Milwaukee Brewers superstar Christian Yelich entered the 2020 RDBL Draft as the prized Free Agent hitter and ready to cash in back to back MVP-caliber seasons. In the shortened 2020 season, Yelich was instead one of the biggest disappointments of the 2020 fantasy baseball season, slashing just .205/.356/.430 with 12 HR and four steals over 247 PAs.
Where does that leave the outfielder's market entering the 2021 Auction Draft?
Let's first dive in a bit further into his 2020 campaign. Part of the problem was likely bad luck, as his average exit velocity was a little bit better than 2019 on both airborne batted balls (97.1 mph vs. 96.7) and grounders (91.5 vs. 90.9). Furthermore, his .250 xBA and .476 xSLG were both better than his actual numbers.
Unfortunately, there are also some troubling signs in his profile. Yelich's Swing% fell from 45.2 in 2019 to 34.6% last season, leading to passivity at the plate that sent his K% soaring to 30.8% from 20.3% in 2019. His FB% also slipped back under 30 after a 35.9% mark in his huge 2019, likely playing a role in his rate of Brls/BBE falling from 15.8% in 2019 to 12.1%. His Statcast Sprint Speed also fell to 28.1 ft./sec from 28.7, suggesting that he may not run as often in the future.
The knee injury to end 2019 did not seem of much concern to the Brewers, who rewarded Yelich with a $200 million contract last offseason but could certainly have been a factor in his down year. Yelich recovered from his injury in time for the originally-scheduled Opening Day, and he was able to play in all but two games last season.
2021 Outlook
Still very much in his prime at age 29, there's plenty of reason to expect a bounceback from Yelich, and his upside figures to have RDBL Owners unshaken by his lack of production in a small sample size of 2020. He should still be in the mix for the top offensive contract in Auction on Draft Day.
Interested RDBL Teams
The top two rosters in the RDBL figure to be atop the list of favorites to land Yelich as the Cloverdale Clovers and Lake Merced Goutfish would both gladly add his services to their talented rosters for 2021. The Idaho Taters have the cap space to chase Yelich as well and should have interest despite some glaring needs in the rotation though GM Mike Friedrich has always shown more interest in spending on offense than on the mound.
2021 Auction Draft Prediction
$57 to the Lake Merced Goutfish
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