high as anyone’s in the draft with lightening quick bat speed and a plus power/speed combo from the left side. His bat isn’t quite as proven as Lawlar and Mayer, but he has shown a good feel to hit with an advanced plate approach and emerging power. ETA: 2025 Prime Projection: 85/25/85/.263/.332/.474/16

4) Jack Leiter SEC, RHP, 21.3, 6’0”, 195 – Leiter can dominate with just his mid 90’s fastball, but he also has a deep repertoire of pitches, throwing a 4-seamer, 2-seamer, cutter, curve (best secondary), slider and change. He understands the art of pitching which is no surprise considering his dad is Al Leiter. He’s only 6 feet, and his control can waver, but it hasn’t stopped him from putting up a dominant pitching line of 2.16/0.85/156/41 in 96 IP.  ETA: 2022 Prime Projection: 15/3.42/1.17/218 in 185 IP

Strategy discussion – I always preach gunning for that elite upside when drafting at the top of a FYPD. That is your chance to find that all category stud who can carry your fantasy squad. The 3 shortstops at the top of these rankings all have that elite upside. Leiter was #1 overall on the first edition of these rankings, and I still believe he has true ace upside with a major proximity advantage, so if you already have a young, stacked offensive core, I can see pivoting to Leiter. But if you don’t have that young hitting core, I would lean towards building up that area of your team first before looking at pitching.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND A TON OF OTHER CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING UPDATED DYNASTY RANKINGS, A DEEP PROSPECTS RANKING COMING LATER THIS MONTH, DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY!

Welcome to Dynasty Baseball Rankings Week! The rankings will be dropping throughout the next few days with the full list being completed by Monday. Here is the Updated 2021 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (May): 1-435:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND A TON OF OTHER CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING FYPD RANKINGS, STATEGY ARTICLES, DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

1) Ronald Acuna ATL, OF, 23.5

2) Fernando Tatis Jr. SD, SS, 22.5 – Moves up 1 spot. Those sweet, sweet stolen bases are just too good to pass up.

3) Juan Soto WASH, OF, 22.7

4) Mookie Betts LAD, OF, 28.8

5) Trea Turner WASH, SS, 27.11

6) Shohei Ohtani LAA, RHP/DH, 26.8 – Velocity dip in his last start is a bit concerning, but the man is striking out 34.9% of batters with a 2.37 ERA as a pitcher and has 15 homers with 6 steals as a hitter. I’m speechless. I have no words.

7) Vlad Guerrero Jr. TOR, 1B, 22.2 – In a league where steals are devalued, Vlad could rank as high as #4, and dare I say, maybe even #3.

8) Jose Ramirez CLE, 3B, 28.7

9) Mike Trout LAA, OF, 29.10 – When you own these elite players, you are very likely to be competing for a title, and if you are competing for a title, Trout being out for possibly 2 months is killer. He drops 5 spots.

10) Bryce Harper PHI, OF, 28.8

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND A TON OF OTHER CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING FYPD RANKINGS, STATEGY ARTICLES, DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)

I was very strict with the definition of “prospect” in this update. Any player currently in the majors is not included and other borderline cases were also excluded (Pearson, Howard, Lynch, Houck). They will be ranked in the next overall dynasty rankings update. Some blurbs were written yesterday so they do not include stats from last night’s games. Here is the Updated 2021 Top 100 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings: 1-105:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND A TON OF OTHER CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING UPDATED DYNASTY RANKINGS, FYPD RANKINGS, STATEGY ARTICLES, DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

1) Wander Franco TB, SS, 20.3 – Career high 50% flyball percentage and is still putting up silly contact numbers (9.6% K%). Tampa is doing the baseball world a major disservice by delaying his MLB debut.

2) Julio Rodriguez SEA, OF, 20.4 – He’s too good for High-A with a 218 wRC+

3) CJ Abrams SD, SS, 20.7 – Stepped up to the challenge of an aggressive Double-A assignment, slashing .306/.382/.510 with 2 homers, 3 steals and a 23.6%/10.9% K%/BB%

4) Bobby Witt Jr. KC, SS, 20.11 – Hasn’t stepped up to the challenge of an aggressive Double-A assignment (.519 OPS). It’s too early to panic, especially after he destroyed spring.

5) Vidal Brujan TB, 2B, 23.3 – Plus hit tool (16.1%/16.1% K%/BB%) with double plus speed (3 steals), and now his power is breaking out with 5 dingers in 12 games at Triple-A.

6) Luis Matos SF, OF, 19.3 – 17.6% K% with a 51.3% FB% is a killer combo. Full season ball hasn’t slowed Matos down at all.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND A TON OF OTHER CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING UPDATED DYNASTY RANKINGS, FYPD RANKINGS, STATEGY ARTICLES, DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)

I mixed it up with both MLB and MiLB players on this one and I am going to try to do this more often going forward. Here is the 5/8/21 Dynasty Baseball Rundown:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND TONS MORE LIKE IT ALMOST DAILY DURING THE WEEK. ALSO INCLUDES DYNASTY/PROSPECTS RANKINGS UPDATES, STRATEGY ARTICLES AND MORE

MacKenzie Gore SD, LHP, 22.2 – 4 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 3/3 K/BB at Triple-A. Gore is still struggling with his command but it’s not like he is Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn out there. He is usually pretty close to hitting his spots but is just a bit off. There is no doubt Gilbert looked better in this one …

Logan Gilbert SEA, RHP, 24.0 – 5 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 5/0 K/BB. Everything played off Gilbert’s dominant mid 90’s fastball which he held throughout the entire start. His secondaries weren’t quite as impressive as the fastball but they got the job done and his breaking balls flashed plus more than a few times.

