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Warning Signals in Shift Increases: Part One

Yoan Moncadaåç

Nicklaus Gaut looks at the hitters who saw the biggest increases in the shifts they faced in 2020 and then takes a deeper dive into some of the names from the early top-100 ADP.

Shifts work. Not all the time and not against everyone but eventually there is a sufficient amount of data on a player to be able to draw some pretty strong conclusions about what advantages can be gained by shifting. There are good reasons that Joey Gallo was shifted against 98.5% of the time in 2020.

Not everyone makes it as clear-cut as Gallo, however, and players don't usually jump right into the +90%-shifted club. It's usually a gradual process, driven by continued poor performance against shifts, as well as the opponent's willingness to shift, in general. The Dodgers led the league in shifts at 55.8% in 2020, Atlanta came in last at 7.6%. Not all teams shift the same and will need varying amounts of evidence before they'll almost always shift against someone. And once things get to that point, it's probably too late to use the information to your advantage in fantasy.

The advantage is getting ahead of the fantasy pack by anticipating shift increases and the decreased production they'll bring. Josh Bell's shift% went from 33.7% (-.073 wOBA ) in 2018 to 46.9% ( -.042 wOBA) in 2019. Anticipating more shifts (and adjusting projections accordingly) may not have predicted Bell's complete crash but it might've helped scare you away from his top-100 ADP. With anticipation in mind, we'll look at everyone who saw an increase in their shift% in 2020, as well as their differences in wOBA against the different alignments. Then I'll take a deeper look at some of the more prominent names on the list and what could be in store for them in 2021

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

Methodology and Shift Definitions

Facing more shifts likely doesn't tell the whole story of Bell being bad. But whether it's defensive alignment, pitch type, or pitch location, hitters will usually get more of what they've shown they can't handle until they prove otherwise. And when it comes to shifts, why put fielders where players don't hit balls to?

Let's quickly define and review some things. First, for our purposes here, we'll only be talking about infield shifts, not outfield shifts. I'll also be combining "standard" shifts, and "strategic" shifts, as defined by Baseball Savant, into one total. A standard shift is what we usually imagine when we think of shifts, and they are overwhelming the shift of choice. But for now, we're just looking for players who are vulnerable to infield positioning, regardless of how it's done.

Here's a quick review of the three defensive alignments tracked by Baseball Savant:

Standard Alignment: Not shifted

Standard Shift: Three (or more) infielders on one side of 2B

Strategic Shift: Currently a catch-all term for all positioning that is neither standard positioning nor a standard shift. For example, when just one player is out of position, such as the second baseman shifting to short right field, while all other fielders remain in their normal positions.

In addition to combining the shifts, we'll also only be looking at the players currently being drafted in the top-400 of the 2Early Mock Drafts run by Justin Mason, in order to stay focused on the players likely to be most fantasy relevant. And finally, we'll use a 50 PA minimum for 2020 and a 100 PA minimum for previous years.

 

Shift Increase Leaders

There were 147 hitters who met the above qualifications as well as seeing at least a 5% increase in shifts faced in 2020. They are listed below, along with their 2020 wOBA with shifts, and without. They are ordered by the number of percentage-points increased:

