Fantasy Baseball Today - Early 2024 Outfield Rankings! Nolan Jones Excitement (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

Starting point is 00:00:02 Let's continue on with the rest of Scott's top 24 outfielders. Up next on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FBT and 5 on Saturday, December 2nd. I am Frank Samfell, joined by Scott White, and we left off on Thursday with the top 12 outfielders. Today we're going to talk about 13 through 24, and the first group includes Adoles Garcia, Michael Harris, Randy Rosa Rana, Kyle Schwerber, Christian Yelich, and Nolan Jones.

Starting point is 00:00:31 Some, you know, we spoke about on the full-lane podcast, Scott, Adoles Garcia, kind of a hard player to rank, not running as much as he used to. And then, I guess, differently from that is Michael Harris and Randy Rose Arena, probably going to provide you 2020. So different skill sets here up top 13 through 15 in your rankings. Yeah, it's kind of weird because I don't love these players for the most part in this stretch of the rankings. And yet I acknowledge, like, given how bad outfield becomes after this, you kind of have to make yourself fluff them, you know? You kind of have to see the glass half full for them. So Adolice Garcia, he's basically stopped being a base dealer. And yet he has kind of solidified his place as an elite power hitter.

Starting point is 00:01:26 The exit velocities have remained high. His plate discipline has improved a little bit. And being in the Rangers lineup does him a lot of favors because the run and RBI totals are going to be great. I would prefer the batting average B of some help, especially since he's not a big base dealer. And so I wouldn't say I'm enthusiastic about drafting Adoli-Scarcia here, but I acknowledge that is probably where he needs to go.

Starting point is 00:01:51 Similarly, you got Randy a Rosa Rain actually took a step back in stolen bases while the rest of the league took a step forward, and he's not that efficient on the base paths, had a horrible second half. There are a lot of reasons not to like him. Schwabber. Of course, you can't count on him batting even 200. He's going to give you 45 home runs,

Starting point is 00:02:12 but batting average is a category that needs to be filled early in Roto leagues. And he is a huge detriment as far as that goes. You have to really feel great about where you are on batting average with your first four or five picks to be, the one who takes Schwerber here. But this is probably where he needs to rank, just in terms of overall output. Christian Yelich has the back issues,

Starting point is 00:02:40 not a big power hitter anymore. He did take advantage of the stolen base environment in a way Arandia Rosarina didn't. And so that helps salvage Yelich's fantasy appeal, I think. But it's not like he's a player who's going to contribute for you across the board. And even Michael Harris. I'm kind of backtracking here.

Starting point is 00:02:57 I have Harris 14th. even Michael Harris I'd love Michael Harris I think he'd be a cinch top 12 outfielder except he bats ninth for the Braves and that kills his run in RBI production and moreover I don't think it's going to change

Starting point is 00:03:14 whenever they try Michael Harris anywhere other than the ninth spot the product like he doesn't it doesn't seem to go well it doesn't seem to go well and so it makes them reluctant to try it again and their lineup is so deep that he kind of works in the ninth spot, giving a

Starting point is 00:03:32 somebody who can be on base ahead of Ronald de Cunia batting leadoff. It kind of feels like he's stuck there. So that's why even he's discounted a bit for as much as I like the profile. We got to go all the way to number 18 here, Nolan Jones, to find an outfielder who I'm excited to draft again.

Starting point is 00:03:53 And there's a lot to like about Nolan Jones who managed to put together a 2020 season, even though he wasn't a regular part of the lineup until like mid-season, played in only 106 games. 2020 season, high-batting average, playing half his games in Colorado strikes out a lot, but the eggs of velocities are incredible, and he gets that advantage of the thin air environment,

Starting point is 00:04:20 of course, field, which helps to boost Babbitt. I think Nolan Jones is the real deal, and I might pass up a lot of these outfielers rank ahead of him, like just weight them out and then be the one who takes Nolan Jones. All right. Number 19 through 24, we see Josh Lowe, followed by Jazz Chisholm, Brian Reynolds, Spencer Steer, Sayas Suzuki, and George Springer. The two names up at the top here, Scott, Josh Lowe and Jazz Chisholm. I think we have loads of power and speed potential for both of them, but we might have playing time risk for different reasons. Josh Lowe, is he going to play against left-handed pitching?

Starting point is 00:04:57 We know that this is kind of a thing that the Tampa Bay Rays like to do. And Jazz Chisholm, he's just had trouble staying on the field because of injuries. Yeah, I would say Josh Lowe is another outfielder. I'm really excited to draft. So Nolan Jones and Josh Lowe, if I can get one of them as my number two outfielder, that's probably going to happen to a lot of drafts this year. Low managed 20 homers, 32 steals, despite not playing against left-handers much. So imagine if he starts playing against left-handers, which, you know,

Starting point is 00:05:28 the race potentially talking about moving Randy a Rosarena. They're going to need, they're going to need to find somebody in their lineup that they can kind of build around. Josh Lowe seems like he could be that guy. Seems like he could up his playing time substantially. And I really like the skill set for him. The rest is pretty flawed.

Starting point is 00:05:51 I mean, I'm fine with Chisholm, Reynolds, Steer, Sayas, Suzuki, and George Springer. I'm fine with them. as starters, but like it does feel like there's a limit to their upside. Chisholm less so because of skills and more because of that substantial injury risk. Sayy Suzuki took a big step forward

Starting point is 00:06:10 in the second half, especially like August to September. He performed like a stud, and that was the hope for him all along, and I'm hoping just he finally achieved a comfort level in the majors that that could carry over to next year. But it's a big assumption for a guy who ranks as high as he does.

Starting point is 00:06:26 Again, that's you kind of have to see the glass hat full in this range of the outfield because everybody's vulnerable. As you'll hear very often this offseason, outfield, it's tough, man. Especially if you play in a five outfielder league. I mean, lots of names that you need to draft and not lots of names that we have much confidence in heading into 2024.

Starting point is 00:06:49 For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball today and five, and we'll be back again next week. Bye-bye.

Fantasy Baseball Today - Early 2024 Outfield Rankings! Nolan Jones Excitement (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

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