Fantasy Baseball sleepers picks rankings

Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Count on these closers to shine

Which fantasy baseball closer sleepers can take your team over the top in 2021?

It is fantasy baseball season! Below, we’re focusing on fantasy baseball sleepers at the closer position.

The saves landscape has changed a lot over the last few years, as many teams are turning to multiple arms to handle ninth-inning duties. It makes the top-tier closers more valuable than ever, but that’s being reflected in their fantasy baseball draft prices.

In NFBC Main Event drafts so far, five relievers are going of the board by pick 80, and four more before pick 100. Let’s look at a few later options who should return solid value.

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Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Closers

LHP Will Smith, Atlanta Braves

Smith began the 2020 season on the COVID-19 list, and returned to post a 4.50 ERA in 18 appearances. He still missed plenty of bats, though, and had a sub-1.00 WHIP.

With last year’s closer Mark Melancon now with the San Diego Padres, the door is open for Smith, who saved 34 games with the San Francisco Giants in 2019, to handle closer duties. The Braves have several other quality lefties in the bullpen to play matchups, and Smith appears to have the edge over Chris Martin in the closer battle, a job he can definitely thrive in.

RHP Anthony Bass, Miami Marlins

Bass spent some time in the closer role for the Toronto Blue Jays last season and saved seven games for them, including four in September.

He’s not a big strikeout guy, but his swinging strike rate has improved the last two seasons (11.5% in 2020), and he keeps the ball on the ground at a high rate (62.3% in 2020). Manager Don Mattingly has typically deployed one reliever to close out games, and signs point to that being Bass to open the year.

RHP Jordan Romano, Toronto Blue Jays

With closer Kirby Yates already going down for the season, no replacement has been formally announced in Toronto.

Romano is the logical replacement and has the skills to run with the role. He recorded a 36.8% K% and 1.23 ERA a season ago, leading to his 30-save potential mentioned in Baseball Forecaster. It’s a scenario that is well within the realm of possibility now, making Romano a solid investment.

RHP Nick Wittgren, Cleveland Indians

Most fantasy managers assumed all winter that RHP James Karinchak would serve as the team’s closer but Manager Terry Francona has been hesitant to anoint the hard-throwing right-hander and has given Wittgren some rave reviews this spring.

During his two seasons in Cleveland, Wittgren has put up a 2.99 ERA and 1.057 WHIP. There’s no guarantee he will claim the ninth-inning job but he is going outside the top 300 in most drafts and is a worthy gamble.

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Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Count on these relievers to shine

Which fantasy baseball sleepers at reliever can take your team over the top in 2021?

It is fantasy baseball season! Below, we’re focusing on fantasy baseball sleepers at the reliever position.

Non-closing or part-time-closing relievers were becoming a big piece of the pitching pie before the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with the shortened 2020 season and the careful approach that will surround ramping back up in 2021, the talented almost-starter/almost-closer types will eat up more innings than ever before.

So, in a fantasy baseball draft or auction, its a spot where value can be highly leveraged. The results posted by relief pitchers are volatile but value can be had and it’s best to get a pair and a spare in the process.

Also see: Count on these starting pitcher sleepers to shine

Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Relievers

RHP Trevor May, New York Mets

A year ago with the Minnesota Twins, May logged 38 strikeouts over just 23 1/3 innings. The 31-year-old has seen a velocity spike post-Tommy John surgery (which he had in 2018), and last season he upped his slider usage and the results were impressive.

May is quite good against lefty bats and figures to be used in key roles up to and including spot closing duties.

LHP Amir Garrett, Cincinnati Reds

Garrett has a great fastball, but he’s another reliever who upped his value by increasing slider usage. The 6-foot-5 port-sider made that move going into 2019 and in two seasons since (74 1/3 IP), he has registered a 3.03 ERA and 12.6 K/9.

He’s a candidate to get some saves in 2021 with the Reds moving on from RHP Raisel Iglesias, who’s now with the Los Angeles Angels. Baseball HQ projects Garrett to rack up 80 strikeouts this season.

RHP Chris Martin, Atlanta Braves

Martin is a late bloomer who figures to have a crack at a lot of high-leverage innings this summer. The 34-year-old right-hander has excellent control and owns a 2.81 ERA and 10.4 K/9 over his last 77 appearances.

He toils for an Atlanta club with a lefty closer in Will Smith, and that may slot him for an uptick in situational save chances. Baseball HQ pegs Martin as a solid source of strikeouts and ERA production.

RHP Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers

Peralta went two-or-more innings in half of his 14 relief appearances last season. His indicators show he has out-pitched his ERA each of the last three years, and that includes his 3.99 ERA posted in 2020.

Peralta is another candidate for extended progression now that a plus slider has been added to his repertoire. Thursday, the Brewers announced Peralta would begin the season as the team’s No. 5 starter, so peg him as a swing man overall and a flexible source of production for a fantasy roster.

LHP Joely Rodriguez, Texas Rangers

Texas RHP Jose Leclerc (elbow) is expected to miss significant time due to the amount of discomfort in his right elbow.

Rodriguez, who pitched in Japan in 2018 and 2019, returned to MLB last season to log a 2.13 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 12 1/3 IP for the Rangers. The 29-year-old southpaw cranks out ground balls and strikeouts. He’ll be given a wide berth to build on his 2020 return and possibly garner a handful of saves.

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Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Count on these starting pitchers to shine

Which fantasy baseball starting pitcher sleepers can take your team over the top in 2021?

It is fantasy baseball season! Today we’re focusing on fantasy baseball sleepers at the starting pitcher position.

