FantasyPros Staff | Thu, Mar 7th 2024, 3:28am EST

Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers: Kyle Manzardo, Brendan Donovan, Rene Pinto (2024)

For the All-Undrafted team, we look at consensus FantasyPros average draft position (ADP) data and target names outside the top 300. This will be the range of players that go undrafted in many leagues. We will pick one player per position. One trend you will see in these picks is a path to playing time and plate appearances being a heavy influence. That is because as you get later into the player pool, playing time and plate appearances are king. Here is the full undrafted team including fantasy baseball sleepers and values to draft. Below we dive into a few notable names.

Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers to Target

Rene Pinto (C – TB)

Finding a catcher this late is not an easy task but it is doable. Rene Pinto has been named the starter by the team already. He will be looking to build off his strong 2023 finish.

Over the stretch run, Pinto hit six home runs in 105 plate appearances (PA). He had some notable swing-and-miss concerns but the power production and metrics were flashy:

32.4% K%
18.6% SwStr%
38% whiff%
15.9% barrel%
40.6% hard hit%
44.9% sweet spot%

The profile is volatile but when looking for catchers this late you want playing time and upside. He checks those boxes.

Kyle Manzardo (1B – CLE)

Unfortunately, Kyle Manzardo seems likely to begin the season in Triple-A, which has been speculated all spring long. That speculation is fueled by ongoing reports and a lack of usage in spring games. Manzardo is someone you should stash in deeper leagues. He is a great fit if your league has not active (NA) slots. His plate approach and power upside remind me of an Anthony Rizzo-type ceiling.

Manzardo has a strong plate approach and good barrel skills. The ability to combine the two can be difference-making if it clicks at the MLB level. He has consistently posted sub 20% K% and double-digit walk rates throughout the minors. In Triple-A last year he posted an 86.4% z-contact%, a 111.9 MPH max exit velocity and a 44.8% hard hit%. He should be up early and the power potential is something you will likely want a part of.

Brendan Donovan (2B, OF – STL)

From upside to safety, Brendan Donovan brings you a floor of production that has value in deeper formats. He projects to lead off just about every day. So the runs alone in this role could be helpful. It comes with some power, speed and batting average help. He does not stand out in these categories but the volume of playing time and plate appearances can help him accumulate enough to be more help than a hindrance. It helps that he brings multi-positional eligibility. We saw a clear change in attack as he began to pull more in the air last season. If he continues to bring that approach and builds off it then there might be some untapped potential that we are not expecting.

Fantasy Baseball Draft Advice: Players to Target

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