Before you step into your fantasy baseball draft, formulating an actual draft plan is paramount to your success. Our 2024 Fantasy Baseball Cheat Sheet hands you the blueprint, but you'll still need to pay strict attention to your roster construction and remain fluid throughout your draft.

 

 

 

The players you select in the first few rounds are the foundation of your team and will dictate what direction you need to take in the middle-to-late rounds. Going straight down a list of 2024 fantasy baseball player rankings and crossing off names isn't going to give you the best team. You need to keep close track of the categories in which you're the strongest and weakest, and build up the latter as your draft progresses.

Single-category contributors are how you can shore up your weaker categories with your late-round picks.

For the most part, the goal of every fantasy baseball player is to draft as many five-tool players as you can. Players who contribute in multiple scoring categories are like gold and their importance cannot be overstated.

However, there are only just so many to go around. All of the five-category studs are typically gone by the end of the fifth round. This is why, when you draft, you keep track of your strengths and weaknesses across categories. Your mid-to-later-round picks should be used to augment your totals where you need the most help. 

This is where the single-category contributors come in. They may not always be ideal fits for your roster heading in to your fantasy baseball draft, but if they can help make your team a more well-rounded squad, you should consider them. These can be the types of pieces that put your team in a good place.

Some of them might be fantasy baseball sleepers. Some of them might simply only be fantasy-relevant in one, single category. Either way, these are mid- and late-round targets that you should draft if you need a boost in any one, particular stat or points category.

Batting Average & On-Base Percentage: Single Category Contributors

Luis Arraez, 2B Miami Marlins (ADP: 154.1)

Last year, when Arraez hit .354 on the season, the league-average for batting average sat at a .248 mark. If you drafted strong power or went pitching-heavy early on in your draft, you are likely to need someone like Arraez to help offset some of the low batting averages you will likely be enduring. You’ll hopefully see some decent runs scored, but at a position as weak as second base is, you should be able to forego some of the other categories to stabilize that average.

Masataka Yoshida, OF Boston Red Sox (ADP: 163.03)

While you should still see 15 home runs from Yoshida, we all know that outfielders who lack true power or speed don’t play well in the fantasy game. Fortunately, Yoshida is a .290 hitter who can also get on-base at a 35-percent clip. Granted, we have just one year of MLB experience for him, but the historical data from Japan is consistent with what we are seeing from him here in the States. The other category contributions, while relatively minimal, are an added bonus. The average and OBP is where you are relying on him.

Jung Hoo Lee, OF San Francisco Giants (ADP: 251.33)

Lee didn’t hit for much power in the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization), but he did post a .340 career batting average with a .407 OBP. Playing half his games in spacious Oracle Park won’t do anything but sap more of that middling power, but the layout of the ballpark, particularly for a left-handed hitter, should boost that BABIP and provide you with strong totals for average and OBP. If he can adjust to start hitting the ball into “Triples Alley” with some regularity, it should be even better.

 

 

Home Runs: Sleepers & Single-Category Contributors 

Jorge Soler, OF San Francisco Giants (ADP: 151.85)

He’s one of the poster boys for big power/weak average and this year shouldn’t be much different. He’s a career .240 hitter, but that .224 career ISO shows you that he can rake. Soler hit 36 home runs last season and is four years removed from his career-best 48 dingers in 2019. The RBI total will depend on how the surrounding lineup does, but it’s not unreasonable to pencil him in for at least 30 bombs this year.

Jake Burger, 3B Miami Marlins (ADP: 163.45)

Last season was the first time the soon-to-be 28-year-old saw full-time at-bats and he delivered in style with 34 homers. The low RBI totals, like we just said with Soler, are dependent on the surrounding lineup, but we’ll remain somewhat bullish here given that Arraez and Jazz Chisholm will be setting the table. The batting average should hover around .250 and there’s no speed at all, but if you drafted a fair amount of early stolen bases, he makes for a solid corner infielder.

Nolan Gorman, 2B St. Louis Cardinals (ADP: 176.63)

Power at the keystone is available if you draft Mookie Betts, Ozzie Albies or Marcus Semien, but beyond that, it’s tough to find a player with any real consistency. The 23-year-old Gorman should be able to provide you with just that, though it can come with a sub-.240 average. If you go after speed early in your draft and lock down a few players with decent batting averages, then you won’t have to worry. Even better is the Cardinals are talking about making him a full-time DH, so being yanked from games for a defensive replacement will not be an issue. 

Cal Raleigh, C Seattle Mariners (ADP: 141.18)

With news of Mariners starter George Kirby wanting to throw a knuckleball this season, I fear for the safety of Raleigh. Between the likely hits he’ll take and the increased work of chasing down passed balls, we could see him dinged up a little more often. Fortunately, he’ll be able to take those frustrations out at the plate and jack you another 30 homers. Even if it’s closer to 25, he’ll still be leading most, if not all, backstops this season. The .230 average is ghoulish, but at least he can boost your power totals.

Brent Rooker, OF Oakland Athletics (ADP: 265.40)

This one might be a little suspect, but given the ADP numbers, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of risk involved. Rooker saw his first full-time opportunity with Oakland last season and surprised everyone with a 30-homer season. Strikeouts are always a problem for him and you’re not going to see anything more than a .250 average, but the isolated power mark of .242 does fall in line with his career totals. If you’ve bulked up on steals and runs early and need some power, getting 30 home runs at this price seems reasonable.

