Fantasy Baseball: Handing out awards for 2021, including most valuable pitcher and hitter
How many of your players claimed one of these superlatives?
By
Scott White
•
1 min read
The 2021 Fantasy Baseball season is indeed over. But before we put it behind us, we should take a moment to commemorate some of the players who made all that it was.
In what's become an annual tradition of sorts, I have a bunch of nutty awards here designed to do just that. Some indeed recognize the best players. Others single out the biggest follies. Still others exist to highlight those players who were so uniquely ... something.
If, however, you're more interested in where I stand on the more conventional awards, I don't mind sharing:
AL MVP: Shohei Ohtani, DH/SP, LAA
NL MVP: Fernando Tatis, SS, SD
AL CY: Robbie Ray, SP, TOR
NL CY: Max Scherzer, SP, LAD
AL ROY: Randy Arozarena, OF, TB
NL ROY: Jonathan India, 2B, CIN
But enough with that. On to the good stuff.
Most Impactful Player
Despite his mid-round price tag, he ended up being one of the top performers in both home runs and stolen bases. That is, unless you used him as a pitcher, enjoying his ace-caliber production. He may not have been the single best player in Fantasy, but if you won your league with him, he was probably the biggest reason why.
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Most Valuable Hitter
Considered a fourth-outfielder type for a bad team, he was basically on nobody's radar coming into the year, having an ADP outside the top 400. But he dropped switch hitting in spring training and went on to become the season's only 30/30 man.
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Most Valuable Pitcher
If we're meant to interpret "value" as bang for the buck, then the real answer is probably Robbie Ray. But he's needed for another award, so I'll go with Zack Wheeler, the boring middle-round innings-eater who took a turn for the spectacular at age 31.
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Most Improved Hitter (TIE)
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The real answer is Cedric Mullins, of course, but I'm trying for no repeat winners here. Both Riley and O'Neill arrived a few years back to great hype but were sidetracked by strikeout issues, raising the question whether they'd ever tap into their considerable power potential. Both this year emerged as six-win players, fringe MVP candidates and possible early-rounders for next year.
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Most Improved Pitcher
Here's where I'm slotting Robbie Ray, having previously written him off because of his control woes and penchant for hard contact. The latter doesn't matter so much if he's throwing strikes consistently, as he did for the first time in what was probably a Cy Young-winning season.
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Most Improved, Midseason Edition
He didn't gain much traction at the start when he was on and off the IL and unsettled in his role, but when he was back for good in July, he became a force of nature, unbenchable in Fantasy as he reeled off quality start after quality start thanks to his elite ground-ball rate.
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Biggest Collapse
Already a Fantasy mainstay, Kyle Hendricks was enjoying a stretch of 14 quality starts in 16 chances when it all came crashing down in mid-August. His soft-tossing approach only works with pinpoint command, as his 7.96 ERA over his final nine starts makes clear.
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Bobby Big Bat Award
I normally go with a more discounted source of power -- like Adam Duvall, for instance -- but Salvador Perez wasn't exactly an early-round pick this year. That he led the majors in both home runs and RBI *as a catcher* I think seals the deal.
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Freddie Fleet Foot Award
Starling Marte actually was an early-round pick, but only one player (Whit Merrifield) was within even 15 stolen bases of him. He was so far ahead in a category where even a little goes a long way that I couldn't justify giving the award to a discount pickup like Nicky Lopez instead.
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Best call (by me)
What a gift his fluky .225 batting average during the pandemic-shortened 2020 turned out to be, disguising his obvious path to stardom with the Reds. Clearly, it all came together for Nick Castellanos.
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Worst call (by me)
I actually feel worse about some of my other misses given that Teoscar Hernandez changed his skill set this year, becoming much less susceptible to strikeouts. There's little predicting something like that. Still, he was my most confident bust pick, as I voiced on many occasions, which means I have to own it now.
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Best call, midseason edition
Everyone had just bought into Ranger Suarez as the Phillies new closer when they swung a deal for Ian Kennedy, prompting Suarez's shift to the starting rotation. The response was a collective groan, but I suggested people shouldn't be so quick to drop someone with such a high ground-ball rate. He went on to deliver a 1.51 ERA in 12 starts.