Name ADP 2019_shift% 2020_shift% woba_std woba_shift dif
C.J. Cron 339 32% 75% .500 .321 -.179
Joey Votto 382 53% 94% .431 .336 -.095
Trent Grisham 58 35% 75% .313 .352 .039
Edwin Encarnacion 351 46% 86% .373 .254 -.119
Nick Castellanos 85 34% 71% .247 .358 .111
Brad Miller 417 42% 80% .326 .347 .021
Jesse Winker 178 52% 89% .621 .363 -.258
Martin Maldonado 351 22% 59% .379 .283 -.096
Josh Bell 153 47% 84% .279 .282 .003
Francisco Lindor 17 28% 63% .374 .286 -.088
Jorge Soler 127 51% 85% .326 .327 .001
Ian Happ 143 40% 73% .348 .369 .021
Harrison Bader 357 23% 56% .353 .303 -.050
Corey Seager 44 55% 87% .253 .407 .154
Mitch Garver 255 25% 57% .228 .228 .000
Christian Yelich 11 44% 75% .391 .320 -.071
J.T. Realmuto 48 30% 61% .372 .342 -.030
Paul DeJong 266 32% 62% .337 .263 -.074
Carlos Correa 122 8% 37% .303 .304 .001
Nelson Cruz 65 33% 63% .341 .446 .105
Colin Moran 343 58% 88% .298 .340 .042
George Springer 60 18% 46% .401 .335 -.066
Dansby Swanson 106 14% 42% .322 .373 .051
Max Stassi 284 28% 54% .379 .352 -.027
Gregory Polanco 364 66% 92% .122 .234 .112
Omar Narvaez 335 50% 75% .260 .258 -.002
Adam Duvall 274 46% 70% .295 .364 .069
Miguel Cabrera 319 22% 46% .321 .314 -.007
Ozzie Albies 31 48% 73% .233 .368 .135
Jason Heyward 336 59% 83% .398 .356 -.042
Nomar Mazara 399 56% 80% .227 .274 .047
Michael Brantley 145 49% 72% .389 .344 -.045
Jeimer Candelario 262 51% 74% .418 .351 -.067
Mike Moustakas 142 70% 92% .153 .355 .202
Pete Alonso 52 24% 46% .284 .402 .118
Christian Walker 201 19% 40% .326 .346 .020
Ronald Acuna Jr. 3 25% 47% .389 .425 .036
Oscar Mercado 341 17% 39% .191 .087 -.104
Max Kepler 167 77% 99% .218 .325 .107
Yoan Moncada 80 46% 67% .355 .281 -.074
Eugenio Suarez 79 52% 73% .375 .307 -.068
Matt Chapman 98 32% 53% .317 .338 .021
Miguel Sano 176 56% 77% .244 .338 .094
Andrew Benintendi 221 38% 58% .231 .243 .012
Anthony Santander 185 45% 65% .354 .363 .009
Ryan McMahon 254 47% 67% .441 .249 -.192
Bryan Reynolds 287 26% 46% .236 .305 .069
Chance Sisco 334 69% 88% .337 .329 -.008
David Peralta 288 36% 55% .342 .317 -.025
Alex Dickerson 276 44% 62% .452 .346 -.106
Maikel Franco 333 17% 35% .292 .394 .102
Kurt Suzuki 388 42% 60% .284 .345 .061
Marcus Semien 138 33% 50% .336 .256 -.080
Clint Frazier 190 16% 34% .418 .322 -.096
Justin Upton 342 38% 55% .298 .304 .006
David Dahl 301 57% 74% .069 .246 .177
Austin Nola 200 9% 26% .366 .296 -.070
Austin Barnes 339 8% 25% .313 .250 -.063
Eloy Jimenez 44 37% 53% .398 .332 -.066
Jose Ramirez 8 58% 74% .534 .368 -.166
Victor Reyes 224 11% 27% .296 .314 .018
Mike Brosseau 322 16% 31% .367 .436 .069
Mark Canha 227 27% 42% .348 .341 -.007
Carlos Santana 201 68% 84% .370 .301 -.069
Shin-Soo Choo 377 64% 80% .300 .309 .009
Joc Pederson 331 78% 93% .381 .285 -.096
Avisail Garcia 337 38% 53% .303 .281 -.022
Byron Buxton 128 29% 44% .354 .319 -.035
Eddie Rosario 98 73% 87% .190 .352 .162
Ketel Marte 78 24% 39% .366 .225 -.141
Marwin Gonzalez 360 42% 56% .259 .273 .014
Eduardo Escobar 293 52% 66% .315 .224 -.091
