Brett Ussery | Fri, Jan 23rd 2026, 7:14am EST

Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy & Advice: Punting Categories

Maybe you are preparing for redraft, dynasty, keeper or just all of the fantasy baseball leagues. No matter where your draft order falls, you are preparing for multiple scenarios. In addition to building the best roster possible, you are looking for ways to stand out from the rest of the league. In roto leagues, building a roster that will dominate every single category is impossible. Building the most balanced roster isn’t a bad idea, but every other manager is likely trying the same strategy.

To set yourself apart, you might want to try punting a category, which is forfeiting one category in hopes of being more competitive in others, which could help you reach the top at season’s end. By forfeiting one category, you can make yourself not just competitive in other categories, but you can also have an advantage over other managers who don’t participate in this strategy. For head-to-head roto leagues, you don’t have to win every category; you just have to win enough categories.

Fantasy Baseball Punting Categories Primer

It’s important to remember to stick with this strategy no matter how your draft is going. Some managers who follow the same strategy might change their plans during the draft. You know better. Even with all the amount of planning you can do before a draft, most will select players in a panic, especially when they watch players in their queue go earlier than expected. If you’re following the punting strategy, you have a plan, so you can be prepared for unanticipated changes in the draft.

You might see a player in the early rounds that you feel you can justify taking at that spot, but that’s not part of the plan. Doing this will jeopardize the rest of the draft if you’re using the punting category strategy. Stick with it. Here are a few categories to consider punting.

Steals

Stolen bases were maybe the most popular category to punt a few years ago. However, since 2023, we have seen an increase in stolen bases every year, and we have been seeing around the mid 3000s for stolen bases for the past three seasons, so punting this category isn’t as popular as it once was. In the past, one would forgo this category for more well-rounded hitters.

Now we see more hitters who can provide at least some stolen bases. Looking at the 2025 season, we saw three players with over 40 stolen bases, 18 players with 30+ stolen bases and 25 players with 20+ stolen bases. Of these 46 players, only five had an average below .230, and only eight hit fewer than 10 home runs.

An additional 72 players had double-digit steals last season. You have options outside of the top-tier players for steals, allowing you to punt the category and still compete.

Batting Average

I always like players who have a higher batting average. They seem like a safe bet. Following this strategy can lead to less power, though, and hurt other hitting categories. You clearly want a five-tool hitter, but those are hard to find. The 2025 season gave us the following hitters with averages between .270 and .300:

Five players over .300
Six players over .290
Nine players over .280
32 players over .270

If you concentrate on hitters in the first few rounds, you can likely get one, maybe two, hitters in the .280 to .300 range. You have a better chance of grabbing multiple hitters in the .270 range. Even if you take a pitcher in the early rounds, you can throw three or four of these 52 hitters into your lineup. Eleven of the 52 players fell below double-digit home runs.

A hitter with a .230 average isn’t great, but only three players who hit below that average were also in the top 60 leaderboard for home runs.

Wins

Punting this category seems too risky. If you choose to go for it, though, you need to focus on a dominant bullpen. You have to assume, however, that you would also be losing the strikeout category. Yes, you could load up on relief pitchers, but they are not the most reliable because of innings limitations. And they are not the best pitchers available.

If your bullpen plan falters and you punted the wins category, then you could be looking at losing five categories each week. Even focusing on a hitter-heavy roster, you could still likely acquire some reliable pitchers who would be able to get double-digit wins. You could then add some starting or relief pitchers to fill out your staff.

Saves

Perhaps I should add holds to this category description, but if your league features a Holds + Saves category, then this is the category to punt. More than 140 pitchers had double-digit combined saves and holds.

If we are only looking at saves, I would still punt this category. Closers lose their jobs; we see more and more closer committees, and the high-end closers are expensive draft picks. In my fantasy baseball mock drafts so far this offseason, I consistently see 5-8 relievers drafted in the top 10 rounds. If you punt saves, you can load up on elite starters, high strikeout relievers or bats instead.

This is the easiest category to punt. You can put off drafting relievers until the 12th or 15th round. If it’s a league that also has holds, you can delay drafting even longer. It’s important to look at closers who don’t have a guaranteed role. Look at a team’s bullpen and read reports on who could take the job. Also, don’t be scared of closers on bad teams. Yes, the number of saves will likely be lower, but they are the only option and will see the most amount of save opportunities.

General Punting Tips

Remember to have a category to punt in place before your draft starts. Stick with your plan and avoid drafting players you believe are good value but don’t fit your punting strategy. Many times, a category you punt can become competitive during the season. It’s not likely, but it’s great when it does.

Monitor the standings, weekly matchups and the waiver wire to stay on top of your league. By punting a category, some players you drafted late could become expendable, and you might have a few extra waiver wire moves you could make to grab an unexpected, exciting player or a future star. Good luck.

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