Zach Plesac CLE, RHP, 26.3 – Plesac is getting back on track with his second scoreless start in a row, going 8 IP with 3 hits, 0 earned, and a 7/0 K/BB. It doesn’t look like he will be able to maintain last season’s 27.7% K% (19.3% this year), but the fear that he simply isn’t a good pitcher from his early season woes have been put to rest.

Wade Miley CIN, LHP, 33.6 – 9 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 8/1 K/BB. Miley is the latest pitcher to pitch a no-no and now it all of a sudden doesn’t feel that special anymore.

Luisangel Acuna TEX, SS, 19.2 – Luisangel did his best Ronald impression yesterday with a deep homer out to centerfield at Single-A. He is now 6 for 16 with a 6/2 K/BB.

Jacob Stallings PIT, C, 31.4 – 2 for 3 with a double and a 0/1 K/BB. Stallings underlying stats are excellent with a 20.7%/17.4% K%/BB%, 90.2 MPH exit velocity and .373 xwOBA. If you are looking for catching help, Stallings might still be out there on your wire or be available for cheap.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND TONS MORE LIKE IT ALMOST DAILY DURING THE WEEK. ALSO INCLUDES DYNASTY/PROSPECTS RANKINGS UPDATES, STRATEGY ARTICLES AND MORE

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)

Welcome to Dynasty Baseball Rankings Week! I deep dived into every player and was aggressive where I thought it was appropriate, while also trying not to overreact to the first month. The most notable risers/fallers got quick blurbs explaining my thoughts. Here are the April 2021 Dynasty Baseball Rankings: 1-100

1) Ronald Acuna ATL, OF, 23.4 – Was the top dog before the season and still is. If it was possible to rise higher than #1, he would with an improved strikeout rate.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND A TON OF OTHER CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING FYPD RANKINGS, STATEGY ARTICLES, DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)

These are general trade strategies at the 1 month mark of the season for contending, rebuilding and middle of the pack teams, but obviously aren’t hard and fast rules.

Competing

1) Aim high on early season trades. I don’t want to use assets that could be helpful to facilitate a bigger move for a player who isn’t going to a have a major impact on my chances of winning. You never know what prospects another owner will love, so when that truly impact player hits the market you will be fully stocked to make an offer.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND A TON OF OTHER CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING FYPD RANKINGS, UPDATED DYNASTY RANKINGS, DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)

Now that we are finally able to get eyes on some of these prospects after Covid wiped out the 2020 season, I’m taking an aggressive approach in reshuffling my Top 100 prospects rankings. The top 26 all have quick updated blurbs and then after that I only gave a blurb to highlight the players moving up or down the rankings (or if there was something notable to add). Here is the updated Top 100 2021 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE UPDATED TOP 100 2021 DYNASTY BASEBALL PROSPECTS RANKINGS AND UP TO DAILY WEEKDAY CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING ARTICLES, PODCASTS, RANKINGS, AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)

My Top 1,000 Dynasty Baseball Rankings are done with 5×5 AVG leagues in mind, so I wanted to make rankings that represent leagues where power and OBP are favored, and speed is devalued. These are those rankings. Here is the OBP/OPS/PTS Top 1,000 2021 Dynasty Baseball Rankings:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND UP TO DAILY WEEKDAY CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING ARTICLES, PODCASTS, RANKINGS, AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

Notes on the Rankings:

-What I had in mind during the rankings process is a points league I play in that values good real life hitters, devalues speed, and doesn’t juice up pitcher values. It still isn’t a perfect ranking (is there such thing as a perfect dynasty ranking?), but I believe it is helpful in a universal sense for category leagues too that play with OBP, or add in a 6th or 7th hitting category.

-Juan Soto claims the top spot.

-The biggest risers were unsurprisingly high walk rate sluggers with low (or low-ish) batting averages (Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, Anthony Rizzo, Cavan Biggio, Joey Gallo, Michael Conforto, Max Muncy, Ian Happ).

-On the flip side, low walk rate and speed first players all took hits (Adalberto Mondesi, Luis Robert, Tim Anderson, Whit Merrifield, Starling Marte).

-Freddy Peralta jumps over 50 spots in the rankings, not because of the format, but because damn did he look unhittable with 7 K’s in 2.2 IP in his last spring outing.

-The deeper into the rankings, the less things change based on the format. For prospects, at a certain point I want to take the most talented player, rather than get too cute with projecting category production multiple years out. For MLB guys it is about players who I think have a better shot at playing time, even if another player’s skillset may fit the format better. But there are still plenty of adjustments throughout the entire list.