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Worst call, midseason edition
I actually liked him as a sleeper coming into the year and drafted him in a bunch of leagues, but when he was batting .230 with a .697 OPS at the end of May and still complaining of pain in his surgically repaired ankle, I bailed. He was a top-five shortstop/second baseman the rest of the way.
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Fakeout of the Year, Pitcher Edition
A trendy breakout pick coming into the year, he seemed to have it all together with a 3.18 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and nearly a strikeout per inning through his first 15 starts. But he had a 6.22 ERA thereafter and was even booted from the Mariners rotation by season's end.
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Fakeout of the Year, Hitter Edition
The decline wasn't as dramatic as Yusei Kikuchi's, but after being one of the only hitters to bat his own weight in April, ultimately homering 20 times through the first three months, Jared Walsh saw a sharp decline in power poduction, his strikeout rate fluctuating wildly all the while.
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Best Comeback, Pitcher Edition
He hadn't pitched like an ace since 2014 and was closing in on his 40th birthday, so in what world does it make sense that Adam Wainwright was a top-five pitcher in Head-to-Head points leagues and top 10 in Rotisserie?
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Best Comeback, Hitter Edition
Just as much of a lost cause as Adam Wainwright was the 38-year-old Joey Votto, who was barely mixed league-viable the previous three years. But he said he would sacrifice contact for more power heading into 2021 and certainly made good on it, rejoining the elite at first base.
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Best comeback, midseason edition
Right about the time we had determined there was nothing more to see from Blake Snell, who had too long gotten a pass because of his Cy Young-winning 2018, the left-hander rediscovered his ace form, delivering a 1.83 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 13.2 K/9 over his final eight starts. He ended the year on the IL with an adductor strain, but the point was made.
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Biggest Underachiever
No starting pitcher underperformed his peripherals more than Aaron Nola, whose 4.63 ERA is betrayed by a 3.39 xFIP and 3.37 xERA. Given his longtime ace standing, I'm comfortable chalking it up as a fluke.
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Biggest Overachiever
I kept waiting for the regression to come for Marcus Semien, and it never did, which should inspire confidence as he enters free agency. Still, his .241 xBA doesn't back up his .265 batting average, and his .444 xSLG certainly does back up his .538 slugging percentage.
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Biggest Weirdo
The usual indicators offer no insight as to why Cal Quantrill was as good as he was, His 4.43 xFIP would have ranked near the bottom of all qualifiers, and his 3.89 xERA doesn't clear it up either. Some pitchers are weird like that, but I remain skeptical in his case.
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The Guy Fantasy Footballers Won't See Coming
A 29-year-old career minor-leaguer steps into a starting role for a rebuilding club and hits .344 with a 1.006 OPS over the final two months. Yeah ... the early dropouts are in for a surprise when he's one of the top 15 first basemen off the board next year.
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The one you've already forgotten about
Remember how he was piling up whiffs with his devastating changeup and emerging slider? His 15.2 percent swinging-strike rate would have ranked sixth among qualifiers this year, so don't let his premature end to the season cause him to slip your mind next year.
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The one I wouldn't shut up about
Turns out the breakthrough I forecasted at every opportunity for the final 3-4 months of 2021 never fully manifested, but his final numbers were respectable enough. I think we all have reason to like his prospects again after a couple injury-plagued seasons deflated the hype.
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Mr. Look Who Finally Decided to Show Up
You drafted him expecting he would carry you in stolen bases, but injuries held him out for most of 2021. If you managed to hold on, though, his September return likely moved you up a few spots in the category. He swiped 14 bags that final month, which I know made the difference in me winning my 5x5 Head-to-Head league.
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Mr. Thanks for the Memories
He began this season much like the previous three with a 2.62 ERA through 10 starts, but his strikeouts dried up, leading to a 5.29 ERA over his final 21 starts. Seeing as he'll be 35 next year, I'm not so sure he gets it back.
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