Fantasy Baseball Draft Targets: Royce Lewis, Oneil Cruz, Zack Gelof, Christian Encarnacion-Strand

Let’s dive into a few notable players our fantasy baseball experts love. Here are 13 players the fantasy baseball experts are drafting above ADP.

2024 Fantasy Baseball Draft Advice

When preparing for your fantasy baseball drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy baseball rankings compared to average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average.

Rank	Player	Team	Positions	Best	Worst	Avg	Std Dev	ADP	vs. ADP
32	Bo Bichette	TOR	SS	15	79	34	7.1	40	8
43	CJ Abrams	WSH	SS	15	108	46.8	14	62	19
52	Royce Lewis	MIN	3B	41	85	56.2	8.9	63	11
69	Oneil Cruz	PIT	SS	39	138	71.3	16.3	87	18
78	Gleyber Torres	NYY	2B	47	117	79.4	14.5	86	8
87	Triston Casas	BOS	1B	52	118	89	11	96	9
95	Spencer Torkelson	DET	1B	76	126	100.6	11.4	109	14
101	Josh Jung	TEX	3B	35	170	103.9	25.3	123	22
108	Andres Gimenez	CLE	2B	75	187	113.5	16.2	127	19
123	Anthony Volpe	NYY	SS	105	201	132.6	17.2	138	15
126	Zack Gelof	OAK	2B	107	170	135.6	18.6	141	15
131	Vinnie Pasquantino	KC	1B	96	237	139.6	26.5	160	29
138	Christian Encarnacion-Strand	CIN	1B,DH	70	278	146.4	31.7	157	19

Fantasy Baseball Draft Outlook

Royce Lewis (3B – MIN)

Royce Lewis is the latest Minnesota Twin to offer superstar-level stats with an unfortunate injury-prone profile. In 58 games last season, Lewis smacked 15 home runs, drove in 52 runs, and slashed .309/.372/.548. His average was inflated (xBA .265), but the power is very real. The 24-year-old’s xwOBACON is .410; even though his xSLG was lower, it was still .476. An entire season of Lewis has first-round upside, but fantasy managers should draft him expecting fewer games. With a bit of luck, Lewis avoids becoming Byron Buxton 2.0, and those who draft him will be rewarded handsomely.

Oneil Cruz (SS – PIT)

Oneil Cruz suffered another ankle injury in 2023, which limited him to only nine games, though he did steal three bases in that small sample. Cruz has all the talent in the world, but recurrent ankle injuries pose a risk going forward. He will be 25 years old during the 2024 season, so there is still plenty of time for the former top prospect to turn his career around. The question is whether or not you’re willing to pay the cost to take that chance.

Zack Gelof (2B – OAK)

Zack Gelof arrived on the scene in Oakland and appeared in 69 games, grabbing 300 plate appearances and demonstrating his future 20/20 ability. While it is difficult to have faith in any player in the Athletics organization, the advantage there is that it creates a discounted market for his services. Gelof is worth targeting in the 12th round or later, depending on how sharp your league is.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B – CIN)

Christian Encarnacion-Strand got 241 plate appearances for Cincinnati in 2023, hitting 13 home runs and slashing .270/.328/.477. The acquisition of Jeimer Candelario leaves the 24-year-old without a regular position other than DH, but that’s all fantasy managers will need him for. CES has the profile to become a very helpful fantasy bat and can slot in as a corner infielder in lineups nicely.