Andrew McCutchen 207 35% 49% .287 .357 .070
Yasmani Grandal 139 66% 80% .331 .333 .002
Marcell Ozuna 37 20% 34% .426 .461 .035
Luke Voit 46 57% 70% .414 .379 -.035
Shohei Ohtani 168 50% 63% .272 .292 .020
Tyler O'Neill 332 33% 46% .269 .264 -.005
Paul Goldschmidt 79 24% 37% .388 .359 -.029
Nick Senzel 233 10% 23% .234 .363 .129
Rougned Odor 175 76% 89% .470 .228 -.242
Manny Machado 19 14% 27% .366 .431 .065
Nolan Arenado 26 20% 33% .315 .275 -.040
Max Muncy 102 82% 95% .451 .304 -.147
Rafael Devers 38 38% 50% .351 .314 -.037
Franmil Reyes 157 19% 32% .331 .345 .014
Kyle Schwarber 193 81% 94% .247 .305 .058
J.D. Davis 193 15% 27% .315 .390 .075
Wilmer Flores 268 9% 21% .314 .459 .145
Danny Jansen 296 40% 52% .152 .410 .258
Jurickson Profar 238 40% 51% .342 .318 -.024
Justin Turner 194 14% 26% .358 .400 .042
Trevor Story 10 34% 46% .336 .410 .074
Eric Hosmer 148 38% 50% .369 .339 -.030
Niko Goodrum 304 48% 59% .291 .228 -.063
Jonathan Schoop 331 14% 26% .365 .252 -.113
Charlie Blackmon 81 70% 82% .446 .312 -.134
Adalberto Mondesi 35 32% 43% .310 .286 -.024
Austin Riley 293 38% 49% .263 .338 .075
Tommy La Stella 252 45% 56% .398 .314 -.084
Jeff McNeil 109 30% 41% .363 .346 -.017
Luis Arraez 338 7% 18% .317 .384 .067
Jose Abreu 37 11% 21% .425 .334 -.091
Austin Slater 318 4% 15% .392 .371 -.021
Khris Davis 349 47% 57% .285 .275 -.010
Dylan Moore 131 8% 18% .372 .289 -.083
Yuli Gurriel 299 19% 29% .235 .382 .147
David Fletcher 239 7% 16% .346 .339 -.007
Daniel Vogelbach 359 84% 93% .562 .292 -.270
Mike Trout 5 46% 55% .326 .466 .140
Yan Gomes 342 16% 25% .326 .326 .000
Howie Kendrick 412 5% 14% .269 .466 .197
Tommy Edman 183 28% 37% .321 .261 -.060
Willy Adames 264 19% 28% .331 .370 .039
Anthony Rendon 31 13% 22% .365 .464 .099
Josh Donaldson 157 23% 31% .351 .366 .015
Robbie Grossman 310 30% 38% .359 .315 -.044
Anthony Rizzo 102 85% 94% .174 .330 .156
Nick Ahmed 293 18% 26% .318 .301 -.017
James McCann 249 16% 24% .358 .426 .068
Brandon Crawford 409 36% 43% .324 .334 .010
Shed Long Jr. 410 28% 35% .262 .193 -.069
Brian Anderson 166 11% 19% .323 .434 .111
Travis d'Arnaud 153 16% 23% .387 .383 -.004
Carson Kelly 306 39% 46% .258 .294 .036
Nick Solak 201 7% 14% .293 .292 -.001
Aaron Judge 57 44% 51% .347 .388 .041
Victor Robles 164 19% 26% .273 .262 -.011
Yandy Diaz 352 15% 22% .351 .396 .045
Cody Bellinger 14 88% 95% .422 .326 -.096
Tommy Pham 102 14% 21% .258 .312 .054
Fernando Tatis Jr. 3 17% 23% .387 .355 -.032
Kevin Pillar 320 19% 26% .313 .413 .100
Roman Quinn 311 17% 24% .212 .368 .156
Starlin Castro 341 12% 18% .298 .372 .074
Ramon Laureano 132 26% 32% .302 .333 .031
Juan Soto 5 28% 34% .495 .434 -.061
Ryan Braun 403 6% 12% .317 .312 -.005
Jacob Stallings 344 7% 13% .275 .457 .182
Javier Baez 81 16% 22% .233 .324 .091
Starling Marte 43 9% 14% .331 .308 -.023
Ty France 315 11% 16% .370 .287 -.083
Kole Calhoun 206 88% 94% .233 .365 .132
Donovan Solano 352 5% 10% .366 .222 -.144
Amed Rosario 313 7% 12% .295 .102 -.193
Renato Nunez 196 35% 40% .327 .363 .036
Alex Bregman 34 37% 42% .340 .348 .008

