Batting average often proves to be a difficult category to solidify during fantasy baseball drafts. When playing in a format that exchanges batting average (AVG) for on-base percentage (OBP), the task can be a bit easier, as there are some additional options on the board. Still, offensive ratio stats just tend to be a little more volatile than the counting ones, making dependable sources more scarce.
- 2024 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit
- Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft Simulator
- Fantasy Baseball Draft Rankings
- Hitters to Target for Categories: Steals
On top of that, AVG and OBP simply do not bring with them the same pizzazz as say homers or steals. For example, Ronald Acuna is now widely known as the sole member of the 40-70 club due to his spectacular performance throughout 2023. What is less talked about by the casual fantasy manager is his .337 AVG and .416 OBP. They should not be ignored, however, as all stats in categories-based formats count the same.
The list below, which won’t include Acuna now that he’s already been pointed out, will provide names to target for AVG and/or OBP at various junctures of fantasy drafts based on current ADP trends at the time of writing.
2024 Fantasy Baseball AVG/OBP Targets
Freddie Freeman (1B – LAD): ADP 8
There may not be a better all-around hitter than Freddie Freeman in the game today. Since his age-30 season in 2020, when he won National League MVP honors, the seven-time All-Star has posted an outstanding .321/.410/.540 slash line over nearly 2,400 plate appearances. Despite entering his mid-30s, Freeman remains in incredible shape, having played in 161 regular-season games last year. Oh yeah, he also hit .331 with a career-high 90 extra-base hits. Freeman is a legitimate first-round asset.
Michael Harris II (OF – ATL): ADP 33
From a former Braves star to a current one, Michael Harris pulled off a remarkable feat during his second MLB season. After batting .297 in his Rookie-of-the-Year campaign of 2022, the fleet-footed center fielder was questioned by many fantasy prognosticators due to the combination of a lofty groundball rate (56.2%), low line-drive rate (16.7%) and likely unsustainable batting average on balls in play (BABIP) of .361. Those doubts seemed to be well-founded, as Harris dealt with injuries early last season and found himself hitting an ugly .163 through his first 38 games.
Something clicked for Harris in early June, as he completely turned things around. Over his final 100 games from June 7 forward, Harris was fourth among all qualified players with a .335 AVG. He backed that mark up with an 89.1 Z-Contact%, 49.5 Hard-Hit%, and 23.7 LD%. Harris does not walk a ton (4.7%), so his OBP is largely predicated on his AVG remaining high. Still, he’s now a .295 career hitter in over 900 at-bats.
Bo Bichette (SS – TOR): ADP 38
Bo Bichette has played three full big-league seasons. The results in the AVG department are as follows: .298, .290 and .306. That’s impressively consistent for a player entering his age-26 season. Can he keep it rolling or perhaps even improve on his upward trajectory from 2022 to 2023? It’s tough to imagine he can’t given his seven-point surge in line-drive rate (27.4%) and the fact he finished with a contact rate above 80% for the first time. Like Harris, Bichette doesn’t draw an abundance of walks, but the AVG keeps the OBP solid.
More Fantasy Baseball Draft Advice: Players to Target
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- Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers to Target
- Hitters to Target for Categories: Steals
- 8 Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers
- 7 Catcher Draft Sleepers to Target
- 5 Fantasy Baseball Draft Values to Target
- 3 Fantasy Baseball Early-Round Draft Values to Target
- 4 Undervalued Starting Pitchers
- 3 Middle-Round Catchers to Draft
- 5 Second Basemen to Target
- 3 Undervalued Hitters to Draft
- 10 Players Better Than Their Slumps
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Nate Miller is a featured writer at FantasyPros and a 9-year veteran of the fantasy sports industry. For more from Nate, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @Miller_RotoDad.