Yesterday, I reviewed the list of hitters I had highlighted whose Pod Projections suggested stolen base upside compared with Steamer projections. Now, it’s time to review the list of stolen base downside guys, or those whose Pod Projections called for far fewer steals per 650 PA than Steamer.
Today, I continue on reviewing my Pod vs Steamer series, pitting my Pod Projections against the Steamer projections. Let’s now shift to stolen bases. This season saw the lowest PA/SB (the lower the ratio, the higher the frequency of stolen bases) since 2016, as the rate has jumped up and down beginning in 2018. If the trend continues, steals will be down next year! Of course, that’s not how it works. Anyhow, the increase in steals means my upside guys have a slight advantage, and my downside list might look a little worse than it would had steals been stable year to year. So let’s review the eight hitters who I projected for the biggest positive difference in PA/SB, resulting in a higher stolen base projection over 650 PAs.
What was the best possible fantasy combination of infielders (1B, 2B, SS, 3B) this season? That is an easy question to answer if you use the year-to-date settings on the auction calculator and you simply look at the best player at each position. It would look like this:
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, $33.7
2B: Jose Altuve, $25.2
SS: Trea Turner, $32.5
3B: José Ramírez, $31.2
But, if you were in a 12-team roto snake draft and were able to get both José Ramírez and Trea Turner, you likely played in a league full of clowns. J-Ram’s average draft position (NFBC) was 3.2 while Turner’s was 1.2. It’s unlikely any fantasy teams had both of those top players. So, what was the best possible infield within reasonable ADP? Here’s how I tried to answer this question.
Yesterday, I chose to embarrass myself by reviewing my list of home run upside guys, or those my Pod Projections were more bullish on than Steamer. Spoiler alert if you haven’t read the post yet — I lost every battle. Given that the league HR/FB rate was at its lowest since 2015, I should have a better chance of tallying up some wins on the home run downside list. Perhaps I’ll just embarrass myself even further. Let’s find out.
Let’s continue reviewing my 2022 posts and move on to my series pitting my Pod Projections against the Steamer projections. Reluctantly, I’ll start with the hitters I projected for a greater number of home runs than Steamer. Having not looked at the names just yet as I type this, I have a feeling this ain’t going to go well! This season’s league 11.4% HR/FB rate was its lowest since 2015, so a list of guys with upside likely worked out far worse than a list of guys with downside!
Let’s break from reviewing my prediction lists where half the players discussed got injured and switch to reviewing one of my 2022 Pod Projections…of a player who also got hurt. At the end of Feb, I shared a detailed breakdown of my underlying metric forecasts and overall projection line for former uber prospect Wander Franco. Let’s see how he performed compared to my forecasts, and the computer systems.
For this I used the Auction Calculator which includes the ADP pulled from the NFBC and focused on the guys who weren’t complete injury washouts. Adalberto Mondesi was indeed a bust, but he managed just 54 PA so you had a replacement all year. Injuries certainly play a role in bust seasons, whether it’s something that costs a player time or a nagging injury that compromises their play but doesn’t take them off the field. I used a 300 PA cutoff here which is admittedly arbitrary and does include guys who hit the IL, but figured it gave us a better group of guys whose bust status is more performance-based.
Wander Franco | 58.9 ADP
-$2 in 344 PA – .277 AVG, 6 HR, 8 SB, 33 RBI, 46 R
Among the hitters drafted in the top 100, Franco was the only negative value who eclipsed 300 PA. He did have a pair of IL stints that essentially cut his season in half, but the production while on the field didn’t really match his draft price. The 22-year-old shortstop still has incredible upside, and the market definitely won’t run away from him based on this season. He went 89th in the one draft I’ve done so far and I expect him to slowly rise up the board over the winter and wind up around the Top 75 come draft season in March.
To qualify for this totally made-up award, a player must have been projected to earn positive value in the stolen base category (mSB) on our Auction Calculator (default settings, steamer projections) and negative value in every other category. They then needed to earn positive value in at least three of the four non-SB categories (mR, mHR, mRBI, mAVG).
Finalists: Bobby Witt Jr., Daulton Varsho, Dansby Swanson
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Surely there will be plenty written about Bobby Witt Jr.’s rookie season in fantasy realms this offseason. His preseason projections were likely low due to the uncertainty of his playing time/call-up situation. It was clear that he was going to be good. But, would you have guessed he’d finish as the fifth-best third-baseman by auction value earned? It was clear that he was going to steal bases, and in the end, that’s what drove his value. If you look at any one of his 15-game rolling charts not involving base running, it would tell you a story of a 22-year-old rookie who has a lot of potential but may not have lit the world on fire in his first year. It happens.
