SPECULATOR: Skills searching for roles, 2021

Remember back, like, four weeks ago when Randal Grichuk (OF, TOR) was "blocked" in a crowded TOR outfield? Or when Jake Cronenworth (2B, SD) was lost amid a sea of middle infielders in SD? Through Sunday's games, Cronenworth led MLB with 106 plate appearances, while a slew of injuries in TOR have yielded everyday playing time for Grichuk (.292 BA, 4 HR in 72 AB).

The age-old mantra persists: "Draft skills, not roles".

So while everyone is itching to dissect this season's early returns—heck, we've been guilty of making snap judgments ourselves (hitters | pitchers)—we'll take a different path this week and look at players who haven't yet been given an everyday shot, but have the skills to make an impact.

Filtering out injuries, here are...

Almost!

You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

More From Speculator

Most starters are 3-4 starts in... time to overreact with some (skills-based!) snap judgments.
Apr 16 2025 3:06am
Spencer Torkelson's turnaround is getting plenty of QBaB support.
Apr 9 2025 3:02am
Baseball is back and we're here to overreact. We'll speculate on several Opening Weekend storylines.
Apr 2 2025 3:09am
Our annual Opening Day Eve exercise at category leaders who went outside the Top 200 this draft season.
Mar 26 2025 3:09am
They come from all stages of the draft. We'll use history as our guide to speculate on this season's Top 15 players.
Mar 19 2025 3:10am

Tools