Last year, fantasy baseball owners had to consider whether Rhys Hoskins was worth a top-50 pick. After a stunning 50-game debut in 2017, during which he hit .259/.396/.618 with 18 homers, Hoskins shot up draft boards to an average draft position just outside the top 40, making him a prototypical high-risk, high-reward player. His ceiling was obvious, but could he be trusted to reach it based on a 50-game sample?
Joining Hoskins was Robbie Ray, whose ADP was just a few slots below Hoskins’ after logging 12.1 K/9 and a 2.89 ERA over 28 starts. Ray’s season was such a dramatic divergence from his first 64 starts in the league that there was reason to question if he could do it again.