Fantasy Baseball Draft Targets: Yandy Diaz, Luis Arraez, Gabriel Moreno, Steven Kwan (2024)

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.

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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

Yandy Diaz (1B, 3B – TB): ADP 104

Yandy Diaz has always been an on-base machine. His 10.8 BB% in 2023 was a three-year low. That ended up not being a bad thing, as the first-time All-Star claimed the American League batting title with a .330 AVG. Diaz even ended up in the MVP conversation (6th) after recording a .410 OBP, .522 SLG and 95 runs. He managed to do all that with a sub-20 LD%. That’s not too much to worry about considering his Top-10 EV (93.4 mph) and hard-hit rate (54.0%) along with a top-25 contact rate (83.4%).

“I got it” -Yandy DIaz

By “it” he means the 1st AL Batting Title in Rays history. pic.twitter.com/jjegSJQ0O5

– Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 1, 2023

Luis Arraez (2B – MIA): ADP 126

From the A.L. batting champ to the N.L. one, Luis Arraez placed himself on a very short list last year, as he’s now one of two players in the “modern era” to win a batting title in both leagues. More impressively, he accomplished it in back-to-back seasons. Arraez is a total throwback to a different time, and it’s fun to watch. He rarely strikes out (7.5% career) and constantly puts the ball in play (92.9%). He doesn’t always hit the ball hard but he sprays line drives (27.5%) all over the field, which keeps his BABIP sitting regularly in the mid-300 range. Arraez was hitting above .400 in late June last summer and finished with a stellar .354 AVG.

Gabriel Moreno (C – ARI): ADP 156

To say the Diamondbacks were pleased with what they got out of Gabriel Moreno during his first full MLB campaign would be an understatement. The club traded for the young backstop just before Christmas of 2022. He gifted them with Gold Glove-winning defense behind the plate as well as a .284 AVG across 111 games. After last year’s All-Star break, Moreno posted an impressive .313/.383/.512 slash line over 149 plate appearances. That’s great fantasy value, particularly from the catcher spot. Promising batted-ball measures from last year suggest he can maintain it.

	Contact	Z-Contact	LD	Hard-Hit
2023	81.7%	90.9%	23.4%	41.8%

Steven Kwan (OF – CLE): ADP 175

There were valid reasons to expect a downturn for Steven Kwan from his strong 2022 rookie season, and it happened. However, metrics point to an overcorrection in Kwan’s output last year and he could well be in store for a nice rebound. Despite a top-20 xBA of .282, the young leadoff man saw his batting average drop from .298 as a rookie to .268 last year. That indicates some seriously poor luck, especially when looking at a 25.3 LD%, 90.3 Contract% and 95.6 Z-Contact%. That last mark led all qualified MLB hitters in 2023. Kwan also replicated his 9.7 BB% from 2022, which has led to a .356 OBP over 305 career games.

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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.