Normally I give NBA daily fantasy advice and we here @TopShelfDFS have had an excellent season thus far in NBA but come spring time MLB is all we are thinking about. As much as I love NBA basketball, MLB season can’t come soon enough, MLB is by far our best DFS sport and baseball is less than a month away. So, to kick off the season we wanted to give you our bold fantasy predictions for every AL team to help you draft your season long teams and put a couple names in your head to remember when making your lineups on FanDuel & DraftKings. Let’s take a look at this year’s American League preview.
Baltimore Orioles
Prediction: Johnathon Schoop finishes the season as a top-eight 2nd baseman in total fantasy points.
Reasoning: Schoop has the scouts drooling with his raw power and athleticism at second base( 6’1″ 225) Last season Schoop had 15 bombs in just 300 at-bats, along with a .279 average. Schoop’s average true home run distance last year was 407.3 feet, Edwin Encarnacion‘s true distance per bomb was 406 and Nelson Cruz‘s was 405 feet! One weird red flag to note about Schoop is he walked a shockingly low 9 times in his 321 plate appearances last season, but he’s in the lineup to put runs on the board in just one swing and it didn’t seem to hurt his average whatsoever. Schoop has all the tools to be a great player at this level.
Boston Red Sox
Prediction: David Price is not a top 15 fantasy starting pitcher this year.
Reasoning: Price turns 31 this season and the majority of pitchers start to see a sharp decline in velocity after the age of 30. Price also has to face the Blue Jays, Yankees, and Orioles each 23 times a year, the 1st, 2nd, and 8th offenses respectively. The Red Sox were last in the division last year and really got bullied all season by the rest of the AL East. Another reason why he falls outside the top 15? There are just a ton of great young arms in the majors right now: Gerrit Cole, Jose Fernandez, Chris Sale, every pitcher in the Mets organization. In 2016, pitching dominates and there are a ton of great arms in the league right now, not saying Price has a bad year by any means, but the position is just too saturated, I say Price falls outside the top 15 pitchers.
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Chicago White SoxÂ
Prediction: Carlos Rodon finishes 2016 with 14 wins and 180 strikeouts.
Reasoning: The White Sox scored the fewest runs in the AL last year, so they brought in a bunch of big name bats to try and help bolster their struggling offense, Jimmy Rollins, Brett Lawrie, and Todd Frazier. I really don’t think these big names will really help their offense all that much, but they are getting fans excited and selling tickets. Even though the White Sox barely outscored the Braves and Marlins, Rodon was still able to go 9-6 as a starter. Last year lefties hit just .193 against Rodon and he didn’t give up a single home run to a lefty batter in 23 starts. Rodon has the upside to be an ace at this level and he’s only 23.
Cleveland Indians
Prediction: Francisco Lindor finishes the season as a top-four fantasy shortstop.
Reasoning: What Lindor did last season is extremely rare to see from a player:Â He actually had a better batting average in the majors than he did in the minors. When he was called up from AAA, Lindor was batting just .284, but in 390 at-bats at the major league level he bumped it up to an impressive .312 with 12 big flys! From a fantasy perspective, shortstop is the softest position by far and has been for a long time, it’s nice to see a few up and coming stars at the position(Lindor, Correa, Corey Seager). Lindor is also an incredible fielder and makes some incredible plays at short, unfortunately, we can’t get fantasy points for that!
Detroit Tigers
Prediction: Daniel Norris, currently 5th in Detroit’s starting rotation is their #2 starter by June and is a viable fantasy player all year long.
Reasoning: The Tigers traded David Price for Norris at the trade deadline, so they must have seen something special in him. Norris had a WHIP just above 1.00 last season with Detroit, which is really impressive to see from a 22-year-old. Detroit’s offense is stacked with big names and hey even Cameron Maybin is back with the team that traded him for Miguel Cabrera! Detroit’s offense should get Norris plenty of opportunities for the win in most of his starts, I’m predicting around 12 wins for Norris this year.
Houston Astros
Prediction: George Springer is a top 15 fantasy player this season.
Reasoning: Springer missed 60 games last year due to a number of injuries, but when he was in the lineup he was extremely valuable for the Astros and for fantasy owners. Springer stole 16 bases last year and launched 16 bombs into the seats in just 388 ABs. Springer has a ton of talent and is leading off for an Astros team that scored the 7th most runs in the majors last year. Springer will have plenty of opportunities for runs and stolen bases at the top of the lineup, if he can stay healthy he should be able to crack the top 15.
Kansas City Royals
Prediction: AÂ Royals stack takes down the most GPPs of any team on DraftKings and FanDuel this year.
Reasoning: The Royals are loaded with a ton of great, young hitters, Hosmer, Cain, Moose, Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez, Alcides Escobar, even Kendrys Morales had 106 RBIs last year! KC had the 2nd best team batting average last year and scored the 5th most runs in the majors. They were also just 0.1 runs/game off from having the 2nd best runs/game average in the entire league. This comes as no surprise as the Royals took home the Commissioner’s trophy last year beating the Mets in just five games. Of course, the Blue Jays and Coors stacks will be tournament favorites, but when all is said and done, I say the Royals take down the most GPPs on DK and FD.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Prediction: Not a single Angels pitcher besides Garrett Richards will be owned in standard 8 man leagues.
