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Chris Clegg breaks down some top fantasy baseball prospect sleepers who are hidden gems in the outfield, and are later-round draft pick fliers for 2024 drafts.
Winning in a fantasy baseball redraft league requires a nice blend of high-floor players and upside shots. While prospects do present more risk in a one-year setting like a redraft league, if they hit, they pay big dividends. The reward could be huge if these players get adequate playing time and perform.
In my most recent article, I broke down the top prospects to know for 2024. But what about sleepers that might provide value in 2024? Those might be the prospects that pay dividends.
Even if you know these names, what kind of impact might they bring to fantasy baseball? Let's break down some outfield prospects to keep an eye on.
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Victor Scott II, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
Scott may not be a sleeper or hidden gem anymore, especially after his strong spring performance. I still think he is being undervalued for who he is and what he can bring to the game from a fantasy perspective. Between 155 games last year in the minors and the Arizona Fall League, Scott stole 112 bases while hitting 12 home runs and posting a .303/.369/.425 slash line.
Being more of a do-it-all type, Scott plays a strong center field, has 80-grade speed, and is not a zero in the power department. Scott is fairly aggressive, swinging at over 51 percent of pitches last year while making contact 79 percent of the time. The profile is a fantasy manager's dream. Despite not giving you a ton of power, he is not a zero there and gets a ton of torque in his lower half, which helps him get to the power to the pullside.
I have continually said it, but I truly believe Scott is the better version of Esteury Ruiz, having similar speed, more power, and better contact skills.
GAME REWIND: Victor Scott II speeds his way to an infield single. His day ends with two hits, two runs scored and a stolen base. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/PcL7oz7nZk
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) March 10, 2024
Dylan Beavers, OF, Baltimore Orioles
Beavers made major strides in 2023 in the contact department, leading to a drastic increase in batting average while also showcasing power and speed.
Over his final 333 plate appearances of the season, Beavers posted a .332 batting average with a 161 wRC+ and nearly walked as often as he struck out. He was promoted to AA in the middle of that stretch and posted a 150 wRC+ with Bowie over 157 PAs.
The contact skills made a massive jump as Beavers posted a contact rate of 81 percent, up from 74 percent in 2022, showing substantial progress while maintaining the power and speed that he already had. The home run output was not overwhelming last year, but Beavers does hit the ball hard.
Overshadowed by the talent in the Orioles farm, Beavers is a very strong outfielder with big time potential. If he continues to hit like he did in the second half of 2023, he should be in Triple-A very quickly and could debut late 2024.
Joey Loperfido, OF, Houston Astros
A seventh-rounder in the 2021 draft out of Duke, Loperfido put together a solid first pro season in 2022, showing power, speed, and a good feel to hit. In 2023, he fully broke out, starting the year in High-A but making it all the way to Triple-A by season’s end. On the year, he slashed .278/.370/.510 with 25 home runs and 27 stolen bases.
While the power likely played up due to being in hitter-friendly environments at all three levels he played at, the exit velocity was still respectable and showed above-average game power.
While the contact skills did show some regression in Triple-A, Loperfido finished the year with a contact rate of just over 74 percent, which is an average rate. In his smaller Triple-A sample, that number dropped to 67 percent with a 78 percent zone contact rate.
Loperfido’s versatility, plus his bat, only helps his case to make the Opening Day roster. Last season, he played center field (43 games), first base (19), right field (20), second base (21), and left field (14) while showing a good bat.
HAVE A DAY JOEY LOPERFIDO pic.twitter.com/POhwhcHGBg
— Houston Astros (@astros) March 15, 2024
Parker Meadows, OF, Detroit Tigers
While not being a flashy player, Meadows shows solid skills across the board and has posted two straight 20-home run seasons with 17 and 27 stolen bases in those seasons, respectively.
Meadows makes solid contact, posting an 87 percent zone contact rate last season with a 77 percent overall clip. The chase rate of 29 percent is better than the league average, giving Meadows at least an average feel to hit, if not better.
Having a big 6-foot-5 frame, Meadows generates easy power from a short swing. Posting an average exit velocity of 87.5 mph with a 105 mph 90th percentile, Meadows showed that the higher-end exit velocities could lead to above average or better game power.
He is slated to lead off and start in center field for the Tigers and will likely soar up all rankings formats rather quickly. Meadows is the real deal and one of the more underrated 20 home run/20 stolen base threats in baseball.
Parker Meadows walk off home run!!#RepDetroit
pic.twitter.com/aOZFYqKwzf— Chris Clegg (@RotoClegg) August 26, 2023
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