Andrew Vaughn caught the attention of fantasy baseball owners last season when he made a big leap over his rookie season numbers. He could once again be a savvy pick to target in your preparation for the 2023 fantasy baseball draft, especially if he continues to improve after last season. He increased his batting average by nearly 40 points in 2022 and racked up nearly 30 more RBI points throughout 2021, but if he doesn’t match that level of production again, would he end up among the more disappointing fantasy baseball busts of 2023?
Vaughn hit 15 home runs in his rookie season and added just two last year. Having a sense of which third-year starters will make their move and which are due for a relapse can make all the difference in having a championship-level fantasy baseball roster this season. Before you clock the clock in a 2023 Fantasy Baseball Draft, be sure to check out the 2023 Fantasy Baseball Rankings and Cheat Sheets from the Trusted Computer Model at SportsLine.
Over the past season, SportsLine’s projection model identified several top fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts, including Reds first baseman Joey Votto. The SportsLine team was all over Votto as a fantasy bust from the start after a resurgent 2021 season that saw him drafted as one of the top 12 first basemen in the 2022 fantasy baseball draft. After Votto cut .266/.375/.563 the year prior with 36 homers and 99 RBIs, Votto cut .205/.319/.370 in 2022 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs. He landed in his position outside of the top 45 players and anyone who took SportsLine’s advice avoided a major headache.
Your model is run by the same people who ran the projections for all three major fantasy sites. And the same group shares their 2023 fantasy baseball rankings and cheat sheets at SportsLine, helping you find fantasy baseball sleepers, breakouts and busts long before your competition. Their cheat sheets, available for leagues on many major websites, are updated several times a day.
Every time there is more MLB news about the updated 2023 MLB schedule or fantasy baseball injuries, the team at SportsLine updates their predictions. Head over to SportsLine now for these tried-and-true fantasy baseball cheat sheets.
Top 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers
One of the 2023 fantasy baseball sleepers the model is all over the place: Tigers Relief pitcher Matthew Boyd. The 32-year-old racked up 238 strikeouts in 2019 and heads into the 2023 season healthy after flexor tendon surgery. He also has a new changeup grip that makes him less predictable on the hill and gives him a calm, high upstroke.
He threw four scoreless innings against Minnesota in a spring training game earlier this month, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out six. Boyd posted a 2.00 ERA and .67 WHIP with 17 strikeouts in his first nine innings of the Grapefruit League, giving him something to build on in the regular season. He’s drafted behind helpers like Craig Kimbrel and Kenley Jansen, but SportsLine’s model believes he has a higher advantage than those two veterans.
Top 2023 Fantasy Baseball Breakouts
One of the fantasy baseball breakouts of 2023 that the model jumps on: Orioles outfielder Austin Hays. In his second season as a regular for the Orioles last year, his offensive performance dipped slightly. However, after two full seasons as a regular, he should be primed to make a solid leap in 2023.
Hays started hot last season and cooled off late in the year, but from April through late May he had .297/.365/.454 offensive splits with five homers and 22 RBI. He could be poised for another quick start this season, having hit .379 in his first 11 spring practice games with four homers and 10 RBI. Hays is late on drafts, but the model projects his fantasy value to be equal or better than Masataka Yoshida, Ian Happ and Chris Taylor.
Top 2023 fantasy baseball busts
What players should avoid, the model has identified Yankees third baseman DJ LeMahieu as one of his greatest fantasy baseball busts of 2023. The 34-year-old is a two-time hitting champion and looked like an offensive juggernaut when he joined the Yankees in 2019 and then again in the 2020 season shortened by the pandemic. However, his productivity has declined significantly since then and the model predicts he will will not match its 174.11 ADP for fantasy baseball in 2023.
LeMahieu has hit just .265 over the past two seasons and the surprising power he showed in 2019 and 2020 has dissipated. His slugging percentage has dropped to .368 in 2021 and 2022 after hovering at .536 the previous two seasons. And its average exit speed has dropped from 92.4 MPH in 2019 to 88.7 MPH in 2022. All supporting data suggests LeMahieu is continuing his downtrend, and the model likes Isaac Paredes and Yoan Moncada more, with both players playing at least five rounds later in 2023 fantasy baseball drafts on average.
How to Find Proven 2023 Fantasy Baseball Rankings
SportsLine’s model is also high on a surprise starting pitcher, finishing in the top 10 of its position rankings. This player hardly comes off the board in the top 125 picks but is expected to outperform starters like Aaron Nola, Shane McClanahan and Brandon Woodruff. That choice could mean the difference between winning your league or going home with nothing. You can only see who that is here.
Which 2023 fantasy baseball busts, breakouts, and sleepers should you target or fade into your designs? Visit SportsLine now to get the 2023 fantasy baseball rankings for every single position, all based on the model that Joey Votto called the disappointing season, and find out.