Witt outperformed all of his roto-category projections except for his batting average. He was projected to hit .257 and he hit .254. Not bad, steamer projections. Compared to his 2021 AAA stats, his line-drive rate was down and his ground ball rate was up. He also put out fewer fly-balls for home runs than he did in AAA. However, he still showed that he has the 22-year-old ability to absolutely smoke the ball with his 92nd Statcast percentile maxEV. But, he had a difficult time with major league four-seamers, putting up a -7 Statcast run value and a 23rd worst (among qualified hitters) -2.6 pitch-info p-val on wFA. However, Witt accumulated 632 plate appearances in his rookie season (second behind Steven Kwan) and that experience must be worth a few extra dollars going into 2023.
| Value | POS | PA | mAVG | mRBI | mR | mSB | mHR | Dollars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steamer Projected | 3B/SS | 558 | -$0.70 | -$0.88 | -$1.42 | $3.80 | -$0.80 | $8.53 |
| YTD | 3B/SS | 632 | -$1.04 | $1.85 | $2.11 | $7.46 | $0.27 | $20.67 |
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One thing to keep in mind is Varsho’s increased projected value due to his eligibility at catcher. The positional scarcity earns him a higher value. But, Varsho was a catcher-eligible player who was expected to run and he did not disappoint, stealing a career-high (MLB) 16 bases. He also put together a close-to-full season with 592 plate appearances in 151 games. He was a workhorse this season and everything but his batting average (.234) showed it.
| Value | PA | mAVG | mRBI | mR | mSB | mHR | Dollars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steamer Projected | 492 | -$1.02 | -$2.16 | -$2.83 | $0.37 | -$1.55 | $18.86 |
| YTD | 592 | -$3.20 | $0.96 | $1.63 | $2.62 | $2.53 | $23.32 |
However, these roto-value gains don’t seem to be accompanied by much underlying Statcast data:
He did catch 31 games in 2022, so depending on your league rules, he may or may not be eligible again at the catcher position in 2023. Regardless, no matter which way you look at it, 27 home runs and 16 stolen bases at the catcher position in 2022 play nicely on any fantasy team under any league parameters. For a player who has only had roughly one and a half seasons at the major league level, I’m looking forward to seeing his 2023 projections.
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…and the award goes to…
As Swanson heads into free agency this offseason, his 2022 totals indicate that he intended to make a statement. In 2022 he put up the most plate appearances of his career, scored the most runs, hit the most RBI, and stole the most bases. He also put up his lowest BB%, which didn’t help those rostering him in OBP leagues. His K% has been on an upward trend in the past three seasons, but so have his home run totals, FB% and SwStr%. 
Is he selling out for power? Maybe. But he also outperformed his batting average projection (steamer) of .245 by over 20 points (.277) and the 2022 major league average was .243.
Don’t call him a rabbit, but he did run, stealing a career-high 18 bags. However, he’s not being given this award because he stole bases, he’s being given this prestigious award because he did everything else.
| Name | POS | PA | mAVG | mRBI | mR | mSB | mHR | Dollars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steamer Projected | SS | 601 | -$2.97 | -$0.84 | -$0.94 | -$0.34 | -$1.63 | $3.07 |
| YTD | SS | 696 | $2.24 | $4.25 | $4.83 | $3.31 | $1.88 | $26.54 |
Congratulations to Dansby Swanson on an amazing season and to any fantasy managers that rostered him. Next week, I’ll begin my dishing out these highly coveted awards to pitchers.
Yesterday, I discussed six 2021 fantasy breakouts and reviewed how they followed up in 2022. Naturally, half (3) of them earned within $10 of their 2021 values, while the other half failed to. Let’s now turn our attention to five of 2021’s busts. Did any of them rebound in 2022?
Let’s continue reviewing my preseason calls and predictions by checking in on six hitters that broke out in 2021. In 2021, these hitters all earned more than $20 in value greater than what they earned in 2020. To qualify as “REAL”, they merely had to earn within $10 of their 2021 earnings. If their 2022 earnings declined by at least $10 from their 2021 marks, they would be deemed a “BUST”. Let’s find out how this group performed.
