How these fantasy baseball stars are 'breaking the game'

Yahoo Fantasy analyst Scott Pianowski is joined by MLB.com's Sarah Langs to take a deeper dive into two of the game's most impactful players for fantasy managers.

Video Transcript

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SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Scott Pianowski here talking some baseball with Sarah Langs of MLB.com. And, Sarah, I was pitching-focused at the top of my fantasy drafts this year. And I see the year that Ronald Acuña is having, and I'm having some FOMO here, some fear of missing out. I'm thinking maybe Ronald Acuña is ready just to take baseball and break the game this year. What do you like from him so far?

SARAH LANGS: It feels like he's really breaking the game. You know, he's the second guy in MLB history with 50 homers and 40 stolen bases in a 162-game span. The only other guy to do that is Barry Bonds, who did it a couple different spans from 1993 to 1995. So when I think about fantasy and I think about ideal players, I certainly think of a guy who can get you that power and speed, especially with stolen bases so hard to come by in today's game.

I mean, we have the highest stolen base percentage in MLB history we're on pace for. Guys are being successful more than 75% of the time, but they're also not running that much. So that's a high rate, but it doesn't mean that we're seeing a lot of stolen bases. So I think that's part of what makes what Acuña is doing so valuable.

But if you look at his StatCast numbers, you look at the underlying metrics and just what he's done this year, what I love to see is that this is for real. He's crushing the ball. His sprint speed's really high. Everything is just reflective of something that we see that is going to continue throughout the year.

And something else that really stands out to me is that his plate discipline has really improved. And he was never a guy we thought of as a free swinger. He's not someone who we thought was swinging and missing a ton. But to see an already elite player get even better-- he has a much lower chase rate than he's had in the past. I just think that it's been so much fun to watch. He's doing everything, and it's really great to see that this is not a fluke whatsoever.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI: You know, Sarah, 20 years ago, Ichiro Suzuki came over to America and took baseball by storm. He won the Rookie of the Year. He won the MVP Award. And here we are 20 years later, and Shohei Ohtani looks like a guy who might break the game as well.

I mean, he's a great pitcher. He's looking like maybe the home run champion in the American League. And now he's the signature player in Anaheim for a while with Mike Trout hurt. He's actually the MVP favorite in the betting markets right now. Go anywhere you want. Ohtani, to me, might be the most fun player in baseball right now.

SARAH LANGS: Absolutely. I mean every single time he plays-- which, by the way, is every night. He hasn't missed a game for the Angels yet this year. Every single time he plays, there's like 15 new stats. And I'm just sitting here looking into everything, and it's so cool to see all of these lists.

I mean, we have all of these firsts since Babe Ruth. First guy to start a game on the mound while leading the majors in home runs and all of these other things. And then we have stuff that literally only he has ever done. So he had 10 strikeouts in his last start, and he already has-- he has 14 home runs now. He had 10 at the time.

And he became the second guy to strike out 10 in a game at any point in a season and also hit 10 home runs that season. And the only other guy to do that was Shohei Ohtani himself in 2018. That's not even something that Babe Ruth did.

And if you look at what he's done, it's certainly been for real. I mean, we know that he has some issues with control. I would like to see him walk fewer guys. And certainly if you're thinking from a fantasy perspective from the pitcher, there is some concern there.

But his splitter is the best pitch in baseball. He's allowed one hit on it, and it was a dribbler. It had a very low exit velocity. It was barely a hit. That's the only hit he's allowed on that pitch. Nobody else has a pitch that good.

And he's crushing the ball. I mean, he has the highest barrel rate in the majors. He's hitting 440-foot home runs. He hit a 451-foot home run in his first start of the year. It's just so cool to see.

SCOTT PIANOWSKI: I really hope they can get Trout back quickly. Because think of how much fun the middle of this lineup can be with Trout. Rendon has been on the IL for a while. He's come back. Jared Walsh looks like he's here to stay to the point that they realized that Pujols was probably expendable.

I don't know that this one to nine is a great lineup, but the middle of this lineup-- in fact, the Angels are ruining my sleep patterns. I live in Eastern Standard Time, but if I know Ohtani is coming up, I got to stay up for another hour. You know, I don't know what he's going to do.

And, again, there's a lot of great players in baseball, but there aren't that many unicorns. I think it's safe to say Shohei Ohtani is one of one. Sarah Langs, thank you for joining us today. And for more of her great observations, join her on Twitter and, of course, at MLB.com.