Fantasy Baseball Draft Cheat Sheet: Targets & Advice (2024)

A solid strategy on draft day sets the stage for a fantasy baseball championship run.

That’s where our Draft Day Cheat Sheet series comes into play, offering you a comprehensive guide from some of the sharpest experts in the industry to help you make every pick count. Check out my fantasy baseball draft day cheat sheet below, where I walk you through my favorite targets by position, favorite targets by round, players to avoid at their current ADP and an overview of my draft day strategy.

For an even more tailored draft experience, leverage the power of the FantasyPros Draft Wizard. This innovative tool syncs to your league to offer mock drafts, instant analysis and customizable cheat sheets to ensure you’re fully equipped for your specific leagues and formats.

Blake Meyer’s Draft Day Cheat Sheet (2024)

Strategy/Advice:

Nailing your picks in the first three rounds is crucial. Taking high-floor/high-ceiling players with guaranteed production will go a lot farther toward helping you win a league than taking a risk on a much more volatile player who may have a higher ceiling.
Wait on catchers. There are 17 catchers who are likely to produce starter-worthy production. There’s no reason to use a pick in the first nine rounds on a catcher when you can draft someone in the 15th with similar production.
Spencer Strider in the first round is a great pick anywhere after pick four. If you don’t get Strider, wait until round four. Players like Pablo Lopez and George Kirby are elite pitching options and make for a great SP1.
With pitching in mind, you need to ensure you grab at least one of the elite starting pitchers. Waiting a bit for your SP2 can be OK, but you need at least one of the elite pitching options. This means you must draft at least one pitcher before the end of the fifth round.
In points leagues, fade closers. Unless your league limits the number of starts your pitchers can make in a week, they’re unnecessary. If this is the case, try and grab just one. In roto/H2H leagues grab yourself one elite closer option (my favorite is Josh Hader) and then someone like Pete Fairbanks later on. This way you end up competitive in the saves category without spending too much top-end draft capital on closers.
Second base and outfield are the thinnest non-pitching positions in fantasy baseball. I always try to lock in an outfielder in the first round and then a second baseman by the end of the third round.
Use later-round picks on high-upside players. The later you get in drafts, the more the players you draft become expendable. Use those expendable picks on players with potential high ceilings who could pay off big. If they don’t pan out, move on from them early on in the season for productive players on the waiver wire.
Save at least one pitching spot for streaming options. Your last starting pitcher should be someone with a great early schedule who can be dropped afterward or traded to someone else. As long as you can stay on top of it, streaming your last starting pitcher position will likely yield more upside than drafting a boring starter you just keep running out there.
Avoid big injury risk early on, but drafting high-upside, injury-prone pitchers late can pay dividends. I don’t like Luis Robert Jr. early because he has a history of struggling to make it through even 100 games, despite his productivity in 2023. On the other side, someone like Mitch Garver also has a history of struggling to make it through 100 games, but he’s going 10 rounds later. By then, you should have drafted well enough that your roster will still be OK should Garver miss a large chunk of time again in 2024.

Tools To Help You Win Your Fantasy Leagues

Expert Fantasy Baseball Draft Advice:

The Welsh’s Must-Have Players (Premium)
Joe Pisapia’s Must-Have Players (Premium)
Justin Mason’s Must-Have Players (Premium)
KC Bubba’s Must-Have Players (Premium)
Blake Meyer’s Must-Have Players (Premium)
Mason’s High-Stakes Leagues Draft Strategy (Premium)

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