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• 2018 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: All-Breakout Team Catcher: Chance Sisco, Orioles. Sisco was an accomplished hitter in the minors (.311/.390/.426) and had a nice little 10-game major league debut.

• Fantasy Baseball 2018 Sleepers Cheat
• Fantasy Baseball 2019 Sleepers

A fifth-round pick in 2014, Antone was an unheralded prospect but suddenly became the talk of Reds spring training before it was paused. After sitting high-80s/low-90s in 2019, Antone was dialing it up to the high-90s and sitting 95-96 mph, which he credited to offseason weighted-ball training. One of the 2021 Fantasy baseball sleepers the model is all over: Marlins second baseman Jon Berti. The 31-year-old didn't make his Major League debut until 2018 with the Blue Jays.

The 2020 fantasy baseball season, or lack thereof, shows its negative effects on the quick approaching 2021 season. Under normal circumstances, you start evaluating players at some point during the off-season based on their performance from the previous season. 2020, however, has muddied that process. We do not have as much information as we usually do to evaluate players due to small sample sizes because of the shortened season and players missing time to COVID-19 and injuries. But if you want to improve your chances of having a successful 2021 fantasy baseball campaign, you must find a way to get past this. One way to do this is to identify players that you think are going lower than their value in drafts and then make sure you take them earlier than anyone else.

Brandon Lowe, 2B/RF, TB

138 games, 489 ABs, 78 runs, 26 doubles, 4 triples, 31 Homeruns, and 8 stolen bases. Brandon’s combines numbers in a half-season of the big leagues in 2019 and a shortened 2020. His underlying numbers put him in the top percentile going by just about any Statcast number except for his strikeout and walk rate. Both of which improved in 2020. I am going to keep this one short and direct you to his Statcast page, and you can decide for yourself- https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/brandon-lowe-664040?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb

As for me, I do see risk, but I also see a high reward, and I am taking him well above his ADP rank of 64; he is in the top 40.

Fantasy Baseball 2018 Sleepers Cheat

Yordan Alvarez, UT, HOU

Knees! He has no knees! He only has one good knee! Insert your overreactive knee joke here. Ok, there is the negative for Yordan. Now, the positives. In 2019 he hit 27 home runs, had 78 RBI’s over 87 games while maintaining a .313 BA and .412 OBP. At Triple-A in 2019, he had 23 HRs, 71 RBIs, a .343 BA, and .443 OBP. The underlying numbers backed this up. In 2019, he was in the 90 plus percentile in several Statcast batting categories, most noticeably a 17.2 percent barrel rate and 96.5 exit velocity FB/LD. Back to the knees. I think people are overreacting. I may have to eat my words, but I am disregarding the knee issue. Reports are that he is recovering well. He should also spend more time at designated hitter, giving his knees a rest. This is a potential 50 HR, .300 BA, and .400 OBP hitter. He is being drafted way too low at a Fantrax ADP rank of 77. He should have LF eligibility in 2020, and even if he turns into a DH eligible only player in the future, if he puts up those numbers, he belongs in the Top 10. I also do not see a lot of good options around him at OF in ADP. At worst, I will start looking at him after OF’s Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, who are at 38 and 39. I will not draft him any lower than 50, and I may jump up more and more on that if I am worried someone else is going to grab him first.

Brad Keller, SP, KC

Keller does not get a lot of attention in fantasy due to his lack of strikeouts and a supply of other popular name young pitchers in Kansas City. But I think these two shadows are hiding another young pitcher with more time in the majors and has shown continued signs of improvement. In 2020 he had 35 strikeouts, a 1.024 WHIP, and a 2.47 ERA over 54.2 innings. On the negative side, his average fastball velocity dropped for the second straight year from 93.7 to 92.8 (94.3 in 2018). However, what is overlooked is that his fastball spin rate increased by about 50 rpm. He has also slowly increased the use of his slider from year to year. In 2020 he started using it a lot more, 38.2 percent compared to 31.4 in 2019. A pitch that averaged the 10th most vertical movement among qualified pitchers. Opposing batter’s BA has also decreased from year to year on that pitch, just .187 in 2020. The most impressive 2020 stat is his barrels per batted ball event percentage of 3.7, 5th lowest in MLB. His barrel percentage has ranked in the 70th percentile or better in each of his 3 big league seasons. I am not trying to sell Keller as an overlooked ace or even a pitcher that will ever crack the top 100, but he should be higher than his ADP rank of 274. He will not get you many K’s, but he does produce a decent amount, and he contributes positively to the other pitching categories. I look at the Fantrax ADP rankings, and I see at least 10 starting pitchers above him that I would take Keller in front of for various reasons. I would draft him no lower than somewhere around the 250 range.

