Astros Fantasy: 2019 fantasy baseball player projections

The Houston Astros are loaded with highly ranked players in FantasyPro’s fantasy baseball projections for the upcoming season.

The Astros‘ pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training camp in less than one week. The anticipation and excitement for the start of the season is building. You can almost smell the pine tar and hear the crack of the bats. It’s also that time of year when fantasy baseball participants begin to do their research and get prepared for draft day.

FantasyPro uses a consensus of 23 fantasy baseball experts from various sources for their rankings. For their average draft positions (ADP) and 2019 season statistic projections, they use the average of five fantasy baseball sites, including ESPN and CBS.

Houston has six players listed in the top 50 ranked by FantasyPro, the most of any team. They also have eight of the top 100, again more than any other team. The average fantasy baseball league of 12 teams will draft approximately 275 to 325 players, depending on each league’s roster settings. There are sixteen Astros on the list of the top 350 players in FantasyPro’s rankings.

Out of the Astros that made it into the rankings, nine of them are position players and seven are pitchers. A few surprising prospects made the list, along with one or two unexpectedly left off. There are also a couple of free agents in the rankings that happen to play for Houston last season.

If you’re like most fantasy team managers, there’s a good chance you’ll want to pick up one or two of your favorite home team players on draft day. Let’s take a look where some of the Astros players ranked, their average draft position, and projections of some of the most common fantasy statistics used in league scoring.

The Astros had three outfielders make the grade, two veterans and one prospect, out of the eight outfielders on the current 40 man roster.

George Springer

Springer’s overall ranking was 41st, one spot above Carlos Correa, and ranked 18th in the outfielder position. He also came in at 7th among the names listed as designated hitters. Springer had an ADP of 51.6, averaging a 4th round pick up.

His slash line is projected at .269/.346/.811 with 27 HRs and 57 total extra base hits. He’s expected to knock in 77 runs and score 103 while stealing seven bases. That performance is pretty much equal to his numbers last season and his five-year career average.

Michael Brantley

Brantley ranked 98th overall and 34th out of the 80 outfielders listed. His ADP of 112 has him averaging around a 9th round draft pick. But the difference in his ADP among the five leagues was a large, ranging from 81 to 130.

His slash line forecast is .295/.352/.804 with 49 extra base hits including 16 HRs. Brantley is projected to score 78 runs, collect 73 RBIs and steal a dozen bases. That’s not far off of his career average and what he produced last season.

Kyle Tucker

Tucker made the list coming in at 274 in the rankings of the top 350. He failed to make the top 80 outfielders. His ADP was 238 but averaged anywhere from 164 to 341 in the different league sites. However, the average was a 19th round draft pick. His projection is a .260/.324/.772 slash line with nine HRs, 33 runs and 31 RBIs. These stats were based on 221 plate appearances and that is the big unknown right now in a crowded outfield, but Tucker may get quite a few appearances as the DH.

Seven pitchers made the top 350, four starters and three relievers. The position designated for each player is based on last years appearances. A pitcher that was a reliever in 2018 will still be shown as a relief pitcher, even if that player moves to the starting rotation and vice versa. Once that pitcher gets a designated number of the appearances in the second pitching role, that player will have both SP and RP designations.

Justin Verlander  SP

Verlander is the highest ranked pitcher from the Houston roster listed as the 24th overall player in the league and ranked as the 5th best pitcher. Surprisingly though, he has averaged out so far as the seventh pitcher drafted with an ADP of 26.8, a high third-round pick.

FantasyPro has projected Verlander to earn 16 wins on the season with an ERA of 3.15 and a 1.05 WHIP. They are calling for him to strike out 250 batters in 203.3 innings with one complete game. These numbers are slightly below last year’s performance along with his career averages. I see no reason why he doesn’t duplicate last year’s performance, in any case, you know you can’t go wrong with him on your team.

Gerrit Cole  SP

Cole isn’t far behind Verlander at 28th overall and one spot back as the 6th best pitcher. He is also one position behind Verlander with an ADP of 29. Cole’s projected stats consist of 15 wins, 243 Ks, an ERA of 3.34 and a 1.15 WHIP. Again very similar to Verlander and reliable top-notch pick.

Josh James  SP / Forrest Whitley  SP

Spring Training will tell a lot as to where and when these two prospects end up on the roster. But in any case, James and Whitley made the top 350 players ranked 228 and 326 overall respectively. James is ranked 59th out of the 100 starting pitchers and Whitley just made it in at 90. James has been picked in the 18th round on average with an ADP of 217 and Whitley approximately the 20th round with a 242.2 ADP.

James is predicted to win 10 games with a 3.91 ERA and striking out 156 batters. They projected Whitley to garner 5 wins while striking out 78 and having a 4.20 ERA in the process. Although I will add, not yet knowing the extent of either pitcher’s role in the upcoming season, you can take these predictions with a grain of salt.

Collin McHugh SP/RP

McHugh’s situation is kind of tricky. He is currently listed as a relief pitcher, even though it’s expected that he’ll start the season as a starter. As stated above, once he gets a few starts under his belt, he’ll have both designations. His rankings and projections by FantasyPro are as a relief pitcher and really don’t have much merit as a starter.

He is ranked at 271 overall and 34th on the list of relief pitchers. His ADP is 268 averaging a 22nd round pick. But when looking at his stats between 2014-16 when he was a regular starter for the Astros, he might be worth a look. Especially his 2015 season when he was 19-7 with a 3.89 ERA and 171 strikeouts.

Roberto Osuna  RP

Osuna is ranked pretty high among relief pitchers rated as the 6th best and a 104 overall ranking. He’s been averaging a 7th round pick with an 88.8 ADP. He’s expected to be the Astros primary closer and is projected to earn 37 saves and 65 Ks in 60 innings of work with a 2.90 ERA. A valuable closer to have on any fantasy team.

Brad Peacock  RP

Peacock barely makes the list ranking 334 overall and rated at 50 as a relief pitcher. Although there is talk that he may be in competition this spring for the 5th spot in the starting rotation. His ADP is 358 bringing him in as an average 29th round pick in leagues with extended rosters.

His projections show him getting credited for 13 holds and no saves with an ERA of 3.74. Not really numbers that would be of value to many fantasy teams. Worth keeping an eye on through Spring Training though, to see where he winds up.

Robinson Chirinos  C

Chirinos was ranked 16th out of 50 catchers and just made it on the list at 339 overall. Even though he came in at 339 in the rankings, he is the 14th catcher picked on average and has an ADP of 283.2. His projected slash line is .226/.305/.734 with 17 HRs on the year. Not great averages, but enough power to be considered as a secondary or back-up catcher in most leagues.

As you can see there are plenty of Astros to add to your fantasy team come draft time. A word of advice, don’t pick with your heart and try not to stack up too many players from one team, I know that can be hard to do. Good luck with your fantasy teams and enjoy the season!