Reasoning: This may be a trying season for the Angels, it’s going to be tough for them to generate a lot of runs and win games with their current roster. The Angels made very few moves this offseason mostly due to the contracts of Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton. The Angels paid Josh Hamilton almost 63 million dollars to get him off their team last year…Their starting rotation still consists of C.J. Wilson and Jerad Weaver, but the lone bright spot in their rotation is Garrett Richards. No doubt, Richards will be the Opening day starter for the Angels. He finished last season with 15 wins, 176 strikeouts, and a 3.65 ERA, in 2014 he actually gave up the fewest HRs per nine innings of any player in Major League Baseball. There are not a lot of great fantasy pitchers in the Angels rotation, so I say Richards is the only pitcher owned in standard 8 man fantasy leagues.
Minnesota Twins
Prediction: Jose Berrios gets called up and finishes with the most fantasy points of any Twins starter.
Reasoning: The Twins pitching staff needs some work, to say the least(Phil Hughes is still their #1 starter). On paper, the Twins’ starting rotation is probably the weakest in the AL, yet last year the they were still able to stay in playoff contention until about the last 15 games of the season. The Twins haven’t had a legitimate ace since Johan Santana, and they’re hoping they’ve found one in Berrios, who had a 2.62 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a 6-2 record in AAA last year. Berrios has played in two consecutive MLB Futures games, so it shouldn’t be too much longer until he gets the call-up.
New York Yankees
Prediction: Starlin Castro‘s move to 2nd base does wonders for him, I say he bats .285 with 70 RBIs.
Reasoning: Baseball is a business, but I think the Cubs gave up way too quickly on Starlin Castro. He’s just 25 years old and at one point was the face of their franchise. At just 21 years old, Castro led the NL in hits and games played. Starlin’s fantasy value will really depend on where he bats in the lineup, most projections have him batting 7th or 8th behind the big name bats, so he should see plenty of RBI opportunities. One thing to mention about Castro, he hit .335 over the last two months of last year and reminded Cubs fans he is still an excellent player, I say Starlin is a top 10 fantasy second basemen this season.
Oakland Athletics
Prediction: Billy Burns finishes with the most fantasy points of any hitter on the A’s this season.
Reasoning: Burns is one of the most fun players to watch in the MLB, he’s a highlight reel unto himself.  Burns had a promising rookie season last year, hitting .294, 9 triples, and stealing 26 bases for the A’s after being called up. Late in the season, his price on DraftKings surpassed $5,000(Mike Trout‘s was $5,300 most of the year) Of course, Billy’s calling card is his speed and incredible base stealing ability. In 2013 double-A, Burns stole a head-turning 74 bases, which leaves everyone a little puzzled as to why he didn’t swipe more bags at the major league level, but just give him time, he will figure out how to read pick-off moves better and adjust to the speed of the game. I say Burns hits over .300 this year and steals 40 bases, speed never goes into a slump.
Seattle Mariners
Prediction: Felix Hernandez falls outside the top-25 pitchers this season in total fantasy points.
Reasoning: I don’t think any team in MLB history has wasted more talent than the Mariners have with Felix Hernandez. King Felix was the most dominant pitcher in the AL for about 6-7 years and throughout his 10-year career the Mariners didn’t make the playoffs a single time, they just never put the right talent around him. Last year Felix had career lows in ERA, K’s, and innings pitched, he even gave up a career-high 23 home runs. With all the great young arms in the league right now, I say Felix misses the top-25 for the first time in his career.
Tampa Bay Rays
Prediction: Drew Smyly has the best season of anyone in the Rays rotation.
Reasoning: You heard me. Chris Archer is the Ray’s golden boy and the face of the franchise in Tampa Bay, but I say if Smyly stays healthy, he has a better fantasy season than anyone on the staff. Last year Archer really struggled at times with his control and actually ended the year with a losing record. In his 13 starts last year, Smyly had a better ERA, W-L record, and even a better K/9(and Archer had 252 K’s last year) After coming over from Detroit in the David Price trade in 2014, Smyly went 3-1, with a 1.70 ERA, and an incredible 0.75 WHIP, I say Smyly wins AL comeback player of the year this season.
Texas Rangers
Prediction: Rougned Odor finishes the season as a top 5 fantasy 2nd baseman.
Reasoning:Â Baseball is a crazy game, guys like Corey Kluber and Jake Arrieta are now household names when they barely made the 40-man rosters of their respective teams a few years ago. In his last 323 at-bats, Odor hit .292 with 15 HRs to end the season at just 21 years old. Power hitting second basemen like Odor doesn’t come around all that often, and it still remains to be seen if Odor can play second base at this level. Odor did commit 17 errors in just 116 games last year, but his raw power and bat speed are really impressive, especially for a 22-year-old, the ball just flies off of Odor’s bat. I say if he can stay healthy, Odor cracks the top 5 second basemen this year.
Toronto Blue Jays
Prediction: Troy Tulowitzki is not a top 5 fantasy shortstop for the first time in his career.
Reasoning:Â Tulowitzki has been the best shortstop in fantasy for years while playing in Colorado, but he’s got some competition this season from up and coming stars like Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Lindor, Xander Bogarts, heck even Elvis Andrus. After being traded away from Coors, Tulowitzki hit just .238 for the Blue Jays and had a shockingly low 17 RBIs while batting 5th in the best offense in baseball. With all the new talent at the position and the fact that he turns 32 this season, I say Tulowitzki falls outside the top 5.
(Credit Tykes.co for images)
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