Cody Bellinger, 1B/CF, LAD

Some may view Bellinger as too high up in the rankings to consider a sleeper, but I still think he is going too low. He had a somewhat disappointing 2020 statistical season and a minor celebration injury, which has caused many to drop him in their rankings. But I think he is a prime example of one of the key things I will focus on this season. He will be just 25 going into the 2021 season. He is still learning, developing, and adjusting, and then a short 2021 season disrupted that process. At the age of 23 in 2019, he hit 47 home runs and managed a .406 OBP. His stats year to year stats show consistency and improvement. His barrel percentage of 13 ranked in the top 10 percent in 2019. I see no indications of Bellinger not maintaining a 40 HR, 15 SB with a high OBP profile for years to come. He ranks 14th in Fantrax ADP. On my draft board, he is in discussion with the top 5 batters that are being taken.

Jo Adell, RF, LAA

He had a terrible debut in 2020. It is hard to determine much from his underlying numbers due to the small sample size, other than the encouraging 93.2 exit velocity FB/LD and 29.3 ft/s, showing his potential power and speed. I am considering a young player considered a .280 BA, 40 HR, 20 SB potential top prospect for the past few years. Under normal circumstances, he would have spent 2020 in Triple-A, continuing to develop. Instead, he was thrown into a short MLB season before he was ready. He struggled, not a surprise. That does not take away from the potential he had before 2020. He has a Fantrax ADP rank of 209. I will take the chance and take him a couple of rounds earlier in hopes that he broke out in 2020. In a dynasty, you hold onto him or try to get him from an overreactive owner.

Jorge Soler, RF, KC

Soler is another player that has taken a fall in ADP due to a disappointing 2020. He managed just 8 home runs with a .236 average. This has made it too easy to write off his 48 home run, 117 RBI, .265 BA, and .354 OBP 2019 season as a fluke. His strikeout rate also went up 8 percent to a concerning 34.5. But there are reasons to make an argument for 2019 not being a fluke. First, he struggled with an oblique injury most of the 2019 season. An oblique injury added to a shortened season can make it hard for one to work out their swing. This could explain the increase in strikeouts. More importantly, the underlying numbers show that power was the same. His barrel percentage, exit velocity, and hard-hit percentage remained in the 90th percentile plus for the 2nd year in a row. He improved his barrel percentage from 16.9 to 18.9. 3rd highest behind Miquel Sano and Fernando Tatis, Jr. Pretty good company. The Royals also added Carlos Santana to their roster, potentially positioning Soler in the cleanup spot between two other decent power bats, Santana and Salvador Perez. Soler may be an overlooked top power hitter, and I will take him well above his 136 ADP rank. I can easily justify taking Soler in the top 100 with the potential reward of a Top 50 or better bat.

Evan White, 1B, SEA

White was a popular late-round pick last year as a potential first-year breakout. He was disappointed in the short season with just a .176 BA and 8 home runs in 54 games. If this happened to a player in his first year through his first 54 games, it would be wise to ask if this is a player that cannot make the transition to the big leagues or is there something that can be looked at to show that he will break through these numbers. He spent the entire 2019 season in AA, where he had 18 home runs, a .293 BA, and a .350 OBP. Skipping AAA and then coming up in a shortened season are pretty good excuses for White getting off to a slow start with his bat. His OBP has never been under .333 in any of his college or minor league seasons, apart from a short 4 game stint in 2018 at AAA. So, I do not think his struggles in AVG and OBP will continue. His underlying numbers show encouraging signs that he will translate his power into the big leagues as well. His barrel percentage and hard-hit percentage ranked in the 90th percentile or higher in 2020, and his 96.9 exit velocity FB/LD ranked 12th. He may break out big in 2021, but he should continue to improve enough on his numbers to be better than his ADP rank of 308. For me, his potential to be a 30-homerun batter with .350 OBP puts him up in the 250 range at least.