We'll end part one by looking at a few names in the top-100 of ADP who had significant increases in the number of shifts faced and what that could portend for 2021. And for no extra charge, I'm including my all-new "Shift Level" rating in order to provide a precise approximation of the likelihood that a player will be shifted more, doing for made-up arbitrary metrics what Michael Scarn did for spy thriller movies. Just be ready for things to get real the closer they get to Shift level: Midnight.

 

Christian Yelich, OF - Milwaukee Brewers (11 ADP)

247 PA: 12 HR - 39 R - 22 RBI - 4 SB

2020 Shift%: 74.7% (+30.9 points)

2019 Shift%: 43.8%

2018 Shift%: 14.8%

That probably won't inspire many believers in a Yelich bounceback but regardless of the increases in shifts faced, he actually hadn't posted large differences in his performance against different alignments prior to 2020:

woba_std woba_shift +/- xwoba_std xwoba_shift +/-
2018 .422 .427 .005 .420 .438 .018
2019 .422 .468 .046 .426 .429 .003
2020 .391 .320 -.071 .406 .352 -.054

I suspect Yelich seeing increased shifts had more had less to do with his performance against it in prior years than it had to do with his overall struggles in 2020. There are some legitimate questions about his fantasy performance heading in 2021 but I don't think more shifts is the one we should be stressing about. Yelich doesn't need to pull the ball to be successful (ie. yank it right into the shift) and his 33.9% Pull% in 2020 was in his normal range (and actually down two-points from 2019).

Shift-Level: Quarter-Past Seven

The bigger concern for me is whatever is going on with Yelich's plate-discipline, as he spiked to a 30.8% K% after essentially sitting right at 20% in every other season. But the strikeouts didn't rise up out of aggression, as he dropped from a 45.2% Swing% to 34.6% (league average 46.6%), with his swing% on balls in the zone dropping 11-points and his contact-rate on them dropping six-points. It's like someone dosed his plate-discipline with horse tranquilizers; Yelich swung less, made less contact, and waited longer to strike - his swings on the first pitch dropped from 29.5% in 2019 to 13.4% this season (28.3% league average).

I had hoped that his 2020 disaster would return a bigger discount than his current 11 ADP but such is life. If I'm picking at #11, I'm likely not looking at Yelich, both for the concerns listed above and his current supporting cast, which replaced Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas last year with the likes of Eric Sogard, Omar Vasquez, and Dan Vogelbach. There's just too much that needs to go right for Yelich to earn his current cost.

 

Francisco Lindor, SS - Cleveland Indians (17 ADP)

247 PA: 12 HR - 39 R - 22 RBI - 4 SB

2o2o Shift%: 63.0% (+31.6 points)

2019 Shift%: 28.4%

2018 Shift%: 20.4%

Lindor is a switch-hitter, so we have to break down the above. Because looking at his numbers against the shift in their totality paints a different picture than when you separate them out. In total for 2020,  Lindor was shifted against 122% more than he was in 2019 and posted a wOBA against them that was 24% lower than against a standard alignment:

woba_std woba_shift +/- xwoba_std xwoba_shift +/-
2018 .377 .352 -.025 .386 .376 -.010
2019 .345 .361 .016 .346 .311 -.035
2020 .374 .286 -.088 .343 .327 -.016

Breaking things down by handedness, Lindor saw big increases on both sides:

2019 2020 change
LHB_shift 40% 70% +30
RHB_shift 4% 40% +36

So if Lindor saw a big increase in shifts and had nearly a .100-point difference against them, should we be expecting another bump in his shifts in 2021 and knock down our expectations for his production? Probably not.

First, here's Lindor from the right side in 2019-20, with and without a shift:

2019 2020 woba_19 woba_20 +/- xwoba_19 xwoba_20 +/-
Standard 96% 60% .321 .336 .015 .328 .322 -.006
All Shifts 4% 40% .562 .308 -.254 .475 .328 -.147

The amount he was shifted went way up but it probably wasn't about how he handled them in 2019, as he put up silly numbers in the tiny sample. And while his .308 wOBA in 2020 was below average, his .328 xwOBA was right in line with his .330 wOBA in 2019. He's not destroying lefties as he did in 2017-18 (.376 wOBA, .423 wOBA) but I don't think it's for shifting reasons.

