It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for my weekly MLB SuperDraft breakdown. Once a week I will be bringing this article to SuperDraft to break down and analyze the slate of MLB games for the night, as well as a review of the article the following day to recap the results.
The Twist
With the unique twist of the projection “multiplier,” rather than the standard salary cap adding an extra layer to the lineup building process, it’s important to measure a player’s upside in comparison to their multiplier. With baseball being a sport with a ton of variance, it is difficult to find players with extremely safe floors, even the best players in the game will have games where they produce 0 fantasy points.
However, the absence of a salary cap also gives us the flexibility to roster any player since we don’t have to worry about those restrictions. This means we can still “stack,” or pair several players from the same team in order to achieve correlation in fantasy point scoring and upside. But we can also treat the players with the higher multiplier as a priority. Now, let’s dive right into the slate.
As always, be sure to monitor weather issues and make sure you are confirming that each player listed in the article is in the starting lineup before rostering them in your SuperDraft lineups.
Pitchers
1. Blake Snell, San Diego Padres (1.75x SuperDraft Multiplier)
Snell has been quite dominant of late, and the 1.75x multiplier is very generous considering the kind of upside we know Snell has. Snell has at least 9 Ks in each of his last three starts, and a whopping 48 Ks in his last five starts.
2. Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks (1.75x)
Gallen has been rather up and down this year, but that is likely the reason why we get an enticing 1.75x multiplier on him. Despite his struggles, he still has a 27% K% on the year, and he has had at least 6 Ks in seven of his last 10 starts. This Texas lineup has five hitters with a 24% K% or higher against RHPs this year, and they will also have to roll out a pitcher as they play in an NL ballpark.
Hitters
1. Brandon Belt (1.4x) and LaMonte Wade Jr., San Francisco Giants (1.65x)
The Giants are in a fantastic spot against Chi Chi González, who was actually on the mound for the Rockies last time I did an MLB SuperDraft article. Here is what I wrote last time: “Chi Chi González has an awful 13% K% while inducing ground balls just 37% of the time. He is going to be in trouble if he can’t keep the ball on the ground.” Everything remains true, but now the team and players we are looking to use against Gonzalez in Coors Field have much better multiplier numbers on SuperDraft. Other Giants also standout as strong plays; Brandon Crawford (1.45x), Kris Bryant (1.25x), Buster Posey (1.5x) all stand out.
2. Salvador Pérez, Kansas City Royals (1.35x)
The potential AL MVP and a 1.35x multiplier in a very hitter-friendly ballpark against a bad left-handed pitcher? Sign me up! Against LHPs this year, Pérez has a .339 ISO and a .396 wOBA.
Breakdown
Going away from the top dogs at pitcher makes sense, as we have a couple of high-upside options with strong multipliers. As for the hitters, targeting Giants makes a ton of sense as we get them in Coors Field against one of the worst pitchers in baseball, but their multipliers remain very enticing. Salvador Pérez is also a priority for me, as he continues to dominate and the 1.35x multiplier is still very enticing for a hitter of his caliber.
This article expresses the personal views of the writer and does not reflect the view(s) of SuperDraft in any way.
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