Jordan Hicks, RP, STL

I will keep this one short and get to the point. His Fantrax ADP rank is 299, and as of now, he is expected to be the Cardinal’s closer. He had a 3.14 ERA, .94 WHIP, and 31 K’s over 28.2 innings in 2019. He converted 14 out of 15 save opportunities before going down with a torn UCL and undergoing Tommy John surgery. He opted out of 2020. It will be important to monitor his progress and expected role, but if he is on track to be the closer, he will be a steal even if you must move up a couple of rounds from his current ADP of 299.

Justus Sheffield, SP, SEA

This is a risky one, but some of his numbers are hard to ignore, and he made a big change in his pitch selection, which led to some pretty good results in 2020. He basically replaced his fastball that he struggled to control with a sinker. This shows me a pitcher that is willing to make changes to succeed. The underlying number that really sticks out to me is his barrel percentage, 3.7 in 2020, 4th best among qualified pitchers. His pitches show movement that ranked in the upper percentiles. He has walk issues going back to the minors, but he continues to improve that, down to 8.6 percent in 2020. He had 48 K’s, a 1.301 WHIP, and 3.58 ERA. Even more encouraging is that those stats improved as the season progressed. His current ADP rank is 248. He is young and still improving, it is not a given that he will succeed in 2021, but I will risk drafting him 20 to 30 spots higher just considering the potential and the changes he made in 2020. In dynasty formats, I am trying to get as many shares as I can.

Alex Bregman, 3B, HOU

For my final sleeper, I will go with a player that I am a little reluctant about. But the reason for my reluctance is the same reason why he is being taken so low. Any Houston hitters that struggled in the short 2020 season have been quickly written off a lack of cheating. This may have some truth to it, but I am not writing off Bregman that easily. Bregman hit just 6 home runs in 42 games in 2020, making him an easy target for the Cheating Astro tag. But he also had 12 doubles, and while his strike percentage was up slightly and his walk percentage down slightly, he still stuck out 26 times compared to 24 walks. He had more walks than strikeouts in the previous two seasons. I think a lot of people write him off because his underlying numbers do not look good either. His barrel rate percentage, hard-hit percentage, and exit velocity dropped for the 3rd year in a row. But he keeps hitting home runs, he keeps putting up a high OBP, and he walks more than he strikeouts. Underlying stats aside, I do not think you can overlook a player that repeatedly shows that he has good eye contact. And you cannot pick out very many batters that maintain an even walk to strikeout ratio season after season and consistently put up high home run totals. Mookie Betts and Jose Ramirez are two that come to mind. Until Bregman has a full season of disappointing numbers, he will remain a Top 10 potential player for me. I can justify the reward of his potential above the risk of his success being entirely due to cheating and luck. His ADP rank is 29. He is the 2nd highest ranked third baseman in my rankings and easily Tops 20 overall.

Sep 3, 2019; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez (24) hits a two run home run against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Yankee Stadium.

Over the last three seasons, we've seen 75 starting pitchers drafted in the top 100 in ADP, an average of 25 per season. How many of those have finished as a top-100 overall player that season? 10 in each season, or just 40%. 22 of those 75 finished outside of the top-250, so you were only slightly more likely to get a top-100 player from your early-round pitcher as you were to get a player who wasn't worth rostering in most leagues.

Pitching is always a risky investment, in other words. Of course, there's a big difference between a pitcher drafted in the first two rounds and ones drafted in the eighth or ninth round, right? Well, last season, only two pitchers drafted in the top two rounds ended up finishing inside of the top-100 players, though six out of eight managed it in 2019 and 2018, including five top-36 finishes.

Which is to say, while pitching is a risky investment, that risk doesn't typically rise with the cost. The most expensive are the most expensive because they are the rare pitchers who have both elite production and a track record of health to back it up; outside of the first few rounds is when you start to see the guys who could be aces, but who have one or more question marks around them.

If we consider a top-100 overall finish to be a 'hit' for a starting pitcher, here's the hit rate among pitchers based on NFC ADP round over the last three seasons:

• Rounds 1-2: 8/14 (57.1%)
• Rounds 3-4: 7/23 (30.4%)
• Rounds 5-6: 12/22 (54.5%)
• Rounds 7-8: 3/17 (17.6%)

And if we consider a top-50 finish a 'smash', here's what it looks like:

• Rounds 1-2: 7/14 (50.0%)
• Rounds 3-4: 6/23 (26.1%)
• Rounds 5-6: 6/22 (27.3%)
• Rounds 7-8: 2/17 (11.7%)

At least over the last three seasons, you had a worse chance of hitting on a starting pitcher in Rounds 3 and 4 than you did in Rounds 5 and 6, and your chances of getting a good return on your investment was well below 50% for all pitchers outside of the top 24. The hit and smash rate for hitters is higher at every point in the draft, too.

