Often in the midst of your draft, you’ll find yourself deciding between a couple players at the same position. With Player Showdowns, we take two players who are closely ranked and have writers take a side and debate who should be selected first. Whose side will you be on?
We’ll offer up one Showdown per position (catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, third base, outfield, starter and reliever) here, and you can get dozens more by purchasing the 2019 Rotoworld Baseball Draft Guide. It’s an essential weapon to have in your arsenal at the draft table this spring.
Kris Bryant vs. Cody Bellinger
Bryant
Bryant qualifies for the outfield on most fantasy sites after appearing in 27 games (and making 18 starts) there last season. But he’s more widely known as a third baseman, as that’s where the large majority of his playing has come at the major league level and where the Cubs will start him on Opening Day later this month against the Rangers. In our third base rankings, the entire Rotoworld baseball staff ranked Bryant in the No. 5 spot, with the consensus being that only Jose Ramirez, Nolan Arenado, Alex Bregman, and Javier Baez belonged above him. Here in the staff outfield rankings, his average placement is 13.86 -- basically the 14th-best option at the position. I was the highest on him, ranking him 10th. Now, obviously there are many more outfielders than third basemen on fantasy draft boards, and many of those outfielders are sure-fire first-round picks, but I feel like some of our writers were maybe thrown for a loop by Bryant’s multi-position eligibility. For me, that roster versatility only makes him more valuable. Bryant obviously struggled last season, but almost all of the blame can be placed on a nagging left shoulder injury, and he entered Cubs camp this spring with a clean bill of health. As of this posting, Bryant is batting .364/.563/.909 with two home runs and five RBI through seven Cactus League games. With improved health on his side, there’s no doubt we’ll see a rebound. And there’s reason for optimism that he can get back to the level of production that netted him the National League MVP in 2016. I like Bellinger, but he’s not the hitter that Bryant is. - Drew Silva (@drewsilv)
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Bellinger
By all accounts, Bryant is over the shoulder issue that limited him to 102 games last season and a career-low .834 OPS. If that’s true, a return to his 2017 level of production is within reach. And that would make him a highly-valuable fantasy commodity. The thing about Bellinger is that he carries no injury concerns coming out of 2018. The 23-year-old might not have been able to match the ridiculous numbers he posted as a rookie, but he still produced 25 homers, 76 RBI, 14 steals, and 84 runs scored last year. It didn’t show in his batting average, but he improved his contact rate and lowered his strikeout percentage in the process. It’s not crazy to think we could see a batting average boost this year. Unfortunately, Bellinger didn’t put the ball in the air as often as he did in 2017, which partially contributed to the decrease in power production. Projecting a return to his rookie power numbers would be unfair unless that changes. All in all, It’s fair to say 2018 was a year of adjustments for Bellinger as pitchers approached him differently. Still, the floor is already quite good. He’s now 24-for-28 in stolen base attempts in the majors, so there should be confidence in him being more of an asset in that category than Bryant, who is 30-for-48 lifetime. That’s not an insignificant detail with stolen bases increasingly difficult to find. - D.J. Short (@djshort)
PREVIOUS SHOWDOWNS
Rosario vs. DeJong
Rendon vs. Suarez
Shaw vs. Dozier
Muncy vs. Cabrera
Realmuto vs. Sanchez
