Fantasy Baseball 2018 Impact of Shohei Otani in the MLB

The international player pool is growing, thanks to the influx of Asian players. One player that could make a huge impact on fantasy is Shohei Otani.

The 2017 fantasy baseball season isn’t over yet and owners are excited about this offseason. With a lot of good players becoming free agents, we should see some old faces in new places in 2018. However, the biggest name isn’t even in the MLB, it’s Japanese pitcher/outfielder Shohei Otani.

The baseball world has been rumbling about Otani because of his ability to pitch and hit on a regular basis. In five seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (great team name), he has racked up 1,124 plate appearances and 528.0 innings.

Chuck Wasserstrom of MLB Trade Rumors has an excellent write-up about Otami. He talked to five scouts and they pretty much agreed on all of his grades across the board. They rate him higher as a pitcher, his future is as a No. 1 or 2 pitcher, than as a batter.

More from Fantasy Baseball

The scouts predict that Otani would be a .260 hitter with 20 to 25 home runs. On the surface, that is a pretty good fantasy player. His best season in Japan was in 2016 when he hit .322 with 22 home runs and 67 RBI. He also had a .416 on-base percentage and 98:54 K:BB ratio.

Otani drew comparisons to Paul O’Neil and Curtis Granderson (in his prime). The quote for the latter comparison was, “Bunch of home runs, lower batting average if he doesn’t play every day, pretty good OBP, lots of walks, lots of strikeouts.”

Though, Otani looks to become a starting pitcher in the Major Leagues. In 140.0 innings last year, he posted a 1.86 ERA, 0.957 WHIP, 11.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9. He went 15-5 with 196 strikeouts the season before.

The scouts compared Otani the pitcher to Yu Darvish and Justin Verlander among present-day players. Others also used Josh Beckett, Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan as comparisons. That’s some pretty good company.

He hasn’t pitched much this season due to injury, only 10.1 innings, but the question still remains. Where will Otani qualify if and when he joins MLB?

His dual-eligibility doesn’t play well for fantasy baseball. It’s either one or the other. Unfortunately, owners who draft pitchers who hit, like Madison Bumgarner, aren’t credited with his home runs. Likewise for pitchers who throw an inning or two, no matter how bad it is.

Based on his ratings from the scouts and performance, I think (and hope) Otani posts as a starting pitcher. He will immediately rank as a top-20 starting pitcher in fantasy drafts next season with top-10 potential. As a hitter, he would be a 10th-round pick.

His value also depends on which team signs him. An American League team would benefit more from Otani than a National League team. If that team so chooses, he could hit as the DH on an off-day. I don’t think a team would do that just to avoid the extra opportunity for injuries. And, like I said, fantasy owners don’t get those stats.

Next: Is Jose Reyes still relevant?

Otani is going to change the fantasy landscape regardless on what team signs him. He is scouted as an elite pitcher and an above-average hitter. He will have more value as a pitcher. At just 23 years old, Otani has the potential to be a star and an anchor for dynasty teams for years.

“He’s the best player in the world that’s not in the big leagues, hands down. There’s nobody that’s close to him.”

Home/Fantasy Baseball