Top 12 rankings, sleepers and positional strategy

Yahoo Fantasy offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to position suitability, helping to more easily target second base this season. Mookie Betts gets a real boost, for example, as he’s 2B-eligible in 2022 after just seven games at that position.

Second base isn’t quite as loaded as the shortstop in 2023, but it’s a position deep enough to be addressed later in fantasy drafts if that’s your preferred strategy (and depending on your draft slot ). Especially in the Yahoo leagues, filling the middle infield won’t be a problem this year – you can safely ignore the position shortages except for the catcher.

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Four mid-round targets with sleeper appeal

Max MuncyLos Angeles Dodgers

Muncy struggled heavily in the first four months of last season after returning from a torn UCL. But he posted a .260/.364/.531 line with 12 homers in August/September (48 games) and goes healthier into the year 2023, with his elbow 100 percent. He remains 2B-eligible but is scheduled to move to third base full-time Justin Turner went. Muncy is also expected to clean up in a loaded Dodgers lineup. He’s hit 35+ home runs in three of the last five seasons, and only a handful of hitters (mostly superstars) matched his ability to hit the ball hard and draw walks despite playing injured last year. THE BAT X predicts he will achieve a top 25 wRC+ among all hitters in 2023 – higher than players who played many rounds earlier in fantasy drafts, such as Rafael Devers, Austin Riley And Manny Machado.

Muncy will also benefit from a nice left-handed home hitter park and the new rules for 2023, just as he did one of the 10 most postponed batters in baseball last season. Muncy is someone to attack in fantasy leagues with a Yahoo ADP over 140.

Whit Merrifield, Toronto Blue Jays

Merrifield was always a compiler who relied on volume and didn’t miss games, but his wRC+ (88) last year was essentially identical to his previous season (90) when he was a third-round fantasy pick during the NFBC main season (ADP = 34) was events. He falls out of the first 130 picks of Yahoo drafts in early 2023 and even later elsewhere. There are concerns his stolen bases will continue to decline with his 34-year-old, but Merrifield’s sprint speed stayed in the 84th percentile last season (it was in the 87th percentile the year before when he stole 40 bags), and he will It likely will take advantage of Toronto’s aggressive approach and the increased sizes of the bases (and new rules to limit pickoff attempts). Merrifield is also helped by Toronto’s new dimensions of what could be a huge boost for right-handers.

The story goes on

Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays

Lowe is another prime bounce-back candidate going into fantasy drafts well later than last year. He’s a season away from 46 homers/steals in under 150 games, but he now has an ADP of under 150. THE BAT X predicts Lowe to have the second-highest wRC+ (123) of any second baseman in 2023, showing plenty of upside potential , if he can stay healthy. He’s slated to clean up the Tampa Bay lineup, and Lowe has seen his career increase batting averages many fold 42 points when you’re not in front of a shift.

[2023 Fantasy Positional Previews: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP]

Ketel Marte, Arizona diamondbacks

Marte continues to trade great seasons for disappointing seasons and heads into 2023 motivated after going down in 2022. His concerns about durability are less of an issue given his ADP, which is currently the 23rd second baseman on the Yahoo Leagues Board of Directors. Marte doesn’t offer much power/speed but remains in his prime and is a sneaky bet on hitting 100+ runs topping Arizona’s roster. After a season that included the lowest league collective batting average (.243) since the 1960s (and one of the lowest in MLB history), Marte’s ability in this category could be tremendous. His .318 BA from 2019–21 led the National League and was second best among all batsmen prior to last season’s injury-plagued season (only nine batsmen hit a .300 BA over those three years).

[2023 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | OF | SP | RP]

1. Mookie Betts

2. Jazz Chisholm Jr.

3. Jose Altuve

4. Ozzie Albies

5. Marcus Semien

6.Tommy Edman

7. Andres Gimenez

8. Gleyber Torres

9. Max Muncy

10.Jorge Polanco

11.BrandonLowe

12. Jonathan India