This edition of
"Playing the Name Game" is the third time this season I'll be comparing nameless player's statistics and hopefully opening your eyes a little bit to how name recognition (and sometimes the lack thereof) can skew the realm of fantasy baseball ownership. This time I'm going to hold back all of the player's names until the end.
NOTE: All stats quoted are from games played through June 29th, 2011.
Let's jump right into the game by comparing the statistics (5x5 style) of a pair of outfielders in
Scenario A:
- Player A: .258 BA, 35 R, 10 HR, 51 RBI, 1 SB
- Player B: .282 BA, 42 R, 11 HR, 53 RBI, 3 SB
Player A is owned in 67.5% of ESPN leagues and just 39% of Yahoo! leagues while
Player B is owned in 100% of ESPN leagues and 84% of Yahoo! leagues. Are the 24 points in batting average, seven runs, two RBI and two stolen bases really worth such a discrepancy in ownership numbers? Here's a hint to guessing their names: neither player's home park would be consider hitter-friendly.
Let's take a look at another pair of outfielders producing similar stats in
Scenario B:
- Player A: .262 BA, 51 R, 8 HR, 32 RBI, 5 SB
- Player B: .264 BA, 25 R, 8 HR, 29 RBI, 3 SB
Again, pretty similar except for the large discrepancy in runs scored. How could that be explained? What if I told you
Player A has had 279 at-bats while
Player B has only had 148 at-bats? So, very similar numbers in half the at-bats, except for runs.
Player A cost you an ADP of 104.1 while it's safe to say
Player B was virtually undrafted. Now let's take a look at ownership numbers.
Player A (99.6% E; 86% Y!);
Player B (8% E; 5% Y!). Here's a hint to narrow down who they are: both players are on different contending teams in the NL Central.
Enough with outfielder comparisons for the moment. Check out these pair of first basemen in
Scenario C:
- Player A: .173 BA, 20 R, 7 HR, 29 RBI, 0 SB
- Player B: .217 BA, 17 R, 7 HR, 21 RBI, 0 SB
Ugh, why would anyone want to own either of these players with nearly half a season in the books? Fantasy owners got the memo about
Player B and have avoided ownership to the tune of 0.4% in ESPN leagues and 1% of Yahoo! leagues. Quite the head-scratcher, though, that
Player A is still owned in 83.3% of ESPN leagues and 79% of Yahoo! leagues. Oh right,
Player A cost you an ADP of 37.3.
How about a trio of first basemen with similar numbers up for comparison in
Scenario D?:
- Player A: .297 BA, 33 R, 6 HR, 34 RBI, 1 SB
- Player B: .272 BA, 33 R, 9 HR, 34 RBI, 2 SB
- Player C: .306 BA, 34 R, 9 HR, 34 RBI, 0 SB
Okay, now we're talking. These three are virtually the same player, right? Wrong. Ownership levels are all over the place.
Player A is owned in 100% of ESPN leagues and 90% of Yahoo! leagues while
Player B is owned in just 43.3% of ESPN leagues and 30% of Yahoo! leagues and lastly,
Player C is 91.9% owned in ESPN leagues and 53% of Yahoo! leagues. Over the last 15 days,
Player B has three home runs while the other two combined have none.
Lastly, let's compare a pair of young catchers with a ton of potential but I wonder if that potential is another year away from being realized after looking at
Scenario E:
- Player A: .226 BA, 36 R, 11 HR, 36 RBI, 3 SB
- Player B: .226 BA, 24 R, 11 HR, 35 RBI, 0 SB
Again, other than runs scored and a few bonus steals, these catchers are providing nearly the same level of offense to a fantasy team. Both players are 25 years old but the perception of each is quite different.
Player A has only played 2/3rds of his games at catcher and the other 1/3rd at first base and owned in 100% of ESPN leagues and 95% of Yahoo! leagues while
Player B has caught nearly the same amount of games but stuck in a perceived 60/40 split of time with a veteran catcher and owned in 50.9% of ESPN leagues and 52% of Yahoo! leagues.
Enough with the player comparisons already, right? Let's get to revealing the player's names after the break.
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