Players to Draft for Categories (2023 Fantasy Baseball)

When drafting in fantasy baseball category leagues, it’s important to have a sense of your projected totals in different categories. Sure, you can punt categories (find out how and why here), but overall it’s great if you can project to be above the pack in as many categories as possible. While taking the best player available is always a great way to start your drafts, it’s good to know who you can and should target as you make your way through your picks and attempt to maintain category dominance or make up ground in a certain area. Let’s take a look at players you can target in drafts to do just that.

Also, here’s an overview and primer on category fantasy baseball leagues. You can also use our Draft Wizard to automatically determine your projected stats in each category of your league as you go through your draft! This is a great way to practice for the big day and also dominate your draft.

Players to Draft for Categories

Here are sleepers you can target for each of the five main categories in fantasy baseball leagues.

Players to Target for Home Runs

Austin Riley (3B – ATL)

Another young power hitter, Austin Riley probably doesn’t get the national attention he deserves.

After all, he just blasted 38 home runs in his age-25 season while appearing in all but three Braves contests. Over the last two seasons, Riley’s 71 home runs are tied with Marcus Semien and Salvador Perez — two veterans — for seventh in home runs. Like with Guerrero, the best should be yet to come for Riley.

His all-around production with his bat has skyrocketed after posting wRC+ marks of 85 and 88 across his first two seasons. However, the power was evident off the hop as he clubbed 18 home runs in just 80 games as a 22-year-old rookie in 2019.

Steamer projects 34 home runs for Riley in 2023, but given his meteoric rise as one of the best power hitters in baseball at a young age, I like the upside of exceeding that figure — perhaps greatly — this season.

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Players to Target for Runs

Whit Merrifield (2B/OF – TOR)

No one plays more games than Merrifield. That could obviously change with one bad break, but over the past three seasons, he had not missed a single contest for the Royals. Over that span, the versatile 33-year-old has slashed .289/.331/.431 while pacing 15 home runs, 30 stolen bases, and 101 runs scored per 162 games.

Merrifield put up 97 runs and 40 steals across 720 plate appearances last year despite hitting in an offense that ranked 24th in runs per game (4.23). With his skillset and iron man mentality, the Blue Jays leadoff man is a reliable producer regardless of the rest of the lineup. Merrifield will almost certainly, and for good reason, be off the board by the end of round four in drafts.

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Players to Target for AVG/OBP

Paul Goldschmidt (1B – STL)

Goldschmidt has hit .290 or better in nine of the last 10 years. That is remarkable. In 2022, after putting up an outstanding .317/.404/.578 slash line over 151 games, he finally claimed the MVP honor that had eluded him throughout his Hall-of-Fame caliber career. Despite turning 35 this past September, Goldy has yet to show the typical signs of decline that often come for players his age.

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Players to Target for RBIs

Alex Bregman (3B – HOU)

Bregman has paced 104 RBI per 162 games over the past five seasons. In 2022, he drove in 93 across 155 games for the World Champions as part of a bounce-back season that saw him post an .820 OPS with 23 homers and 38 doubles. The two-time All-Star really got it going with the bat down the stretch. From the beginning of August forward, Bregman slugged over .500 with 10 HR and 38 RBI over 56 games. He definitely has a shot at 100 RBI in the heart of the Astros’ order.

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Players to Target for Stolen Bases

Seth Brown (1B, OF – OAK)

There are only a few worthwhile options at first base, so diving deep at first base resulted in the selection of Seth Brown. Brown had a promising 2022 campaign, hitting 25 home runs and swiping 11 bases. Brown was one of only two first basemen (Freddie Freeman) who provided double-digit steals for their fantasy managers. A repeat of that fantasy production in a rebuilding A’s lineup seems to be an advantage that should be taken, especially at this draft capital.

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