Depending on how your fantasy baseball league is set up, the one statistical category that gets harder accommodate as the draft drudges on is runs batted-in (RBI).
Some could argue that it’s runs (which is fair), but the important thing to take away from RBIs is that, on a grand scale, it ties in to other stat categories, and it could potentially be the highest luxury one can receive from a player per at-bat.
For example, let’s say there’s a runner on third and one out, if your guy can drive one deep enough or slow enough to an infield defender for a sacrifice, you’ll get the RBI easily and it won’t affect your average. On the other hand, if your player drops the ball in play, you can clean up handsomely with the RBI and a boost in your team average.
While it all may seem easy to look at a scenario like that and immediately conclude that it’s a win-win scenario, the reality is that now every player in the lineup has what it takes to pull it off.
Most of the guys who can were already rounded up early in the draft, but now you’re looking at the ninth, 10th or even 16th round and you need a reliable bat to pad your stats late in a game. Here are five guys to keep a close eye on who have what it takes to drive in runs when it matters most who will be a steal late in the draft.
5. Alex Rios Texas Rangers
One of the quietest producers of the last six years, Rios has always been in the fortunate position of being on teams with a heap of talent around him. At the same time, Rios is one of those guys who gets picked up super late in the draft or not even at all, and usually becomes some lucky owner’s waiver wire pick-up of the year.
Since 2006, Rios has knocked-in at least 79 runs in six of eight of those seasons. In only one of those years (2013) was he not able to maintain a batting average of at least .284. Even though Rios only hit .278 on the season in 2013, that still matches his career average on top of the stress of having to switch teams around the trade deadline.
Lucky for Rios and fantasy owners, the team he’ll still be playing with in 2014 features the likes of Prince Fielder, Shin-Soo Choo and Elvis Andrus, guys who know how to get on base for Rios to clean up. Granted, some of your fellow owners may come to this same conclusion.
4. James Loney Tampa Bay Rays
A few years ago seeing Loney’s name on this list would be kind of a joke. Loney was THE guy in Los Angeles who always hit for a great average and brought in a lot of runs for the Dodgers; however, things soured a bit in 2012. Loney was a fighter in 2013. He hit .299, the second-best for his career, and he knocked-in 75 runs.
Even though he was arguably the Rays’ most consistent hitter, he was still in second in run production behind Evan Longoria, but Loney was still low on the national depth chart. If the attitude stays the same, this could be a huge score in the draft.
To make things even more impressive, Loney’s average jumped to .310 with RISP; however, it dropped to .260 with RISP and two out on the board. Nonetheless, his 30 RBI with RISP and two out and just the 62 runs he batted-in with RISP were still the best on the team and fell within the top-20 in the Majors. Let that one sink-in for a moment.
3. Daniel Murphy New York Mets
Murphy may not seem like the kind of guy who racks-up a lot of RBI, but if you look at his numbers since 2009 it’s all laid out: 63 in 2009, out in 2010, 49 in 2011, 65 in 2012 and 78 in 2013. The only reason why things look worse in 2011 is because he only played in 109 games.
Outside of David Wright, Murphy has been the best offensive weapon in the Mets’ lineup as his .290 career average insinuates as well. Even with Curtis Granderson and Chris Young joining the team in 2014, Murphy’s production should stay steady, if not get better.
With RISP in 2013 Murphy hit .305 and batted-in 60 of his 78 runs; however, with two out and RISP Murphy cleaned up with a .354 average and 30 RBI. Only Marlon Byrd outperformed him with RISP, but only if there were less than two outs. Murphy is truly an unsung hero of the Mets who could be your saving grace in one of your middle infield spots.
2. Michael Brantley Cleveland Indians
One player who always seems to find himself going undrafted every season but ends up being one of the best offensive producers has to be Brantley.
The Indians’ outfield isn’t flashy and he rarely gets interviewed by the media, so he always slips just shy of the radar. It’s kind of a shame, the kid puts in work. Since his rookie season in 2009 his batting average and RBI-production have gone up significantly.
In 2013, he finished the year with a .284 average and 73 RBI, both of which happened to be the second-best and third-best respectively on the team. While second baseman Jason Kipnis leads the team in RBI and average with just RISP, Brantley actually outshines him and catcher Carlos Santana when it comes to knocking-in runs with RISP and two outs to the tune of 29 with a .364 average.
1. Chris Johnson Atlanta Braves
Johnson had an incredibly season in 2013, finishing with a career-high .321 average, 12 home runs and 68 RBI. Of course, 68 may not seem like a lot, but when you compare it to the career-high 75 he hit in 2012, the fact that he hit fifth or later in the batting order and had to deal with RBI machines like Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton and Jason Heyward is pretty remarkable.
Even more impressive is that of all the members of the Braves whose last name isn’t Freeman, Johnson had the second-best average with runners in scoring position (.336) and 60 of his 68 on the season came with at least one RISP. Oh, and even more impressive, with RISP and two outs Johnson’s average jumped to .390, and 32 of those 60 RBI were racked-up in this scenario. So while his batting average with impressive, what he’s able to do with runners on makes his value skyrocket. Hopefully the other owners in the league only focus on his average.