2020 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers - RotoBaller Staff Picks

March 6, 2020

The RotoBaller staff unveils their favorite preseason fantasy baseball draft sleepers for both hitters and pitchers to target in the later rounds of drafts.

As the 2020 MLB season approaches, it's time for the RotoBaller staff to reveal their favorite preseason sleepers.

We recently asked some of our fantasy baseball writers to get their take on which hitters and pitchers they are targeting the most in the later rounds of fantasy drafts. While you've likely heard some of these names already in our Sleepers section or through our Youtube series, we wanted to lay it all out for you in one convenient place.

Let's find out who our experts have identified as the best values based on current ADP.

Which hitter outside the top 150 is your favorite sleeper?

Miguel Andujar is well outside the top 200, but if he can find his way to 500+ at-bats this year he could return huge value. With Giancarlo Stanton set to begin the year on the IL, Andujar should have the DH spot locked down. When Stanton returns he'll need to either adapt to a timeshare with Gio Urshela, learn how to play left field or some combination of both. Hitting in the meat of a deadly Yankees lineup, Andujar could still be a candidate for25 homers and 100 RBI with a batting average over .280--assuming his health, of course. -Bill Dubiel

Miguel Andujar. Last year was a complete washout with a shoulder injury ending his season before it really began. Now healthy, Andujar looks like he'll see time in left field as well as both corner infield spots, potentially giving him multi-position eligibility. After hitting 27 homers in 2018 with a .297/.328/.527 slash line, he's poised for a repeat in a Yankees offense where 80 runs and RBIs can be achieved from any spot in the lineup. He was a top-100 drafted player last year and with a return to health, should be again this year. -Jamie Steed

Justin Upton’s injury-shortened season has pushed his ADP to a salivating 225, where I’ll gladly scoop him up wherever I can. Over his previous three seasons combined, he averaged 31 HR, 87 R, 94 RBI, and 10 SB with a .258/.338/.490 slash line, numbers comparable to Michael Conforto’s 2019 season. With Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout setting the table for him, the 32-year-old just needs to stay on the field to return a considerable draft-day profit. -Riley Mrack

Fantasy drafters are down on Justin Upton because he played in just 63 games in 2019 due to a toe injury. But aside from last year, the 32-year-old slugger had at least 30 home runs and eight steals in three straight seasons. If healthy, the four-time All-Star should bounce back in an improved Angels lineup that now includes Anthony Rendon. -Keith Hernandez

Our rankings are more bullish on Bryan Reynolds than most and me being a Pirates fan has nothing to do with this pick. He had an awesome rookie season last year, finishing second on the team in OPS to Josh Bell. He has some nice pop in his bat for a switch-hitter as he slugged 16 homers last year, but he also can hit for average and get on base. Yes, the team might stink this year, but Reynolds is appealing to me hitting in the two-hole in front of Gregory Polanco and Bell and the Buccos play a lot of games in hitter-friendly parks against NL central teams. -Dan Palyo

Didi Gregorius is a virtual lock to outperform his rankings and draft slot. In 2018, he hit 27 home runs in 134 games without the rabbit ball. He needed Tommy John surgery and suffered the two-month slump that seems characteristic of hitters returning from TJ surgery. Add the hitter-friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park, and you have a recipe for a top-75 performance. -Dave Emerick

Tommy Edman is my sleeper outside the top 150. Edman will play every day for the Cardinals and will also have multi-position eligibility. The multi-position eligibility over MI and CI as well as the OF will be quite valuable. Edman will also provide a solid batting average floor with double-digit home runs and 20 steal upside. -Brian Entrekin

Willie Calhoun had one of the better second halves last season with 16 home runs. His above-average Barrel% supports his power, thus making him a great late-round power source. -Michael Simione

Christian Walker of the Diamondbacks blasted 29 home runs last season but is still ranked outside the top-200 overall. He backed up his strong numbers by finishing in the top-10th percentile in hard-hit rate and barrel percentage last season while putting a 91.1 MPH average exit velocity. Walker is the definition of a three-true-outcomes player as he strikes out a lot, but also boasts an 11.1 percent walk rate so his plate discipline isn't necessarily bad. He'll hit in the middle of an improved Arizona offense and should put up a ton of homers and RBI. -Mike Schwarzenbach

Which pitcher outside the top 150 is your favorite sleeper?