So, does that mean you should buck the trend of pushing pitchers up draft boards and focus on hitting early? Well, not necessarily -- early pitchers are better investments than later pitchers, after all, and you still need good pitchers to contend in Fantasy. However, it's worth remembering that, at least over the last three seasons, SP6-12 in ADP have been about as likely to hit as SP13-20, so it might be smarter to still treat the second tier of starters with more skepticism. That's not to say you should skip the Walker Buehler (18.3 overall) through Luis Castillo (30.8) tier in ADP, but that you should include the Zac Gallen (40.5) through Carlos Carrasco (59.8) group in that same tier.

And this may be more true for 2021 than any season ever, given how many more question marks we have at the position than usual. Pitching is always volatile, but now we're coming off a season where nobody threw more than 100 innings, including the post season, meaning there are significant workload concerns and sample-size issues across the board, in addition to the normal attrition rate at the position?

Was Trevor Bauer's breakout for real? Was Max Scherzer's inflated ERA a sign of the end of his run as a dominant starter? Was Ian Anderson's late-season run for real? What about Corbin Burnes? Those are all questions you'll have to have an answer for fairly early on in your drafts.

My ideal start would probably see me end up with one of the top three pitchers -- Jacob deGrom, Shane Bieber, and Gerrit Cole -- and then focus on hitter for a few rounds, before dipping back into the pitching pool in Round 4-8. But, you might find pitchers going off the board so fast this season that you can't help but invest early. At least now you know the risk you're taking on.

25. Sonny Gray

26. Dinelson Lamet

27. Kyle Hendricks

28. Max Fried

29. Zack Wheeler

30. Jose Berrios

31. Chris Paddack

32. Framber Valdez

33. Ian Anderson

34. Dylan Bundy

35. Jesus Luzardo

36. Charlie Morton

37. Lance McCullers

38. Sixto Sanchez

39. Julio Urias

40. Patrick Corbin

41. Sandy Alcantara

42. Kevin Gausman

43. Joe Musgrove

44. Pablo Lopez

45. Mike Soroka

46. German Marquez

47. Frankie Montas

48. Marco Gonzales

1. MacKenzie Gore, Padres

Age (on opening day): 22

Where he played in 2019: high Class A, Double-A

2019 minors: 9-2, 1.69 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 101 IP, 28 BB, 135 K

The left-hander was suspiciously bypassed for the Padres' postseason push, with some chatter about him possibly underachieving at the alternate training site. But there are no challengers to his top spot among pitching prospects, and with his high leg kick, big extension and deep arsenal of four plus pitches, he's well equipped to dominate.Scott's 2021 Fantasy impact: fighting this spring

2. Ian Anderson, Braves

Age (on opening day): 22

Where he played in 2019: Double-A, Triple-A

2019 minors: 8-7, 3.38 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 135 2/3 IP, 65 BB, 172 K

2020 majors: 3-2, 1.95 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 32 1/3 IP, 14 BB, 42 K

The No. 3 pick back in 2016 had mostly gathered detractors since then, but it all clicked for him at the alternate training site, where he refined his changeup into a true put-away pitch on the level of Luis Castillo. From his one-hit debut against the Yankees to his three scoreless playoff outings, he showed unusual confidence in a three-pitch mix that included a loopy curveball.Scott's 2021 Fantasy impact: pencil him in

3. Sixto Sanchez, Marlins

Age (on opening day): 22

Where he played in 2019: high Class A, Double-A

2019 minors: 8-6, 2.76 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 114 IP, 21 BB, 103 K

2020 majors: 3-2, 3.46 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 39 IP, 11 BB, 33 K

The questions about Sanchez's strikeout potential persist, but he actually had a better swinging-strike rate in his major-league stint than Anderson and dominated the other two legs of the FIP triangle with an elite strike percentage and sinking 98 mph fastball. Those two skills will take him far even if he never fully develops the third.Scott's 2021 Fantasy impact: pencil him in

4. Michael Kopech, White Sox

Age (on opening day): 24

Where he played in 2019: did not play -- injured

2018 minors: 7-7, 3.70 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 126 1/3 IP, 60 BB, 170 K

2018 majors: 1-1, 5.02 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 14 1/3 IP, 2 BB, 15 K

The prospect hype for Kopech has gone a bit stale because of some uneven minor-league performances followed by Tommy John surgery followed by his decision to opt out last year. His fastball was as breathtaking as ever in spring training, though, and he made huge strides in the control area prior to the 2018 promotion that ended with him hurting his elbow.

