- Draft Prep Tiers: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP
- Heath's Sleepers | Breakouts | Busts | Hitter regression candidates
- Scott's Top 100 prospects | Sleepers | Breakouts | Busts
Hitting on late-round upside is one of the surest ways to increase your team's chances of finishing near the top of Rotisserie leagues. That's one of the many reasons I'm largely ignoring floor this year in Roto leagues. In that piece I gave you upside picks to choose instead of mid-round snoozers.
Today I want to focus on late-round options, with an ADP on Fantasy Pros after pick 220. A lot of these guys are going to flame out, which is perfectly fine, because their upside is that of a league-winning (or at least category-winning) player. Let's jump straight to the list, in order of ADP.
Late-Round Upside
224 |
Bradley Zimmer
Cleveland Indians CF
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Between Triple-A and the majors, Bradley Zimmer stole 27 bases in 2017. He stole 82 in 2015 and 2016 combined. He's probably going to strike out too often to give you a good average, but there's at least 15/30 potential here. | |
226 |
Blake Snell
Tampa Bay Rays SP
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Blake Snell was a consensus top-20 prospect two years ago, but struggles in the major leagues have really driven his cost down. The thing is, he may have finally figured out those struggles at the end of last season. In his final 15 starts, Snell had a 3.28 ERA and only walked more than three in two of his 15 starts. In his final 10 starts he was even better, with a 2.84 ERA and a 3:1 K to BB ratio. | |
234 |
Delino DeShields
Texas Rangers LF
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Delino DeShields stole 29 bases in 120 games last season and reached base at a .347 clip. He won't give you any pop, but he has 40-steal upside. His place at the bottom of the order isn't great for most counting stats but could lead to a positive run total if he can maintain a high OBP. | |
258 |
Mitch Haniger
Seattle Mariners RF
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I love Haniger's batted ball profile, and there's reason to believe he'll put the bat on the ball more often than he did last year. Haniger never had a full season K rate worse than 19.9 percent in the minor leagues, and was generally a few points below that. A lowered K rate would make up for the likely BABIP regression that's coming. With good health, Haniger is a solid bet to give you 25 home runs, a good OBP and run production. | |
261 |
David Dahl
Colorado Rockies LF
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The Colorado Rockies have too many bats as it is, but few of them have more upside than Dahl. The lefty is still just 23 years old and is fully recovered from last season's injuries. Dahl has 30-HR potential and stole 22 bases across three levels in 2016. He just has to find a place to play. | |
302 |
Steven Matz
New York Mets SP
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Steven Matz believes an offseason procedure fixed what ailed him in 2017 and feels as good as he ever has. When he was at his best, Matz showed great control while striking out nearly a batter per inning. At this cost I'm willing to overlook his injury-riddled 2017. | |
310 |
Victor Robles
Washington Nationals CF
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Victor Robles probably won't start the season as an everyday starter, but he shouldn't be far away. Robles slashed .295/.383/.493 in the minors last year and stole 34 bases. The 13 home runs may not look impressive, but they are when coupled with 38 doubles and eight triples. There are too many bodies in Washington at season start, but those bodies have spent a lot of time on the DL over the past couple seasons. | |
312 |
Randal Grichuk
Toronto Blue Jays LF
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I can only assume everyone is projecting Randal Grichuk as a part-time player because if he plays every day, this is an absolute steal. In a far worse hitting environment, Grichuk has been on a 30-homer pace the past two seasons. Now he takes his 40 percent hard-contact rate to Toronto. There is huge power potential here at the end of the draft. | |
319 |
Matt Harvey
New York Mets SP
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Yes, I was the guys that spent much of last season bagging on Matt Harvey. But at this cost? Count me in. Harvey and Dave Eiland seem to think they've figured out what plagued him in 2017, and I'm willing to bet on the upside. | |
322 |
Lewis Brinson
Miami Marlins CF
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Lewis Brinson was sent home to Miami in the Christian Yelich trade. While a move from Miller Park is not generally a good thing, it is when it opens up a spot to play, which it has for Brinson. The Marlins have no interest in competing this year, so it makes sense to get Brinson a bunch of at bats to see if he can turn his potential into production. | |
331 |
Ryan McMahon
Colorado Rockies 3B
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Much like Dahl, Ryan McMahon has playing time concerns. But it sure sounds like the Rockies want him to win the first base job. We're talking about a top-100 prospect who just slashed .355/.403/.583 with 63 extra base hits in 119 minor league games. Oh yeah, and he'd play half his games at Coors. | |
348 |
Ketel Marte
Arizona Diamondbacks SS
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Ketel Marte has yet to deliver on the hopes I had for him two years ago. But after the Brandon Drury trade he looks sure to get another shot. The depressed offensive environment in Arizona should lead to more running, and Marte has plenty of speed. He also had great plate discipline, with an 11 percent walk rate last year and a K rate below 15 percent. With his speed and plate discipline, it's not hard to see how he hit .338 in 338 Triple-A plate appearances last year. |