And here's Lindor as a leftie in 2019-20:

2019 2020 woba_19 woba_20 +/- xwoba_19 xwoba_20 +/-
Standard 60% 30% .365 .399 .034 .362 .357 -.005
All Shifts 40% 70% .351 .281 -.070 .302 .362 .060

His .281 wOBA against shifts becomes less worrisome when it's backed by a .362 xwOBA, which is once again more in line with his .365 wOBA from 2019. Teams can continue to shift Lindor but it's not going to affect my valuation of him and find it more likely that he's shifted against less in 2021.

Shift Level: Quarter After Three

However, I do have non-shifting concerns about Lindor's fantasy value because I think he'll have a hard time earning back his 17 ADP if he's only in the 15-20 SB range, as opposed to the 20-25 range from 2018-19. It's not Lindor slowing down physically that's concerning (although his sprint speed in 2019-20 is down a tick from 2018), it's the decline in his (and Cleveland as a whole) rates of stealing.

Lindor's stolen bases per-PA stayed the same in 2018-19 but his attempts per-PA and attempts per-time on first base both dipped in 2019. And while his success rate per-attempt has fluctuated back and forth, his other three rates saw significant drops in 2020:

Year SB SB/PA Att/PA Att/on_1st SB/Att
2015 12 .027 .032 .125 .857
2016 19 .028 .035 .121 .792
2017 15 .021 .025 .108 .833
2018 25 .034 .047 .188 .714
2019 22 .034 .041 .175 .815
2020 6 .023 .030 .114 .750

Besides Lindor's dropping rates, there's also the team itself. The Indians were one of the most successful, efficient, and aggressive teams in stealing bases in 2018 but have now fallen further back in the pack for the past two seasons. Here are their league ranks for each rate from 2018-20:

Cleveland SB/PA Att/PA Att/on_1st SB/Att
2018 1 2 3 4
2019 6 6 5 11
2020 16 14 15 19

There is something to be said for the warm comfort of Lindor's floor and the knowledge that he'll be there for you all year long - since 2016, no one has more than his 3072 PA. But his ceiling is limited without 20+ steals and shortstop is just so deep that I'd rather wait if I'm not getting one of the premium speedsters in the first round.

 

Eugenio Suarez, 3B, Cincinnati Reds (79 ADP)

231 PA: 15 HR - 31 R - 38 RBI - 2 SB - .202 AVG

2020 Shift%: 73.3% (+21.1 points)

2019 Shift%: 52.2%

2018 Shift%: 31.2%

Suarez was actually better against shifts in 2019 (.428 wOBA) than he was without one (.334 wOBA) but that probably has more to do with hitting 49 HR, a majority of which were pulled right over the heads of all those infielders on the left side. It's easy to beat the shift when you just yank it out of the park.

However, looking at his spray chart from 2019, it's easy to see why teams took a chance on upping the number of infielders that Suarez saw on the left side this season:

Suarez rewarded those 73.3% shifts with a .307 wOBA against them that was nearly 70-points lower than his .375 wOBA versus a standard alignment:

When Suarez isn't hitting fly balls, he's usually hitting it on the ground to the left side so I doubt his 73.3% shift% goes down in 2021. And I also doubt that Suarez will try to beat the shift by going the other way (over 50% Pull% last two seasons). Suarez beating the shift means Suarez hitting dongs. But whether he does or not, more shifts are coming.

Shift Level: Half Past Ten

Suarez is going to keep getting shifted and that will keep eating into his batting average. I think we have to assume that the ship has sailed on his .283 AVG from 2018 or even his .271 AVG in 2019. But I don't think his .203 AVG in 2020 means he's going to sink to Gallo-esque levels going forward. And as aforementioned, Suarez is going to earn his keep by hitting jacks.

Seeing him drop on Fangraphs from a 47% FB% in 2019 to 40% last year doesn't hold much optimism for more power but remember that Fangraphs includes pop-ups in their FB%. On Baseball Savant (which strips out pop-ups) Suarez dropped only slightly, moving from 31.6% to 30.3% FB%, with his groundball rate staying steady. And while his average exit-velocity on fly-balls dropped slightly in 2020, he again posted an elite 14.4% Brl% that was in the top-9% of qualified hitters.

As long as you don't bank on more than a .250 AVG, Suarez makes for a great source of power at the back part of the top-100.

