Power Rankings Countdown: Should No. 15 Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yelich be the No. 1 overall pick in fantasy drafts?
Editor’s note: We continue our countdown of how MLB’s 30 teams rank in terms of fantasy baseball assets. At No. 15, here’s Andy Behrens’ snapshot of the Milwaukee Brewers.
If you want to take Christian Yelich with the No. 1 overall pick in your draft, it’s tough for anyone to argue with the decision. He’s phenomenal, a fantasy terror across five categories. Last year, he led the NL in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging, claiming his second straight batting crown. Yelich also hit 44 home runs and stole 30 bags (in 32 attempts) — despite playing only 130 games.
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Again: He’s a monster. Almost a one-man offense.
After Yelich is selected at or near the top, various other Brewers bats will be taken at spots that allow plenty of profit potential. Second baseman Keston Hiura is a personal favorite following a brilliant half-season in Milwaukee. He delivered 19 homers, nine steals and an OPS of .938 over 84 games in the majors, plus another 19 bombs and seven bags at Triple-A. He’s a sneaky challenger to rank as his position’s top overall fantasy asset by the end of the season. It’s possible he won’t continue to keep his average north of .300, but he’s a terrific power/speed option.
It seems as if Ryan Braun, Avisail Garcia, and Justin Smoak will be sharing two positions, and the two outfielders are definitely worthy of mixed-league attention at their ADPs (244.4 and 246.7). Catcher Omar Narvaez had a quality power season in 2019 (22 HR) and it’s certainly not crazy to think he’ll repeat it. Lorenzo Cain is a clear bounce-back candidate, just one year removed from a 30-steal season in which he hit .308.
[Yahoo Rankings: Overall | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP]
Josh Hader remains unrealistically and annoyingly good. He coaxed an otherworldly swinging-strike rate of 22.7 last year and a ridiculous K/9 of 16.4. He obviously makes life easier for this team’s ace-less starting staff. Brandon Woodruff is a solid mixed-league asset, but he’s no one’s ideal No. 1. Still, he projects to deliver useful ratios (3.01 FIP in 2019) and an excellent K-rate. Woodruff is a top-25 starter in our consensus ranks. Adrian Houser and Josh Lindblom are deep-ish league fliers, but you can leave the rest of this rotation alone.
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