Everyone should be looking for Mitch Keller as a breakout performer. Keller had one of the more polarizing sliders when he was called up last year. So far in spring, he has been pumping his fastball up in the zone while leaving his breaking balls low in the zone. That plus him verbally saying he will go to his breaking balls more all leads to Keller having tremendous value. -Michael Simione

Josh James was destined for the Astros starting rotation in 2019 before an injury in spring training derailed his season, relegating him to bullpen duties. A year later, he’s vying for the same job, and after working through the offseason to hone his command, he should win the job. James’ 97 MPH heater paired with a slider/changeup combo that both held whiff rates north of 50% last season will undoubtedly play well as a starter to get him through the order multiple times. Even if his innings are capped, his 364 ADP can easily profit as a back-end fantasy starter. -Riley Mrack

Kenta Maeda sitting there at 151 barely qualifies, but he should greatly out-perform that ranking. He's averaged more than a strikeout-per-inning all four years of his Major League career and had a FIP under four in three of those seasons. His main drawback in fantasy has been the Dodgers' management of his workload, but that won't be an issue in Minnesota. The Twins will unleash Maeda and he will be a four-category contributor in fantasy. -Mike Schwarzenbach

In 2018, Mike Foltynewicz put up a 13-win, 2.85 ERA season with 202 K in 183 IP. He then missed nearly all of spring training due to a shoulder injury and didn't make his season debut until late April, so his horrid first half in 2019 (which saw a demotion to Triple-A) wasn't helped by a lack of health. He returned to the Braves rotation in August and posted a 2.65 for the rest of the season. The Braves' team is strong so wins should be available to him and a healthy spring should help us see the best of Foltynewicz again. -Jamie Steed

Dylan Bundy will be a late-round target that is my favorite pitching sleeper. The benefit of Bundy moving from Baltimore to Anaheim can not be emphasized enough. His home/road splits have always been strong and he should benefit from the change in a major way. He also improved a lot in the second half last season, which brings a lot of optimism to 2020. -Brian Entrekin

Dustin May did everything he needed to convince us that he should be drafted as a top-50 starter going into this season. He was good at AA, AAA, and the majors where he put up a 2.82 ERA in the 22.1 IP of his four starts. If managers are concerned about a Chris Paddack situation, it should only be from the fact that May plays for the Dodgers, not a proper innings limit. Last season, May threw 141.1 innings, so there's no reason the Dodgers can't give him 180 IP this season, except that they are the Dodgers. -Dave Emerick

Chris Archer has been a disappointment since he was traded from Tampa to Pittsburgh, but Archer still has the stuff to vastly outperform his ADP and return really nice value for those that take a chance on him. He was hurt by the home run too often last year and gave up too many free passes, but he still managed a 10.75 K/9 and his xFIP of 4.36 looks much better than his career-high 5.19 ERA. -Keith Hernandez

Luke Weaver was off to a terrific start in 2019, but his season was unfortunately cut short by an elbow injury that limited him to just 64.1 total innings. There are plenty of reasons to believe in his abbreviated breakout, and if he follows up on it he should return tremendous value for those who invest now. He brought his K-rate up to 26.5% while lowering his walk rate to a minuscule 5.4%. He allowed just six homers in those 64.1 innings. There is legitimate SP2 potential here, and is currently being taken as the 74th pitcher off draft boards. -Bill Dubiel

We have Nick Anderson ranked well ahead of other sites and I am a big believer in him this season based on what we saw him do last year. His stats were simply incredible and if he ends up closing every day for a solid Tampa team, he could rack up a ton of saves and strikeouts. -Dan Palyo

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