 

Yoan Moncada, 3B - Chicago White Sox (80 ADP)

231 PA: 6 HR - 28 R -24 RBI - .225 AVG

2020 Shift%: 67.4% (+21.1 points)

2019 Shift%: 46.3%

2018 Shift%: 29.5%

Moncada is another switch-hitter, so we have to parse the above. But there isn't much to talk about in regards to him facing shifts as a righthander. He only faced 15 pitches last year against a shift (7.4%), putting none in play, and since 2018, his shift% as a right-hander has been 2.1%, 4.7%, and 1.5%, respectively, of his total pitches seen. So let's just focus on his left-handed appearances.

From the shifty point-of-view, things aren't looking very pretty for Moncada:

lhb_shift% woba_std woba_non non - std xwoba_std xwoba_non non - std
2018 37.2 .350 .298 -.052 .341 .284 -.057
2019 60.1 .438 .365 -.073 .454 .357 -.097
2020 82.9 .405 .283 -.122 .351 .268 -.083

Uh-oh. Even when Moncada was awesome in 2019 there were large differentials when facing a shift. His shift% keeps going up and up and his results continue getting worse. Looking at his spray chart as a left-hander in 2020, where would you put your fielders in 2021?

Dollars to donuts says he joins the +90%-shifted club in 2021.

Shift Level: Midnight

Good god. What now? Given his history, I find it hard to believe that he's not going to face more shifts in 2021. And going the other way probably isn't going to be an option for beating them:

Year Oppo%
2018 26.2%
2019 26.6%
2020 26.4%

Unlike Suarez, I'm far less confident that Moncada will be good enough in the other categories to make up for how much of his average will continue to get eaten up by more shifting. Suarez was still a useful asset in 2021, even with a .202 AVG, finishing as the #61 hitter ($13.1) according to the Razzball player rater. On the other hand, Moncada had a totally lost season, finishing as the #173 hitter (-$2.3).

First, the COVID-19 elephant, with Moncada acknowledging issues following his recovery, after missing the first two weeks of summer camp:

"Definitely my body hasn’t felt the same after the virus. I feel a lack of energy, strength, it’s just a weird feeling. It’s different."

Anyone that tells you that they understand the long-term effects on the performance of elite athletes (or anyone, for that matter) is lying. Just because Freddie Freeman bounced right back doesn't mean everyone does. So maybe Moncada gets back to feeling normal after more time and goes back to what he was in 2019.

But that assumption is going to need to cover a lot of ground because only one of these years is not like the other (psst...it's the good one):

Year brl% avg xba slg xslg woba xwoba iso hr/pa obp wrc+ k%
2017 9.6 .231 .225 .412 .391 .327 .323 .181 .035 .338 105 32
2018 9.6 .235 .216 .400 .388 .311 .303 .164 .026 .315 97 33.4
2019 12.2 .315 .285 .548 .523 .380 .362 .233 .045 .367 141 27.5
2020 6.2 .225 .208 .385 .338 .305 .280 .160 .026 .320 97 31.2

Outside of 2019, Moncada's other metrics look remarkably similar. So if we think that he's closer to the player that he was in every other year, then his 80 ADP feels wa-aay too high. And it feels even higher once you factor in how even more shifts could turn him into a total batting average sink. Hard pass, Goldenface.

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Aaron Judge

Blasts Two Homers, Dealing With Back Issue
Claude Giroux

Signs One-Year Deal with Senators
Yordan Alvarez

has Chance to Return Next Weekend
Minnesota Timberwolves

Julius Randle Signs Three-Year Extension
Kelly Oubre Jr.

Opts into Player Option
Luis Robert Jr.

Heads to Injured List
Gabriel Arias

Carted Off on Sunday
Bryce Harper

Faces Live Pitching
Jeremy Peña

Jeremy Pena Remains Out on Sunday
Chase Elliott

Ends Winless Skid With Atlanta Victory
Brad Keselowski

Falls Short of Atlanta Victory
NFL

NFL Won't Hold Supplemental Draft This Year
Damon Arnette

Getting Second Chance With Texans
Deommodore Lenoir

Arrested for Obstruction of Justice
Yordan Alvarez

Eyeing Return Before All-Star Break
Carson Hocevar

Recovers From Big One to Finish 10th at Atlanta
William Byron

Caught up in Atlanta Big One but Retains Points Lead
Denny Hamlin

Top In-Season Challenge Seed Denny Hamlin Eliminated in Lap 70 Crash
Ty Dillon

Bottom Seed Ty Dillon Upsets Denny Hamlin to Advance in In-Season Challenge
Quinn Priester

Fans 11 in One-Hit Gem
Marvin Harrison Jr.

