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Moving is a stressful time in anyone’s life.
The good news: The stress is always short lived, and it’s only a matter of time before you begin getting comfortable and thriving in your new home.
Of all the moves made since the end of the lockout, none was more impactful for a corner infielder from a fantasy perspective than Kris Bryant’s move to Colorado.
Before signing with the Rockies, Bryant was outside Roto Rage’s top 10 third basemen. He wasn’t even ranked in the top 100 players overall. Now? He has an average draft position of 79.7, according to Fantasy Alarm, and he leapfrogged former Rockie Nolan Arenado (55.02), Alex Bregman (73.94) and Anthony Rendon (99.5) to make it all the way up to No. 5 in Roto Rage’s third-base rankings, largely because of the Coors Field factor.
Does Coors Field really make that big of a difference? Three quick examples of what this home field has done for already great players:
1. Charlie Blackmon, with the Rockies since 2011, is a .262 hitter with a .424 slugging percentage and .743 OPS on the road, but a .339 hitter with a .569 slugging percentage and .967 OPS at home.
2. From 2013-20, Arenado hit .322 with 135 homers, 461 RBIs and a .985 OPS at Coors Field, but was far more pedestrian on the road (.263, 99 HRs, 299 RBIs, .793 OPS).
3. Larry Walker, who joined Colorado at age 28 (Bryant is 30), was a .313 hitter with a .565 slugging percentage and .965 OPS in his Hall of Fame career, but a .381 hitter with a .710 slugging percentage and 1.172 OPS inside Coors.
Bryant was a useful fantasy option last year, hitting .265 with 25 homers, 73 RBIs, 86 runs, 10 stolen bases and a .835 OPS while splitting the season between the Cubs and Giants. Not only did he have a career-best mark in zone contact rate, which is the amount of contact on pitches in the strike zone, but his exit velocity (88.2 mph) was his highest mark since 2016, his sweet-spot percentage (37.1) was his best since 2018 and his hard-hit percentage (40) was his highest since 2015.
There may be a period of adjustment (as there was last year with C.J. Cron), but it would be shocking if Bryant didn’t see a massive statistical boost after his move to Colorado.
New Brave Matt Olson (34.24) is coming off a season with Oakland in which he reached career marks in average (.271), homers (39), RBIs (111), runs (101), walks (88), on-base percentage (.371) and stolen bases (four). He also cut his strikeout percentage from 31.4 percent in 2020 to 16.8 while maintaining the 12th-best walk-rate in the majors (13.1 percent).
Now, imagine him in a smaller ballpark, where his left-handed power should play nicely, while hitting at the top of a championship-caliber lineup. That’s why he’s Roto Rage’s third-ranked first baseman, and a top-30 fantasy option.
Freedie Freeman (16.4) has been the model of consistency since 2011, hitting .296 while averaging 25 homers, 85 RBIs, 88 runs and a .894 OPS. It does, however, seem hard to believe that his move from Atlanta to Los Angeles will make him better than he already is. Could this imposing Dodgers lineup (seriously, they have three players who won MVP awards between 2018-20, plus Trea Turner and Max Muncy) give him a boost in RBIs and runs? Sure. Could he hit a few more homers at Dodgers Stadium? Of course. But the move really doesn’t increase his fantasy value much since you already had a top 20 player.
Over the past two seasons, Matt Chapman (159.32) has seen elevated strikeout rates, lower contact rates and a plummeting average, despite a ton of power (possibly the results of the 28-year-old dealing with a hip injury). Now, fully healthy, he calls Toronto home, a move that not only gives him a ballpark upgrade and a major improvement in the team around him, but a significant uptick in fantasy value.
Eugenio Suarez (179.92) has a ton of power, but has hit .199 over the past two seasons and struck out 871 times in his past 819 games. The move from a hitter-friendly park in Cincinnati to hitter-hell in Seattle doesn’t help. If he can’t approach his career .252 average, it’s difficult to justify taking him in the later rounds.
Josh Donaldson (193.18) is 36 and likely destined to have a stint or two on the injured list, but he can still be a reliable backup option in later rounds. Joining the Bombers is actually quite appropriate, as the Yankees now have three of the top five players when it comes to exit velocity. Donaldson had a 94.1 mph exit velo in 2021, fourth-best in the majors (teammates Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton were Nos. 1 and 2).
After the Yankees signed Anthony Rizzo (175.3), Luke Voit (241.24) became expendable. He was traded on Friday to the Padres, where he should get the chance to play every day in a solid lineup, albeit one without Fernando Tatis Jr. for a few months. He has power, as evidenced by his 2020 season, when he led the league in homers. A solid late-round pick.
Team Name of the Week
Men Behaving Adley
First Base
1. Vlad Guerrero Jr., Tor
2. Freddie Freeman, LAD
3. Matt Olson, Atl
4. Pete Alonso, NYM
5. Paul Goldschmidt, StL
6. Max Muncy, LAD
7. Jose Abreu, CWS
8. Jared Walsh, LAA
9. Josh Bell, Was
10. C.J. Cron, Col
11. Ryan Mountcastle, Bal
12. Rhys Hoskins, Phi
13. Cody Bellinger, LAD
14. DJ LeMahieu, NYY
15. Jake Cronenworth, SD
16. Joey Votto, Cin
17. Kyle Schwarber, Phi
18. Trey Mancini, Bal
19. J.T. Realmuto, Phi
20. Anthony Rizzo, NYY
21. Alex Kiriloff, Min
22. Ty France, Sea
23. Frank Schwindel, ChC
24. Nathaniel Lowe, Tex
25. Yuli Gurriel, Hou
26. Eduardo Escobar, NYM
27. Bobby Dalbec, Bos
28. Andrew Vaughn, CWS
29. Brandon Belt, SF
30. Miguel Sano, Min
31. Dominic Smith, NYM
32. Luke Voit, NYY
33. Yasmani Grandal, CWS
34. Jesus Aguilar, Mia
35. Jonathan Schoop, Det
36. Eric Hosmer, SD
37. Tyler Stephenson, Cin
38. Spencer Torkelson, Det
39. Patrick Wisdom, ChC
40. LaMonte Wade Jr., SF
Third Base
1. Jose Ramirez, Cle
2. Rafael Devers, Bos
3. Manny Machado, SD
4. Austin Riley, Atl
5. Kris Bryant, Col
6. Nolan Arenado, StL
7. Alex Bregman, Hou
8. Anthony Rendon, LAA
9. DJ LeMahieu, NYY
10. Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pit
11. Adalberto Mondesi, KC
12. Justin Turner, LAD
13. Matt Chapman, Tor
14. Yoan Moncada, CWS
15. Ryan McMahon, Col
16. Chris Taylor, LAD
17. Josh Donaldson, NYY
18. Luis Urias, Mil
19. Eduardo Escobar, NYM
20. Jeimer Candelario, Det
21. Eugenio Suarez, Sea
22. Gio Urshela, Min
23. Spencer Torkelson, Det
24. Bobby Dalbec, Bos
25. Patrick Wisdom, ChC
26. Mike Moustakas, Cin
27. Evan Longoria, SF
28. Alec Bohm, Phi
29. Josh Rojas, Ari
30. Luis Arraez, Min
31. Cavan Biggio, Tor
32. Abraham Toro, Sea
33. Jonathan Villar, FA
34. Yandy Diaz, TB
35. Joey Wendle, Mia
36. Brian Anderson, Mia
37. Jose Miranda, Min
38. Josh Harrison, CWS
39. Ha-Seong Kim, SD
40. Hunter Dozier, KC
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