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.
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.
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.
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
Unfortunately, Jarren Duran’s 2023 breakout ended in late August due to a toe injury that required surgery. In 102 games before that, the now 27-year-old speedster hit .295 with a .346 OBP, 44 extra-base hits and 24 steals (26 attempts) over 362 plate appearances. Why should fantasy managers believe in Duran’s progress after he disappointed so many in his previous call-ups? Well, he made substantial strides in every measure that matters as far as getting on base goes, lowering his strikeout rate from 30.7% to 24.9% and raising his line-drive rate from 16.7% to 25.6%, for example.
Edouard Julien may have only hit .263 over 109 games as a rookie last year, but, as advertised, he logged a lofty 15.7 BB% to elevate his OBP up to .381. The batting average may always be volatile for Julien unless he can make notable improvements in his contact rates (81.4% Z-Contact, 73.5% Contact) and cut down on the strikeouts (31.4%). He’s going to be an asset in OBP leagues, regardless. Not only that, his power is legit. Julien swatted 16 homers with a 13.1% barrel rate and 44.9% hard-hit rate in 2023. If he could just make a little more contact, his line-drive swing (25.8%) would lead to a strong AVG as well.
Like Duran above, Brendan Donovan had a solid season cut short last year. The versatile 27-year-old is expected to be ready to go this spring. While he’ll play all over the field, the expectation is that Donovan will be right back near the top of the Cardinals’ batting order in most games, or at least against right-handed pitchers. After two years in the bigs, Donovan sports a .283 AVG alongside a .381 OBP through over 839 plate appearances. His career 86.4 Contact%, 92.5 Z-Contact%, 23.4 LD% and 39.0 HardHit% combine to suggest those marks should remain consistent. A sub-15.0 K% and 10.0-plus BB% provide even more confidence. Donovan did replace some walks with homers last season but he still got on base at a nice .365 clip.
More Fantasy Baseball Draft Advice: Players to Target
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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.