Expected to Make Second-Year Jump
Jalin Hyatt

Looking to Flip the Script in 2025
Kyle Larson

Don't Expect Kyle Larson to Win First Drafting Track Race on Saturday
Christopher Bell

Unlikely to Complete Atlanta Sweep
Brad Keselowski

Seeks Another Clutch Win for Hail-Mary Playoff Bid
Chris Buescher

Unlikely to Lead Enough to Have Much DFS Value
Alex Bowman

Qualifies Best Among Non-Fords but Unlikely to Contend at Atlanta
Ryan Preece

Will Probably Run Better Than Usual at Atlanta
Austin Dillon

Consistently Mediocre at Atlanta
Ty Gibbs

Slightly Faster Lately but Unlikely to be a Factor at Atlanta
Erik Jones

a Low-Key Strong DFS Option
Noah Gragson

Could Have DFS Value as One of the Lowest-Qualifying Fords
Riley Herbst

Unlikely to Replicate February Atlanta Finish
Ty Dillon

Could Benefit from Kaulig Speed
Dylan Sampson

Being Used as a Receiver
Carson Schwesinger

Figures to be in Full-Time Role in 2025
Cedric Tillman

Should Have Full-Time Role
Bryce Young

Looking More Comfortable, Showing More Intensity
Charlie Coyle

Blue Jackets Acquire Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood From Colorado
Jack Quinn

Signs Up for Two More Years with Sabres
Brandon Saad

Stays in Vegas on One-Year Deal
Trent Frederic

Inks Eight-Year Extension
Emil Heineman

Shipped to the Islanders
Noah Dobson

Traded to Montreal
John Tavares

Agrees to Four-Year Extension with Maple Leafs
Sam Bennett

Signs Eight-Year Extension with Panthers
NYI

Islanders Select Matthew Schaefer With No. 1 Pick in NHL Draft
Aaron Rodgers

Roman Wilson Could Fit Nicely With Aaron Rodgers
Josh Simmons

on Schedule to Open the Year as a Starter
Micah Parsons

Contract Length an Issue for Cowboys, Micah Parsons
Denver Broncos

Broncos Unsure How Their Running Back Room Will Look
Russell Wilson

Not the Only Leader in Giants Clubhouse
Charles Oliveira

Can Become A Two-Time Lightweight Champion
Ilia Topuria

A Favorite At UFC 317
Kai Kara-France

Can Become The New Flyweight Champion
Alexandre Pantoja

Set For Fourth Title Defense At UFC 317
Joshua Van

Looks To Extend His Win Streak
Brandon Royval

Looks For His Third Win In A Row
Renato Moicano

Returns At UFC 317
Beneil Dariush

An Underdog At UFC 317
Payton Talbott

Looks To Bounce Back
Felipe Lima

Set To Open Up UFC 317 Main Card
Daniil Tarasov

Panthers Bring in Daniil Tarasov
Frederick Gaudreau

Kraken Pick Up Frederick Gaudreau From Wild
Michael Thorbjornsen

Returns in Detroit at Rocket Classic
Adam Hadwin

Could Struggle Over the Weekend in Detroit
Cam Davis

Hopes Detroit Magic Can Spark Turnaround
Matt Wallace

a Boom-or-Bust Option at Rocket Classic
Joel Dahmen

Not Cutting it Lately
Michael Kim

Searching for Spark at Rocket Classic
Rasmus Hojgaard

a High-Ceiling Play in Rocket Classic
Matt McCarty

a Wild Card Heading into Detroit
Emiliano Grillo

Rolling into the Summer Season
Rickie Fowler

Looking for More Magic at Rocket Classic
Wyndham Clark

Brings High Upside to Detroit Golf Club
Max Greyserman

Could Make Noise at Rocket Classic
Akshay Bhatia

a Strong Value Play at Rocket Classic
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF