Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers: Cristian Javier, Noelvi Marte, Kris Bryant, Brandon Pfaadt (2024)

One of the primary goals for every fantasy baseball manager ahead of their drafts should be to find players who return a hefty return on their draft day investment. For most fantasy drafts, that investment is their average draft position (ADP). You can dominate your draft by identifying which guys have the highest chance of providing the most value every time you’re up to pick. This becomes more important the deeper you go into the draft, as late-round players will either be duds who you’ll drop within a few weeks, decent contributors who outperform expectations and stick around on your roster for most of the season, or studs who can boost your title chances.

We asked our experts to provide their favorite early fantasy baseball sleepers. Here are all of their top fantasy baseball draft sleepers. Below we dive into a few notable names.

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Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

Noelvi Marte (3B – CIN)

“Turning just 22, Noelvi Marte (166) is positioned to be a stud for the Reds in 2024. In 35 games last year with the big club, he slashed .316./.366/.456 with a .822 OPS. Will the league adjust and challenge him? Probably. However, Marte’s impressive minor league credentials and 15 HR/15 SB floor make him an incredible return on investment. The 20/20 ceiling is well within his grasp.”
– Joe Pisapia (FantasyPros)

Kris Bryant (1B, OF – COL)

“The experts often say to ignore the injury risk since it could happen to anyone, so in the spirit of that mandate, this year’s biggest sleeper for me is Kris Bryant. He is currently ranked 253 with an ADP of 275. Sure, the 32-year-old has struggled with injuries since landing in Colorado, but he is expected to be the Rockies starting first baseman, which will hopefully reduce that risk. Bryant has a career OPS of .863 and can still get on base and drive in runs. If Ezequiel Tovar and Nolan Jones can continue their ascent, the Rockies might not be ridiculously terrible in 2024, and Bryant should bat in the middle of that. He’s basically free in 12-team drafts, which is why that’s way too low for his 2024 potential.”
– Kelly Kirby (FantasyPros)

Brandon Pfaadt (SP – ARI)

“The beginning of Brandon Pfaadt’s career has seemingly soured people on what he could be. However, after his demotion to the minor leagues, he came back and performed like everyone initially expected. From the start of August through the postseason, he had a 3.81 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 82 innings.”
– Corey Pieper (Fantasy Six Pack)

Cristian Javier (SP – HOU)

“The 2023 season was an unmitigated disaster for Astros starter Cristian Javier, who had a 4.56 ERA and averaged less than a strikeout per inning. Compare that with the dominant version of Javier we saw in 2022, when he posted a 2.54 ERA, struck out 194 batters in 148.2 innings, and was nearly unhittable in a pair of playoff starts. Javier’s 2022 success was fueled largely by a nasty fastball with a great deal of movement. He lost some velocity on his heater in 2023, and it made him far more hittable. With Javier’s ADP at 191 overall, I’m happy to bet on him getting the bugs worked out and going back to being the Cy Young-caliber pitcher we saw in 2022.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice (FantasyPros)