Runs Scored: Sleepers & Single-Category Contributors

DJ LeMahieu, 1B New York Yankees (ADP: 317.63)

While he’s not the ideal leadoff hitter – declining batting average and no more than five stolen bases in any of the past five seasons -- LeMahieu has a career .354 OBP and is going to hit atop one of the most prolific lineups in the league. We should be talking runs scored galore with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hitting behind him. Maybe he’s still capable of popping 10-12 homers, but keep those expectations low and just focus on the runs scored. 

Andrew Benintendi, OF Chicago White Sox (ADP: 343.60)

He’s like a poor man’s LeMahieu at this point. Benintendi will likely hit half as many home runs and swipe a similar number of bags, but he should maintain something near his career .347 OBP which should translate into strong runs scored hitting atop the White Sox lineup. Chicago obviously doesn’t have a lineup as potent as that of the Yankees, but with Luis Robert and a potentially-healthy Eloy Jimenez hitting behind him, we could see a minimum of 80 runs scored this season which, at this ADP, is pretty nice to have.

Geraldo Perdomo, SS Arizona Diamondbacks (ADP: 376.77)

If you’re still looking for runs scored at the tail-end of your draft and need some middle infield depth, then Perdomo should play. The Diamondbacks have announced him as the team’s starting shortstop and the hope is that the 24-year-old switch-hitter will build off his stats from last season where he posted 71 runs scored and 16 stolen bases over 495 plate appearances. He is expected to bat ninth regularly, doesn’t have any power and he’s never flashed a world of speed at any level (26 combined at Low and High-A in 2019 was his peak), but if he can maintain a strong on-base percentage, having Corbin Carroll and the top of the lineup behind him should translate to a strong number of runs scored.

 

 

Stolen Bases: Sleepers & Single-Category Contributors 

Esteury Ruiz, OF Oakland Athletics (ADP: 125.78)

This is the move you make if you didn’t grab stolen bases in the early rounds of your draft. People who covet starting pitching early or land offensive juggernauts like Juan Soto, Aaron Judge or Yordan Alvarez are going to need to augment their stolen bases at some point, so Ruiz, even at his current ADP, is probably more of a necessity unless you’re punting the category. He swiped 67 bags last season and will bat leadoff for Oakland regardless of pitcher-handedness. You won’t get anything else from him, but he’s a player who could, single-handedly, win the steals category for you.

Willi Castro, OF Minnesota Twins (ADP: 284.50)

He’s going to need an injury to really lock down some extra at-bats, but Castro’s versatility in the field affords him with increased opportunities to play if there is one. Or if manager Rocco Baldelli wants to get some of the other guys some regular rest. He stole 33 bases last year and is more than capable of posting a similar total this season. Again, no power and a middling batting average, but no one is thumbing their nose at 30 steals this far down in your draft.

Brice Turang, 2B Milwaukee Brewers (340.20)

Keep an eye on the battle for second base in Milwaukee because, if Turang wins the job, he’s definitely capable of swiping 20-30 bags in a full season. In 2022, he had 34 steals at Triple-A and then last season, he finished his first big-league season with 26. His primary competition for the job is Joey Ortiz who can’t hit his way out of a paper bag, so as long as he doesn’t struggle defensively, he could be a late-round middle-infield pick-up for those who need the extra speed.

Jon Berti, SS Miami Marlins (ADP: 355.03)

He was penciled in to start at shortstop for the Marlins, but the team extended an offer to Tim Anderson and Bert will now head back to serve as the super-utility man and resident pinch-runner. He’s probably more suitable for your own personal watch list and potential waiver claim, but if your league is really deep or you have jumbo-sized benches and need the speed, he should be worth the look.

Strikeouts: Sleepers & Single-Category Contributors 

Nick Pivetta, SP Boston Red Sox (ADP: 187.20)

With a sub-5.00 ERA over the last three-straight seasons, it’s worth building out your rotation with a strikeout specialist like Pivetta. He’s posted a K/9 greater than 10.00 in two of the last three years and should be able to post at least 180 strikeouts on the season with at least 150 innings under his belt. The ratios aren’t great and wins might be tough to come by for any Boston pitcher, but as either your No. 6 or 7 starter, the strikeouts become a big boost.

Lucas Giolito, SP Boston Red Sox (ADP: 203.75)

There are rumors of increased velocity this spring, but it’s still incredibly difficult to trust Giolito’s ratios after looking at his 4.90 ERA and rough-looking peripherals over the past two seasons. But he did see an uptick in his K-rate last year from his down season in 2022 and his career averages indicate more than a strikeout per inning. He was one of 17 starting pitchers to post at least 200 strikeouts last year and with another 180 innings pitched, he should be able to duplicate that and augment your fantasy rotations strikeout total.

Lance Lynn, SP St. Louis Cardinals (ADP: 277.08)

This is the deeper-dive and only if you’ve got yourself a couple of elite starters and/or multiple high-end closers to help keep your ratios down. But Lynn has routinely posted more than a strikeout per inning over each of the last six seasons and is still capable of throwing close to 180 innings. He’s the riskiest of the three, so be very careful.