Fantasy Baseball ADP Notes for Hitters

Discussing some recent ADP trends as the fantasy baseball season gets ready to kick off.

The MLB regular season is nearly here, so fantasy baseball draft season is nearly over.

For those of you still needing to draft, this article is for you. I decided to dig through the FantasySP Average Draft Position list and discuss some things that caught my eye. 

We’ll focus on hitters only in this story. Check back soon for the story on pitchers.

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Catchers

The top catchers in the game continue to be Adley Rutschman, Will Smith, William Contreras and J.T. Realmuto.

Rutschman has an ADP mark of 30.32, which seems a bit too early, in my opinion. Rutschman plays a bunch of games and is a great fantasy catcher, but this is also a premium pick in a fantasy draft. You miss out on the chance to grab one of the top fantasy starting pitchers or hitters in the game.

If you are down on the catcher position as a whole, it makes sense to try to target a player like Rutschman. Just know if you choose to spend an early pick on Rutschman that you are likely going to be playing catchup at another position later in the draft.

After the top four catchers are off the board, it appears that many fantasy owners are content to fill other positions first, because after Realmuto goes around pick 95, the next catcher goes around pick 124, and an additional seven catchers go before pick 165. The catchers go fast and furious because owners don’t want to miss out on one of the better secondary options.

First Basemen

The first base position is kind of similar, with five players off the board by pick 35, before the next one goes around pick 60. 

The top five options at the position are Freddie Freeman, Matt Olson, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bryce Harper and Pete Alonso. If you miss out on one of those guys, the next few options are Paul Goldschmidt, Yandy Diaz and Christian Walker. 

After those eight are off the board, another 1B isn’t picked until pick 117 or so. Even if you fail to grab one of those first eight guys, I still see plenty of value later in drafts. You might have to draft a couple 1B to cover yourself, but I see enough talent later on to take that strategy if you wanted to.

Second Basemen

The second base position is a bit weaker than most this season. The first guys off draft boards are Marcus Semien and Ozzie Albies, and they aren’t going until picks 25-30 usually. Jose Altuve is the only other top-50 pick right now.

It makes sense why the position is a little down, as there aren’t a lot of power hitters at the position. Instead, contact hitters like Luis Arraez and Nico Hoerner are available.

Keep that in mind as your draft starts up - maybe it means you address other positions before thinking about taking a 2B. You likely won’t win your fantasy league by taking any one of the second basemen.

Third Basemen

I’m not going to get into the Rafael Devers going ahead of Austin Riley topic, because I’ve covered that a bunch this spring already. 

I do want to note the talent you can get throughout a fantasy draft.

Jose Ramirez, Devers and Riley are the cream of the crop this season, with Gunnar Henderson and Alex Bregman in the next tier.

You have guys like Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado going after pick 50, Alec Bohm and Ke'Bryan Hayes at pick 140 or later and Jake Burger and Matt Chapman after pick 175. There’s plenty of everyday fantasy players available all over the place, so don’t panic if you miss out on one of those top 3-5 guys.

Shortstops

There’s also a ton of talent at the shortstop position.

Bobby Witt Jr., Trea Turner and Corey Seager are guys going in rounds 1-3 mostly, while Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette go before pick 60.

There’s some young talent available (Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain CJ Abrams, Oneil Cruz, Jackson Holliday), along with some more established talent (Dansby Swanson, J.P. Crawford) you can get from pick 70 and on.

I wouldn’t say there’s more talent at SS than 3B, but I also think you could mix and match at the position and find plenty of fantasy success too.

Outfielders

The draft has plenty of top-end fantasy talents in the outfield, but there’s also a number of “sleeper” picks to target much deeper in drafts.

Ronald Acuna Jr. is still the top pick in most fantasy drafts, with Mookie Betts, Juan Soto and Kyle Tucker also being top-10 picks often. Corbin Carroll and Julio Rodriguez are a couple of young up-and-comers going in the top 20. Yordan Alvarez, Aaron Judge and Fernando Tatis Jr. continue to add to a deep and talented group.

The next tier of outfielders includes guys like Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger and Adolis Garcia. Ian Happ, Brandon Nimmo and Anthony Santander are outfielders you can get close to, or after, pick 100, and were some of the better overall fantasy hitters in 2023.

Definitely take some of the top-end talent if you can, but also don’t freak out if you are sitting in round four or five and don’t have an OF yet. There’s plenty of talent to go around, and some guys that offer position versatility.

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