In my last fantasy baseball rankings, I covered the top second basemen to target in your drafts. This article will cover the top three fantasy baseball third basemen. Unlike the second basemen, when it comes to third basemen, the top three will be coming off the board very close to each other.
While there was a 27-pick wait between the top two second basemen being drafted, this will not be the case for the third basemen. According to the average draft position the top three third basemen will all be going within six picks of each other. The three players I list in this article will likely be gone by the end of the third round. So, if you want a top-tier third baseman on your team be prepared to target the position with one of your top picks.
1. Jose Ramirez– Cleveland Guardians
It should be no surprise to anyone that Jose Ramirez is the number one fantasy baseball third baseman being taken in drafts. Ramirez finished last year as the highest-scoring third basemen in fantasy points with 544. In fact, he has topped 500 points in each of the last three seasons. This trend is expected to continue as Ramirez currently has an ADP of 16.4. This means he will likely be selected somewhere in the middle of the second round.
Jose Ramirez finished near the top in many statistical categories that pertain to fantasy production. He finished top five in categories such as games played (156), at-bats (611), hits (172), doubles (36), triples (5), base on balls (73), plate appearances (691), total bases (290), extra-base hits (65), batting average (.282), and on-base percentage (.356). He also led all third basemen by a large margin in stolen bases (28). The next closest was the Baltimore Orioles third baseman Gunnar Henderson with ten stolen bases.
In his ten years in the MLB Ramirez has topped 400 fantasy points in seven of those seasons. And in 2018 scored a staggering 670 points. He is one of the most consistent players in terms of fantasy production. Barring injury he is undoubtedly expected to finish the 2024 season as a top fantasy baseball third baseman.
2. Austin Riley– Atlanta Braves
Coming in at second on my rankings for fantasy baseball third basemen is Austin Riley of the Atlanta Braves. The 26-year-old finished 2023 with 432 fantasy points. This was good enough for third in fantasy points among third basemen. His incredible season last year is resulting in him being very highly targeted on draft boards this year. With an ADP of 18.4, he will be coming off the board almost immediately after Jose Ramirez somewhere near the end of the second round.
In 2023 Austin Riley finished top five among third basemen in games played (159), doubles (32), triples (3), runs batted in (97), plate appearances (715), and slugging percentage (.516). While this is impressive on its own he also fished first in home runs (37), at-bats (636), runs (117), hits (179), total bases (328), and extra-base hits (72).
Riley will likely be batting in the third spot in the order. Batting third means he will be hitting right behind Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies. This will give him ample opportunities to drive in runs. He will also likely be batting in front of Matt Olson who hit 54 home runs last season while driving in 139 runs. The combination of RBI opportunities and potential to once again top all third basemen in runs scored is a major reason he is being drafted so high.
3. Rafael Devers– Boston Red Sox
After Jose Ramirez and Austin Riley are gone the next fantasy baseball third baseman to be taken according to average draft position will be Rafael Devers. With an ADP of 22.5, it won’t be long until he is taken after Ramirez and Riley are off the board. He will likely be taken early in the third round. Devers finished 2023 fourth in total fantasy points among third basemen with 421 points.
While Devers did not lead any statistical category, he did find himself in the top third of almost all of them. Among third basemen in 2023 Devers finished in the top five in games played (153), home runs (33), at-bats (580), runs scored (90), hits (157), doubles (34), runs batted in (100), plate appearances (656), total bases (290), extra-base hits (67), on-base percentage (.351), and slugging percentage (.500). He also finished in the top third for stolen bases (5), base on balls (62), and batting average (.271).
His stats might not jump off the page, but he has been very consistent during the last three years. Over this span, he is averaging just over 500 fantasy points per season. If you exclude his 2020 and 2017 seasons when he played only 57 and 58 games, he is averaging 481 points per season for his career.
Late Round Sleeper
This late-round sleeper will not be as late as my other sleepers in previous articles. However, this might be the strangest ADP of any player I’ve ranked thus far. You may have noticed in this list I have ranked the first, third, and fourth highest scorers among third basemen in 2023. So, you may ask, where is the second? Well, here’s your answer. Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros was the second-highest-scoring fantasy baseball third baseman last season. With an ADP of 76.5, he is being taken on average in the middle of the eighth round.
This, in my opinion, is one of the biggest steals you can get in your draft. Bregman scored 536 fantasy points in 2023. if you exclude his shortened seasons in 2016, 2020, and 2021 he is averaging 551 fantasy points per season. Including back-to-back 600-point seasons in 2018 and 2019. In seasons that Bregman played more than 100 games his worst was the 2017 season where he scored 464 fantasy points.
Personally, I would target other positions early in the draft and make Bregman my number one target for the position. However, if you are going to do this you do not want to miss out on him. If this is your strategy I suggest targeting him a full round before his ADP. He is currently going in the middle of the eighth round. I would think about taking him somewhere in the seventh after you have filled other important positions.
Third base is not a position you must target early
Third base is one of the most balanced positions in fantasy baseball. There is a minuscule difference in points per game among the top third at the position. Last year there was only a .7 PPG difference between the first and tenth highest scoring third basemen. This means if you don’t get a top target you won’t have to worry. If you get a top-ten player, you’ll see barely any difference in scoring on a game-by-game basis.
In my rankings, we’ve now covered almost the entire infield. My next list will cover the last of the infielders. This of course being the top shortstops in fantasy baseball. After that, we will move on to the outfield and then pitchers.
If you have not yet started doing research for your draft go back and look at my previous lists. This will give you an idea of what positions you should be targeting early. As well as who you should be targeting at each position.
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