Chad Pinder (2B/3B, OAK) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 440

CURRENT ADP: ~542 overall

ANALYSIS: Pinder took clear steps he took to improve his plate discipline leading up to the 2020 season last February, and those improvements showed up in his performance. Although Pinder’s O-Swing rate was up slightly from 2019 at 33.3%, his swing rate at pitches in the shadow zone was a career-low, and his swing rate at pitches in the heart of the zone was a career-high.

Pinder’s plate discipline developments are significant and appear likely to carry into 2021, making him relatively likely to sustain a Z-Contact rate above 90% and a hard-hit rate above 40%. Only eight qualified hitters achieved both of those marks in 2019, combining to average a .364 xwOBA. Even the worst of those hitters by xwOBA (Lorenzo Cain) posted a solid .330 xwOBA, suggesting that Pinder should be a comfortably above-average hitter in 2021. Playing time isn’t guaranteed for Pinder this season, but without Khris Davis around, there should be some more shuffling of the lineups, and concerns about pitchers' workloads will likely lead to shorter benches, so he should be able to carve out at least a semi-consistent role. Fantasy managers should keep Pinder on their radars as a result, and he’s worth an investment in deeper leagues.

More Fantasy Baseball Values and Sleepers

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

There are only two weeks left of fantasy baseball! It's going to be very sad when the season comes to an end, but the impending end of the season means that these are the most important, and therefore most fun weeks of the year – for those of you still competing, at least. I have... Read More

Jon Anderson 2 years ago

Are You For Real? Surprising MLB Pitcher Starts from Week 23

Welcome back to "Are You For Real?", a weekly column where we take starting pitchers who had surprisingly good starts over the past week and put them under the microscope to determine whether they're legit or just smoke and mirrors. The NL Central is our center of attention this week, as we'll be looking at... Read More

Elliott Baas 2 years ago

MLB Pitcher Studs and Duds - Advanced Metrics Leaders for wOBA (Week 23)

Welcome back to fantasy baseball and RotoBaller’s Statcast Pitcher Studs and Duds article series! Each week, I select one advanced metric, choose two pitchers with strong values and two with poor values, and analyze what those values may mean for future performance. This week, I will focus on a stat that describes how pitchers have... Read More

Connelly Doan 2 years ago

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 23

Hey RotoBallers! It's Jon Anderson, back again for one of the final weeks of hitter streamers. We've found a bunch of exciting hitters for next week with some incredible hitting environments on tap! Your league is probably in the fantasy playoffs now or entering them next week, so some big, tough decisions are ahead. I... Read More

Jon Anderson 2 years ago

Are You For Real? Surprising MLB Pitcher Starts from Week 22

Welcome back to "Are You For Real?", a weekly column where we take starting pitchers who had surprisingly good starts over the past week and put them under the microscope to determine whether they're legit or just smoke and mirrors. We're sticking to the east coast this week, with three arms in the eastern divisions... Read More

Elliott Baas 2 years ago

Download Our Free Draft App

Like what you see? You can download our free fantasy baseball mobile app for iPhone and Android which includes more draft sleepers at very position, 24x7 player news, notifications, injury alerts and daily articles... all free!

Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App