Click here for the Top 473 2021 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Only Rankings
Click here for the Top 100 2020/21 Dynasty Baseball First Year Player Draft Rankings

Player Name TEAM, POSITION, AGE (Years.Months on 2021 Opening Day – Months are on a scale of 0-11 … I know it is not mathematically correct, but I do all of this manually)

Projections (Hitters): R/HR/RBI/AVG/OBP/SLG/SB
(Pitchers): Wins/ERA/WHIP/K/Saves

*Prime Projections – These projections are meant to give you a general idea of what I think about a prospect’s future stat profile in a relatively good outcome scenario. I find this helpful as a quick reference to see how a prospect’s tools/skills translate to fantasy categories.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND UP TO DAILY WEEKDAY CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING ARTICLES, PODCASTS, RANKINGS, AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

1) Juan Soto WASH, OF, 22.5 – Career low 26.1 ft/sec sprint speed and 4.3 degree launch angle, but it didn’t stop Soto from nabbing 6 bags and cranking 13 homers in 47 games. Only thing that could stop him was a positive Covid test that delayed the start of his season until August 5th, and even that he quickly beat with 3 rapid result antigen tests and claims it was a false positive. 2021 Projection: 112/36/109/.309/.431/.596/11

2) Ronald Acuna ATL, OF, 23.3 – I’m a glutton for homers and steals (and Chinese food), and Acuna ranks ahead of Soto in both departments. There is risk Acuna eventually turns into a 3 true outcome slugger as he whiffed at a career high 29.9% rate, pulled the ball a career high 43% of the time, launched the ball a career high 18.6 degrees, and swung at fewer pitches both in and out of the zone, which is why Juan Soto is the no doubt #1 overall pick in almost anything other than standard 5×5. 2021 Projection: 124/42/98/.271/.384/.570/30

3) Fernando Tatis Jr. SD, SS, 22.3 – New exit velocity King with a whopping 95.9 MPH average, knocking Aaron Judge off the throne after a 4 year run, but major improvements in K% (down 5.9% to 23.7%) is the main reason Tatis is in the conversation for the top overall pick. 2021 Projection: 108/36/101/.279/.367/.563/25

4) Mike Trout LAA, OF, 29.8 – Stole a single base on two attempts in 53 games. Still plenty fast but did slow down slightly with a career low 4.33 home plate to 1B runtime. 2021 Projection: 111/44/105/.288/.417/.603/10

5) Mookie Betts LAD, OF, 28.6 – Jumped on the first pitch 24% of the time in 2020, up from 16.4% in 2019.  It just goes to show that even for the elite, you can never stop making adjustments. “If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.” 2021 Projection: 121/33/100/.294/.367/.536/22

6) Cody Bellinger LAD, OF/1B, 25.9 – Down-ish year mostly due to a .245 BABIP, but exit velocity did drop 1.8 MPH to 89.3 so it wasn’t purely due to bad luck. More importantly, he maintained the major Whiff% gains he made in 2019 with a 23.3% mark. Considering the shortened season and the fact his underlying numbers were more or less in line with career norms, it would be silly to sell low on Bellinger. Update: Underwent surgery to repair a dislocated right shoulder. I originally had him ranked 5th but the separation is so razer thin at the top, the injury is enough to knock him down 2 spots. He is expected to be fully healthy for 2021. 2021 Projection: 100/39/101/.273/.368/.570/14

7) Bryce Harper PHI, OF, 28.6 – Career bests in K%, BB%, exit velocity, and launch angle, all while stealing 8 bags in 58 games. Unlucky .268 BA (.307 xBA) kept Harper’s overall value from absolutely exploding. 2021 Projection: 106/38/104/.270/.397/.535/16

8) Jose Ramirez CLE, 3B, 28.6 – Increased launch angle every single year of his 6 year career which led to Ramirez crushing 17 homers in 58 games with a 23.2 degree launch angle. The power gains wouldn’t have been possible without the 2.3 MPH jump in FB/LD exit velocity, now sitting at a respectable 94.1 MPH. 2021 Projection: 105/35/103/.276/.370/.557/23

9) Christian Yelich MIL, OF, 29.4 – Strikeout rate spiked to a career high 30.8%, partly because he became a more patient hitter (career high 18.6% BB%), but also because he simply swung and missed at a career worst rate (33.6% Whiff%). Whiff% was elevated in 2019 as well (28.2% after sitting around 23% the rest of his career), so this looks to be a trend. 2021 Projection: 107/33/99/.282/.383/.546/16

10) Shane Bieber CLE, RHP, 25.10 – Turned his fastball into a dominant pitch, upping the velocity 1 MPH to 94.1 MPH and spin rate 100 revolutions to 2354 revolutions per minute. It led to a 12% increase in whiff rate on the pitch. 2020 erased any doubt that Bieber is a true ace. 2021 Projection: 16/3.03/1.06/259 in 202 IP

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND UP TO DAILY WEEKDAY CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING ARTICLES, PODCASTS, RANKINGS, AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)