8 Players I Can’t Wait to Watch in 2020

by
April 3, 2020

We’d be a week into the 2020 season if things had gone as planned. A bunch of us would already be freaking out about our teams and Twitter would be littered with questions about cutting star-level players because they are 5-for-30. As much as those questions drive me insane, I do wish I was fielding them daily right now.

I don’t know when we’ll get baseball again, but here are 8 players I can’t wait to see when it does return:

Ozzie Albies | 2B, ATL

I love watching Albies play baseball. The 23-year old switch hitter has flashed an array of skills over his 1630 MLB plate appearances and his power/speed capability has made him a fantasy stud. I stilllll think there’s even more here, particularly with his speed. I could see a 25/25 or even 30/30 season from Albies at his best.

Matt Olson | 1B, OAK

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I feel bad for the would-be 2020 HR leader. He’ll probably still lead the league if and when games start, but a 75-game HR title just isn’t the same. Don’t forget, he had hamate surgery last year and everyone thought his power would be gone for a year. Instead, he smashed 36 in 547 PA.

Brandon Woodruff | SP, MIL

I can’t wait to see Woody’s follow up to 2019, but the biggest disappointment is that we still won’t see how well he can handle a full season of innings. I’m in the group that believes he can handle 180+ innings, but we won’t find that out until 2021 at the earliest.

Franmil Reyes | OF, CLE

If I’m being honest, I’m not drafting Reyes a ton if only because Kyle Schwarber is available 30 picks later and they’re not that different. That said, I’m still eager to watch the Franimal. I have become a bigger fan of Reyes via his MLB The Show excellence. I traded for him on Oakland in a March to October run and he absolutely went off:

Max Fried | SP, ATL

Fried added a slider and some velo last year, spurring a solid season. He gave up a few too many hits (9.5 H/9) and a higher BABIP has been an issue throughout his career, but I think there’s room for improvement here. If he cuts the hits, there’s major upside here because I could also see a jump in strikeouts with a full year of that new slider.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | OF, TOR / Cavan Biggio | 2B, TOR

I can’t wait to watch the Kin 4 (Bichette, Vlad Jr., and these two) and honestly, the shortened season could benefit the Jays as the volatility of 75-100 games. I’d be down to draft any of the four, but Bichette and Vlad Jr. are a good bit more expensive than these two. I’ve mentioned this throughout the offseason, but Gurriel essentially has a full season of MLB team and he’s put up 31 HR, 85 RBI, 92 R, and 7 SB with a .279 AVG in 606 PA.

Biggio needs to be a bit more aggressive. His 29% K rate just didn’t make any sense. He only had a 9% swinging strike rate so it’s not about whiffing a ton. He’s definitely missing hittable pitches and needs to consider attacking earlier in counts. There’s some major power/speed upside and even with the heavy strikeout rate, we still saw it in his 100-game sample last year (16 HR/14 SB).

Nathan Eovaldi | P, BOS

I can’t quit him. I have a problem. I think it’s because it’s not about talent, but rather health. If and when he’s healthy, he can be really, really good. A shortened season could benefit him, too, since he might only need to get through 100 innings to log a full season. Despite the volatility of his career, I really enjoy watching him pitch.





 

Paul is the Editor of Rotographs and Content Director for OOTP Perfect Team. Follow Paul on Twitter @sporer and on Twitch at sporer.

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icswirka
5 years ago

Thanks! I love pieces like this. I funnel some of your enthusiasm into my own and in this weird, “will there be baseball? When will there be baseball?” time I’m just wheeling and dealing for fun and exciting players that I just can’t wait to watch- instead of the normal grind of maximizing straight valuation.

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