It never fails that every year you feel like you’ve assembled your best team yet then right around round 17 you realize that you have completely neglected a category.
Fortunately if that category happens to be runs there is a plethora of talent in the back end of the draft, where you will be able to find runs scored. There is a lot of speed towards the back end of fantasy drafts as well as guys that may be batting leadoff which will lead to plenty of run scoring opportunities. Below are some guys that you should keep an eye late in the draft.
Michael Bourn - Outfielder, Atlanta Braves
This name may seem a bit surprising considering just two off-season’s ago he signed a $48 million contract. Bourns’ stock has taken a severe drop after last season in which he was injured, batted .263 and was only able to steal 23 bases while getting caught 12 times. Bourn is still one of the fastest players in the majors and batting at the top of an above average Indians offense there should be no shortage of runs scored.
The best news is that Michael Bourn wasn’t even draft until the 20th round in my most recent mock draft. The fact that you can get 90 runs out of Bourn as well as 25 plus steals makes him an absolute steal if you can get him late in your draft.
Adam Eaton - Outfielder, Chicago White Sox
The newly acquired center fielder for the White Sox is slated to be the leadoff hitter for the start of the season. Eaton played in only 66 games last season, but managed to score 40 runs which equates to 98 runs over a 162 game season. While Eaton might not keep up that pace due to the White Sox being a much weaker offense than the Diamondbacks, he should still score no fewer than 85 runs. Eaton also has a .332 career OBP which with his above average speed should lead to no shortage of runs scored.
Kole Calhoun - Outfielder, Los Angeles Angels
A young, rising star Calhoun got his second stint in the majors last season and sparked what was a struggling and underperforming Angels offense. In his short time in the majors Kole has proven himself to be a capable hitter, batting .282 with 8 HR and 29 runs scored in 58 games played in 2013.
Calhoun is another young player expected to take on his teams leadoff role which for him means batting in front of Mike Trout, leading to tons of runs scored. Calhoun isn’t being draft until the last couple of rounds and would provide a nice boost to your teams runs scoring.
Ben Revere - Outfielder, Philadelphia Phillies
One of the fastest players in all of baseball the thing holding back Revere is his injury history. The most games that he has played in one season is 124 . In the last two seasons Revere has batted .294 and .305 showing that he knows how to hit the ball when he is on the field. If Revere can play at least 140 games he should be able to easily surpass his career highs in both steals (40) and runs (70).
In many of the mock drafts that I have done Revere has gone undrafted and is worth a shot if you want some cheap steals and runs.
Daniel Nava - Outfielder, Boston Red Sox
Nava is expected to take over the leadoff role for the Red Sox now that Jacoby Ellsbury has left for New York. Nava is the perfect type of player to be a leadoff hitter, last season he batted over .300 with a .385 OBP. Those stats coupled with the fact that the Red Sox had by far the most potent offense in all of baseball, means there will be no shortage of run scoring opportunities for Nava.
Despite his career year last season Nava is still flying under many people’s radars and should have no issue scoring over 90 runs.
Some other notable players that you can get late in the draft starting around round 16 include Brett Gardner, Carl Crawford, Coco Crisp, Dexter Fowler, and Alejandro De Aza