When targeting players for runs later in your drafts you want players who can get on base and players who hit toward or at the top of the order. If you find players that check both boxes then that is even better. Here is a list of players that do in fact check these boxes. Some of these players either go late or undrafted in shallow leagues. Others definitely go undrafted in shallow formats and are, at best, fallback options for runs in deeper formats. Below is a closer look at Lars Nootbaar.
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Sleepers to Target for Runs in 2023
The following player is a sleeper to consider in the late stages of 2023 fantasy-baseball drafts.
Lars Nootbaar (OF – STL)
You can say Nootbaar is also a sleeper for home runs but the appeal here can arguably be the runs as well. He should be leading off against RHP for the Cardinals. The Cardinals project to be one of the better lineups in baseball again and getting the strong side platoon at the top of the order never hurts.
#Cardinals Lars Nootbaar
– 89th percentile max exit velo
– 80th percentile HH%
– 85th percentile Barrel%
– Limits swing-and-miss
– Above avg. BB% & contact% WHILE be selective
– Clear path to playing time
– Possibly benefits from shift ban: 53% Shift% 66 point difference in wOBA pic.twitter.com/COP36gRyD9— Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) December 20, 2022
Nootbaar has great plate discipline (a 14.7% walk rate to show for it) and limits his swings-and-misses. This shows in the elite O-Swing% (24.5%) and SwStr% (8.6%) that he put up in 2022. For those unfamiliar with advanced metrics, this shows he does not chase pitches out of the zone and he does not swing and miss in the zone. People often ask “What about Tommy Edman?”. Well, Edman will lead off… but against LHP. Edman and Nootbaar would rotate leading off based on matchups toward the end of the year and this lingered into the playoffs. Nootbaar is just a shallow league sleeper overall but we cannot ignore the runs being a strength here.
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