Scott's 2021 Fantasy impact: fighting this spring

5. Nate Pearson, Blue Jays

Age (on opening day): 24

Where he played in 2019: high Class A, Double-A, Triple-A

2019 minors: 5-4, 2.30 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 101 2/3 IP, 27 BB, 119 K

2020 majors: 1-0, 6.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 18 IP, 13 BB, 16 K

Pearson was one of several high-profile pitching prospects who didn't quite pan out in 2020, his big fastball and wipeout slider failing to translate to whiffs as expected, but he ended on a high note, striking out five in two scoreless playoff innings following an IL stint. HIs careful handling to this point may hinder his progression some.Scott's 2021 Fantasy impact: fighting this spring

6. Tarik Skubal, Tigers

Age (on opening day): 24

Where he played in 2019: high Class A, Double-A

2019 minors: 6-8, 2.42 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 122 2/3 IP, 37 BB, 179 K

2020 majors: 1-4, 5.63 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 32 IP, 11 BB, 37 K

Skubal's secondary pitches are a little underdeveloped since he was able to dominate using mostly his fastball in the minors, notably averaging 17.4 K/9 in nine Double-A starts. But he gained confidence in changeup during his major-league stint and ended it on a high note. The tools are there.Scott's 2021 Fantasy impact: pencil him in

7. Casey Mize, Tigers

Age (on opening day): 23

Where he played in 2019: high Class A, Double-A

2019 minors: 8-3, 2.55 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 109 1/3 IP, 23 BB, 106 K

2020 majors: 0-3, 6.99 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 28 1/3 IP, 13 BB, 26 K

Mize's debut in 2020 was memorable only because of how unimpressive it was, and despite him being the first pick in 2018, many evaluators aren't extending the same grace to him that they are to, say, Nate Pearson. His pitches are impressive individually, but since they're all variations of a fastball (splitter, cutter, etc.), he may need to go back to the lab for more.Scott's 2021 Fantasy impact: fighting this spring

8. Matt Manning, Tigers

Age (on opening day): 23

Where he played in 2019: Double-A

2019 minors: 11-5, 2.56 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 133 2/3 IP, 38 BB, 148 K

The third of the Tigers' big pitching prospects is the most conventional and the favorite of some evaluators, but a forearm strain prevented him from debuting alongside the other two. Blessed with height and extension as the son of an NBA player, his high-90s fastball and downer curve have made him a consistent bat-misser in the minors.Scott's 2021 Fantasy impact: midseason hopeful

9. Logan Gilbert, Mariners

Fantasy Baseball 2019 Sleepers

Age (on opening day): 23

Where he played in 2019: low Class A, high Class A, Double-A

2019 minors: 10-5, 2.13 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 135 IP, 33 BB, 165 K

Gilbert dominated across three levels in 2019, which might have positioned him to debut if he had a better team or a longer schedule to work with in 2020. His velocity has picked up since signing and plays up because of the extension on his 6-foot-6 frame, but it's his four pitches and command of each that make him largely foolproof.Scott's 2021 Fantasy impact: midseason hopeful

10. Spencer Howard, Phillies

Age (on opening day): 24

Where he played in 2019: Rookie, high Class A, Double-A

2019 minors: 3-1, 2.03 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 71 IP, 16 BB, 94 K

2020 majors: 1-2, 5.92 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 24 1/3 IP, 10 BB, 23 K

Howard had barely played above A-ball prior to his debut, and while his velocity was down in 2020, his slider still played up nicely, presenting a path to success even if his development slows from here. He was shut down early with a stiff shoulder, too, so it's likely we weren't even seeing him operate at full capacity.Scott's 2021 Fantasy impact: pencil him in

So which 2021 Fantasy baseball sleepers should you snatch in your draft? And which undervalued first baseman can help you win a championship? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy baseball rankings for every single position, all from the model that called Will Smith's huge breakout last season, and find out.