RADIO
Anthony Rizzo 2020 Outlook: Safe Draft Day Choice With High-Floor Bat
5 years agoYou could call it a down year for Anthony Rizzo after a few nagging injuries limited him to 146 games in 2019, a five-year low for the durable first baseman. He still provided sterling fantasy results with 27 HR, 89 R, and 94 RBI, while setting a career-high in both BA (.293) and OBP (.405). Rizzo isn’t the flashiest player at the position, but he’s consistently put up admirable marks every season, averaging a 29/90/103/8/.283 roto line over his previous five seasons combined. His Hard Hit rate (37.0%) and Barrel% (7.0%) remained above the league average last season and haven’t deviated more than 3% in any direction since Statcast started recording these rates in 2015. Rizzo did falter out of his norm by setting a career-low in fly-ball rate (21.2%), but this can be attributed to a back injury that plagued him in the second half. Entering his age-30 season, the three-time All-Star will remain a focal point of the Cubs offense as a heart of the order bat. Rizzo won’t lead any fantasy category, but his high-floor bat plays as a top-five player at a thinning first base position, and should be drafted as such for 2020.
