February 29, 2016

Adam Mernit analyzes four players who could provide sneaky help in RBI for the 2016 fantasy baseball season. These players could be sleepers.

RBI total is often overlooked in fantasy baseball. We assume that because we are drafting the big names in the first few rounds, we think the star power will carry our lineups throughout the season. This is not always the case and we may find it hard to compete with other teams that are slugging their way through the season.

We can avoid this RBI pitfall by drafting intelligently. There are some players that are either identifiable for their on-field contributions in other areas, have had recent injury trouble, or who simply do not have enough of an MLB sample size to be looked to as RBI producers. Below are four of these players.

Editor's note: For more preseason draft value and sleeper advice, check out our 2016 fantasy baseball rankings dashboard, which is already loaded up with lots of great articles. Aside from staff rankings and ADP analysis across all positions, we also dig into MLB prospect rankings, and dynasty/keeper rankings as well.

National League

DJ LeMahieu

Obviously I had to include a member of the Colorado Rockies on this list, but the Coors Field advantage is not as heavily involved in sourcing LeMahieu for RBI. In the 2015 season, we saw a large spike in LeMahieu’s average (.301 up from .267 in 2014) and BABIP (.362 up from .322 in 2014). He did all of this while slated in the second spot in the lineup behind Charlie Blackmon and eventually Jose Reyes. This year, the Rockies brought in Gerrardo Parra to be their leadoff man, most likely bumping LeMahieu down to the third slot in the lineup. In this role, LeMahieu will see more at-bats with men on base and thus more opportunities to send them around the bags.

Michael Conforto

Earlier this week, New York Mets GM Sandy Alderson said that Conforto is going to have to earn the right to regular playing time. I guess a performance that yielded two home runs in Game 4 of the World Series and a 2015 OPS of .841 were not enough to impress Alderson. Before the 2015 season, Conforto had been marinating in the Mets’ farm system. After a mid-season call up, Conforto showed us what he could do. The Mets’ lineup is more threatening than it may seem on paper, especially with Yoenis Cespedes sticking around. Michael Conforto knows how to spread the ball around, with 45.3% of his hits pulled, 35.0% of his hits to center, and 19.7% of his hits to opposite field; great balance for such a young player. This balance will pay dividends in a large ballpark like Citifield. The playing time issue will most likely take care of itself once he starts lighting it up and there will be plenty of looks for RBI with guys like Lucas Duda, Yoenis Cespedes, and Curtis Granderson hitting in front of him.

American League

Devon Travis

62 games at the Major League level served Travis extremely well, and so did his positioning in the best offensive lineup in baseball. With names like Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion, and Jose Baustista present in the Toronto Blue Jays’ batting order, it is no surprise that the Blue Jays scored so many runs. But what may have been a surprise was Devon Travis’s 35 RBI in those 62 games along with his .304 average and his eight home runs. If it weren’t for a tragic shoulder injury that ended his season prematurely, there is no telling what Travis could have done. Looking forward to 2016, Devon Travis is a name that may not be on the radars of fantasy owners but needs to be. The number that sticks out is his .194 ISO, which is high for a 2B. Regardless of where he is slated in Toronto’s lineup, the opportunities for RBI production are endless and I am willing to bet that his small sample size is believable.

Matt Wieters 

It seems that we have been waiting and waiting and waiting for Wieters’s big season to come. The Baltimore Orioles’ backstop played 75 games in his 2015 return from Tommy John surgery and the rust really showed in his career-high 23.8% K%. In the years leading up to Tommy John surgery, Wieters was beginning to come along. In 2011, he hit 22 home runs with 68 RBI. A year later in 2012, he hit 23 home runs with 83 RBI. 2013 was another good year for Wieters as he hit 22 home runs with 79 RBI. 2014 was shaping up to be the year that Charm City was waiting for where he mashed 30+ home runs and topped 100 RBI. Instead, his season was cut short at 26 games when his elbow issues required a trip under the knife. Matt Wieters has probably faded off many fantasy owners’ target lists for catchers, and his value is at an all-time low. This screams out sleeper potential to me, as it is hard to ignore the past results. Given a full offseason to recover and reflect, I am finally expecting THAT season from Wieters.

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