Third base offers fantasy managers a ton of options. There are a plethora of strong producers drafted within the first three or four rounds. If you miss on those, fallback options like Eugenio Suarez and Yoan Moncada provide solid production with upside.
Past that, Matt Chapman and Kris Bryant offer veteran safety nets. Alec Bohm and Ke’Bryan Hayes are intriguing youngsters who could take the next step.
In other words, third base should not be at the forefront of your mind during your drafts because you always have choices. Always. No matter where you are in your draft, there’s going to be a player who could easily wind up being a starter for you. Here are a few third basemen who have ended up on plenty of my teams:
Kris Bryant (3B – CHC) – ADP: 113.6
Bryant was awful last year, but he has a 162-game pace of a .278 batting average, 29 home runs, 112 runs, 80 RBI, and five steals over the last four seasons. Yes, the Statcast data was downright awful last year (though it’s never a particular strength of his anyway), but he battled through back and wrist injuries.
Ignore the talk of him getting dealt or not. Just bank the production at a very reasonable cost.
Gio Urshela (3B – NYY) – ADP: 153.8
Urshela’s production in 43 games last year lent legitimacy to his 2019 breakout campaign. He is one of the safest bets for batting average in the game and should provide plenty of counting stats in a strong Yankees lineup. The only question was his elbow, and he appears fully healthy.
Austin Riley (3B – ATL) – ADP: 210.4
I’ve extolled Riley’s virtues several times on the FantasyPros Baseball Podcast, but the basics are that he traded some power for contact, which is the perfect thing to do when, like him, you have a ton of power to spare. Expect the best of both worlds in 2021.
Note: Position eligibility is determined by the sites that formulate our consensus ADP, so it can be quite loose at times. Don’t blame the messenger.
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ADP – Average Draft Position
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Dan Harris is the Editor-in-Chief of FantasyPros. For more from Dan, check out his archive or follow him on Twitter at @danharris80.