Coming off the shortened 2020 season, starters will be plentiful in number if not innings pitched. Every team will be looking to be creative in utilizing their pitching the best way they can. Some starters will pitch in a more traditional role, but we could see openers and three-inning guys, six-man rotations, and a slew of frequent spot starters.

There is a scarcity of reliable starters who will fill the traditional slots, but a lot of room to fill in with sleepers and projects around the margins.

Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Starting Pitchers

LHP Jordan Montgomery, New York Yankees

Montgomery returned to action last season after missing most of the previous two seasons due to Tommy John surgery. The large lefty flashed improved velocity and worked three pitches (fastball, slider, changeup) into bat-missing performances while making 10 starts.

Montgomery registered a swinging-strike rate of 12.9% while doing well to avoid hard contact (28.4% hard hit). A post-hype candidate, the Yankees southpaw was undone by a .320 BABIP and a 65.0% left-on-base figure. Baseball HQ projects a 4.03 ERA and 142 strikeouts for 2021.

RHP Ian Anderson, Braves

Anderson is a talented 22-year-old right-hander who dominated Class High-A and AA in 2018-19. He is one of the most talented young arms in the game.

The changeup is the Atlanta hurler’s bread-and-butter pitch and he deftly crafted it and a decent fastball and curve into a 29.7% strikeout rate and a 52.5% ground-ball rate in a 32 1/3-inning 2020 season. Anderson is also tough on lefty-hitters; that and the ground-ball stuff should help him maximize his innings in 2021 and beyond.

RHP Triston McKenzie, Cleveland Indians

The former first-round draft choice logged a 3.24 ERA in 33 1/3 IP for Cleveland in 2020. The sample was small, but the talent looms large.

McKenzie benefited from a .217 opponent batting average on balls in play, but he was also somewhat undone by a lofty home run rate on fly balls. The 23-year-old exhibits impressive command of a fastball-slider-curve-changeup mix. That mix yielded a nifty 12.4% swinging-strike rate bolstering an 11.34 K/9 figure.

LHP John Means, Baltimore Orioles

Means added over two miles per hour to his fastball last year and put up solid Statcast measures, but much of his growth was overlooked due to a 4.53 ERA. The soon-to-be 28-year-old left-hander throws strikes at a 34% rate and can get righties out. He logged a big September with a .601 OPS against.

The fourth-year major leaguer is a “sleepier” sleeper based on the club he plays for and his status as a late bloomer but the potential is certainly there for above-average production at a fraction of the cost.

RHP Elieser Hernandez, Miami Marlins

Hernandez gets overlooked in a Miami rotation including RHP Sixto Sanchez, RHP Sandy Alcantara, and RHP Pablo Lopez in a rotation full of talented 20-somethings. The 25-year-old has strikeout and walk rates trending the right way and last season he logged 11.92 strikeouts and 1.75 walks per nine while posting a career-best 13.w% swinging-strike rate.

Hernandez made just six starts last year due to a lat strain which ended his season Sept. 1. His repertoire might fit nicely into a short-inning starter role.

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Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Count on these second basemen to shine

Which fantasy baseball second basemen sleepers can take your team over the top in 2021? We highlight 5 second baseman to target in your fantasy baseball draft.

It is fantasy baseball season! Today we’re focusing on fantasy baseball sleepers at the second base position.

Gone are the days where it’s important to address your middle infield early in drafts. With strong options available throughout the draft, fantasy managers can load up on the best players available, regardless of position early on, and fill in the holes later. Here’s a look at a few second basemen who represent good values.

Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Second Base

Kolten Wong, Milwaukee Brewers

Though he has never quite lived up to the hype offensively, Wong has established himself as a solid regular. He appears set to lead off the majority of the time this season, in a great park for hitters and in a division loaded with right-handed starting pitching. With an ADP of 223 in March 15-team NFBC drafts, there’s plenty of room for profit and very little downside.

Jake Cronenworth, San Diego Padres

After an impressive debut in which he hit .285/.354/.477 last year, Cronenworth was popular in early drafts. He had an NFBC ADP of 153 in 15-team leagues through the end of December. His ADP dropped to 229 following the team’s additions of 2B/OF Jurickson Profar and 2B/3B Ha-Seong Kim. Cronenworth has continued to rake this spring. His positional versatility should keep him in the lineup enough to justify the cost.

Jonathan Schoop, Detroit Tigers

Schoop is a reliable source of power, averaging 27.5 home runs per 600 plate appearances throughout his career, along with a .259 batting average. Last year was his first season with the Tigers, and he hit .278 with eight home runs in just 44 games. Schoop should see close to everyday at-bats in 2021, and is sure to provide plenty of pop once again. Bottom line, he is a steal beyond pick 300, where he often goes.

Enrique (Kiké) Hernandez, Boston Red Sox

He hit just .230/.270/.410 across 148 plate appearances for the 2020 World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, and his playing time was sporadic down the stretch. But Baseball HQ shows his xBA was a more respectable .251, and he now finds himself with an opportunity for consistent at-bats in Boston. If spring training lineups are any indication, Hernandez looks like the team’s preferred option to lead off. He is a good bet to return a profit in the later rounds, and offers multi-position eligibility as an added bonus.

Josh Rojas, Arizona Diamondbacks

He has struggled in the majors so far, hitting .206/.295/.271 in 227 plate appearances. Rojas hit .332 with 23 homers and 33 steals in 479 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019. He leads the league in plate appearances this spring, an indication the Diamondbacks wants to see what they have in him, at least while OF Kole Calhoun is out and IF/OF Ketel Marte is in the outfield. Rojas is a gamble late in drafts, but one with a lofty ceiling.

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