The two major league players that are my targets both had bad 2020 seasons. Not to discount the Covid-shortened 2020…though that is exactly what I am doing, with good reason. 60 games are one-third a season, and if they played two-thirds more, would they have produced seasons like 2019 and 2021? I would like to think so. Use those who were out on them based on a bad 2020, and still skeptical after productive 2021 seasons, to your benefit.

Bryan Reynolds, Pittsburgh Pirates (Age: 27, Rank: 16)

Even on a very weak Pirates team, Reynolds’ talent shone through. Acquired by the Pirates from the Giants back in 2018 for star Andrew McCutchen, Reynolds was a second-round pick of the Giants back in 2016; he only played 13 games at Triple-A before coming up during the 2019 season and producing. Let’s see improvements from 2019 to 2021:

2019: 546 plate appearances, 16 Home Runs, 151 Runs + RBI, .314/.377/.503 BA/OBP/SLG

2021: 646 plate appearances, 24 Home Runs, 183 Runs + RBI, .302/.390/.522 BA/OBP/SLG

My two favorite improvements come in the form of his improvements in strikeouts and walks. In 2019 he struck out 121 times and walked 46 times; in 100 more plate appearances in 2021 he struck out two times fewer and walked 29 times more. The only qualm with him is the lack of steals; he stole five last year and that was also his high in any of his minor league seasons. Reynolds was in the 88^th percentile in sprint speed last season, and led the majors with nine triples, so, maybe there are more steals to be had.

The major injury of his professional career was a hamate bone injury back in early 2018; since then, he has shown no ill effects. Reynolds finished 11^th in the MVP voting and made his first All-Star team in 2021; expect more All-Star game appearances and MVP contention in his future. In NFBC leagues he is the 26^th outfielder off the board, at around pick 100; in a recent 14-team points Dynasty start-up I was able to snag him at pick 61 (shout-out to our own Kyle Brown for having me); if the manager in your league does not believe, do not hesitate to inquire about his availability.

Kyle Schwarber, Free Agent (Age: 29, Rank: 34)

Yes, he has been around since seemingly forever (2015), and should be 34 years old, but he isn’t. There is a lot to like in Schwarber’s bat, and since defense does not matter in fantasy baseball, let us concentrate on the offensive value he can bring to your team.

Schwarber had a pretty awful 2020, but his 2019 and 2021 were both great. If we remove the abbreviated 2020 season, he has improved his batting average each full professional season (2017-2021), while also maintaining a 13% walk rate and strikeout rate around 27%. Let us look at the two seasons, 2019 and 2021, statistics:

2019: 610 plate appearances, 38 Home Runs, 174 Runs + RBI, .250/.339/.531 BA/OBP/SLG

2021: 471 plate appearances, 32 Home Runs, 157 Runs + RBI, .266/.374/.554 BA/OBP/SLG

Those numbers play in all leagues. Now, his baseball savant 2021 and 2019 MLB Percentile Rankings:

Just look at all that Red; with that being said, we do already know he strikes out, and is not the fastest. If he signs with a AL team, Left Field, First Base, and Designated Hitter will all provide him with opportunities to get 550+ plate appearances, and let us hope the DH comes to the National League. We have seen what he can do with that many, and for a player that is in the midst of his prime, the ROI on adding Schwarber to your team is great.

He even showed improvement against Left-Handed Pitching; in 2021 his batting average against LHP was .268 compared to a career .214 average against them. I would send out feelers to see what his current manager might want in a trade; it probably will be lower than you think.

Gabriel Gonzalez, Seattle Mariners (Age: 18, Rank: 183)

Gonzalez will not see the major leagues for at least a few seasons, but should be on your deep Dynasty league radar. The Venezuelan was signed for $1.3 million by the Mariners and given 50-grade hit and power tools with 55-grade running by mlb.com, Gonzalez is also seen as an excellent athlete. He hit the ground running in his pro debut; In 54 games played in the Dominican Summer leagues, Gonzalez hit seven homers, stole nine bases with a slash line of .287/.371/.592, also adding 15 doubles and four triples. He is a target of mine in all Dynasty leagues and is not rostered in all of them (I will change that during the minor league drafts, unless a leaguemate reads this first and beats me to him, that is).