Fantasy Baseball 2019: The Boring Starting Lineup

Just because a name doesn’t stand out in the player pool doesn’t mean you shouldn’t draft them for your fantasy baseball team.

When drafting your fantasy baseball team, it’s always nice to have some superstars on your team. Guys like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Jacob deGrom stand out above the rest in their respective positions. However, there aren’t enough of those guys for a 25-round draft. Sometimes you have to make the boring, safe pick in order to fill out your roster.

Though, there isn’t anything wrong with those players. They play the game well, aren’t too flashy and consistent on the field. You know what to expect and will provide a lot of fantasy goodness to your team throughout the season.

These “boring” players can be found in all parts of the draft. There are a few in the first couple of rounds, many in the middle and some more towards the end. Some call them boring, others call them safe but I call them the best available player at the time.

Here is my all-boring pick fantasy baseball lineup. I will using one catcher, one outfielder one starting pitcher, one reliever and one utility for the sake of brevity. I just want to point out one player from each position.

Catcher – Yasmani Grandal

Grandal played in a career-high 140 games last season and hit another 24 home runs with a .241 average. He makes hard contact, so calling Miller Park home will benefit his production. It also helps that the Brewers have a solid lineup. The Brewers do have Manny Pina as a backup but Grandal is still performing as a top-10 catcher at 30 years old.

First Base – Jose Abreu

Abreu was a top-five first baseman over the last four seasons. He was a highly-touted rookie and finished with 36 home runs, 107 RBIs and .317 and Rookie of the Year honors. He was a lock to hit 30/100/.295. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case last season where he hit 22/78/.265 in 128 games. I think splitting time between first base and DH will benefit Abreu’s health. He’s already 32 years old, so his peak performance window is closing. Abreu is still good for 25/90/.285.

Second Base – Brian Dozier

The Nationals have an abundance of second basemen with Dozier, Wilmer Difo and Howie Kendrick. Though, Dozier is the projected starter. Dozier hit a career-worst .215 average despite posting the highest hard-hit rate of his career. Moving to Nationals Park should help elevate his power. He isn’t known for a high average, hitting over .270 just once. He’ll provide 20-plus home runs, 12 steals and 75 RBIs.

Third Base – Justin Turner

Turner dealt with a lot of injuries last season, playing in just 103 games. He was still able to hit 14 home runs, 52 RBIs and .312 in that span. In his final 53 regular-season games, Turner hit .357/.449/.618 with nine home runs and 32 RBIs. At 34 years old, Turner is a big risk as your starting third baseman. He’s being drafted as a top-12 third baseman but could finish in the top 10 if he stays healthy. Turner should hit .295 with 20 home runs and 74 RBIs.

Shortstop – Elvis Andrus

Playing in only 97 games, Andrus posting career-lows in a lot of stats. The season before, Andrus posted .297 with 20 home runs (a career-high), 88 RBIs and 25 steals. Prior to 2018, he stole at least 21 bases in every season. Though the 20 homers will likely not happen again, he is still good for at least 10 with a .280 average. His steals are the one stat keeping him up in the rankings so those are something you should monitor early in the season.

Outfield – Starling Marte

Marte hit a career-high 20 home runs. This comes after back-to-back seasons with nine and seven homers. He did hit 19 in 2015, so the potential was there. Marte stole 33 bases, but was caught 14 times. If the speed does decline, the increase in power will benefit fantasy owners. He can hit for power and run well while maintaining a nice .275 average. Marte is an undervalued five-category hitter.

Utility – Brian Anderson

Anderson took advantage of the playing time in Miami during his rookie season. He hit 11 home runs, 65 RBIs and .273. The downside to his game is that he doesn’t get a lot of lift in his hits, posting a 52.3 percent ground-ball rate. The decline in the Marlins offense will also hurt his counting stats but as a 24th-round pick, Anderson can help with runs and average in Roto leagues.

Starting Pitcher – Kyle Hendricks

Hendricks pitched in a career-high 199.0 innings in 33 starts. Hendricks doesn’t have an amazing fastball, averaging 87 MPH. But, his low walk rate and near-50 percent ground ball rate keep his ratios as a respectable level. The NL Central is going to be a tough division to pitch in but with a 3.50 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 160 strikeouts, Hendricks is an SP4 in 10-team leagues.

Relief Pitcher – Will Smith

Smith returned from Tommy John surgery and pitched a great 2018 season. He had 71 strikeouts in just 53.0 innings and a 7.1 percent walk rate, his lowest since 2013. Smith took over as the Giants closer at the end of June and recorded 14 saves in 18 chances. The Giants may not be winning a lot of games but Smith will be effective in save situations. I think 30 saves is his ceiling with a 2.45 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 70 strikeouts. He just needs to be healthy for a full season.

Next. Fantasy Baseball 2019: Top 50 Relief Pitcher Rankings. dark

There it is. My all-boring team. Maybe it should be my all-safe team. These picks aren’t boring but they won’t light up the stat sheets like the superstars will. You know what level of production you are getting and will build your team accordingly.

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Fantasy Baseball 2019: The All-Boring Starting Lineup

By Bill Pivetz | Mar 5, 2019