Chris Davis led baseball with 47 homers and drove in 117 runs, third most in baseball. He also hit .262 with two steals.

Yunel Escobar hit .314 but only had nine homers and two steals.

Billy Hamilton was second in baseball with 57 steals but had two homers, 28 RBI and hit .226 (goodness, his numbers get worse every time I look at them).

All of those players have talent and bring prodigious production in a series of categories, but the thing is that none of them contributes across the board. In fact, all three of them aren’t even league average in two, three or four categories, and that brings us to the heart of this piece. Targeting players that are at least average in all five categories is a nice boost in the fantasy game, and if you can find guys that produce big time numbers across the board then you’re team is going to be in mighty good shape.

Let’s start out with homers and steals, the categories people most often try to target when we’re talking multi-category guys. In 2015…

No one went 30/30.

No one went 25/25.

Four men went 20/20: Manny Machado, A.J. Pollock, Paul Goldschmidt and Ryan Braun.

All three of those men hit at least .285. They all scored at least 87 times. They all drove in at least 76 runners.

Fifteen men went 15/15: the four above and Jose Altuve, Charlie Blackmon, Mookie Betts, Dexter Fowler, Anthony Rizzo, Starling Marte, Brett Gardner, Lorenzo Cain, Justin Upton, Michael Brantley, George Springer.

Forty-eight men went 10/10. I’m not going to list them all, no one wants to read that.

Let’s look at bit more at those second two groups.

How many guys went 15/15 while hitting .280? Ten. The four 20/20 guys and then six more: Jose Altuve, Charlie Blackmon, Mookie Betts, Starling Marte, Lorenzo Cain and Michael Brantley.

How many guys went .280-15-75-75-15? Six men pulled off that five some of numbers: Manny Machado, A.J. Pollock, Starling Marte, Paul Goldschmidt and Ryan Braun.

Let’s drop the requirements one more level. How many guys went .270-10-60-60-10? I know the numbers, on their own, are nothing anyone cares about. Still, does it surprise you to learn that only 19 men hit all five numbers in 2015? I know it does surprise you, it’s ok to admit it. Pretty shocking really? That’s why guys like Josh Reddick and Matt Duffy should be on your radar, even if they don’t seem to offer any discernable upside.

How about some fellas who failed to hit some target goals, by just a hair.

A.J. Pollock was one steal short of a 20/40 season.

Ryan Braun was one steal and one RBI from a .285-25-85-85-25 season.

Anthony Rizzo was three steals from a 30/20 season, as a first baseman mind you.

Starling Marte was one homer short of a 20/30 season. He was also four RBI and a run scored from a .285-20-85-85-30 season.

Mookie Betts was two homers short of a 20/20 season.

Dexter Fowler was three homers short of a 20/20 season with 100 runs scored.

Brett Gardner was four homers from a 20/20 season.

Adam Eaton was a homer short, two steals short, and two runs short of a .285-15-55-100-20 season.

Michael Taylor was a homer short of a 15/15 effort.

Gerardo Parra was a homer, a steal and two runs from a .290-15-50-85-15 season.

Ian Desmond was awful, but he was also a homer and two steals from a 20/15 season.

Jimmy Rollins stunk too, but he was two homers and three steals from going 15/15.

For the most part the names listed above are fantasy stars. Of course, there are names sprinkled in above that are cheaper than others, and a couple can be hard well into a draft. Realize that a power/speed combo is a nice thing to target on draft day. Also don’t overlook those mid-level players, in the middle rounds, that can contribute across the board. Players like Ben Revere or Mark Trumbo are nice adds for any team, but they are undoubtedly limited. I’m not suggesting you bypass those type of performers. I’m also not suggesting that you only target guys that contribute in HR/SB categories. But realize that guys that contribute across the board aren’t as plentiful as you might think.

 

Note… I’m a fan of targeting hitters over pitchers early for the reasons brought up above. Fact is, as great as any pitcher is they simply don’t contribute in all five pitching categories (saves). Of course, if we’re talking points leagues then we need to have another discussion.