Underappreciated Fantasy Baseball Hitters - On-Base Machines | Josh Smith, Carlos Correa, Isaac Paredes and More

As we wait for the MLB regular season to resume, it’s a perfect time to take some deep dives into different statistics and Identify some underappreciated fantasy players.

Today, I decided to look at qualified batters with the highest on-base percentages. We’ll focus on some lesser-known players, not fantasy stars like Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Bryce Harper and Shohei Ohtani.

The players we are about to mention don’t boast the home runs and RBIs of the league’s elite fantasy hitters, but getting on base is a great way to accumulate fantasy points, and these guys are much more affordable to acquire.

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On-Base Machines

I was surprised to find Texas Rangers’ Josh Smith in the top 10 in OBP. He’s got a .392 mark for the season.

Smith also boasts a strong .293 average this season. He has 19 doubles, 10 home runs and a triple among his 85 total hits, along with 40 RBIs, 45 runs scored, 32 walks, 65 strikeouts and five stolen bases.

Despite solid all-around numbers, Smith is rostered in just 70% of fantasy leagues right now. He’s a borderline top-10 fantasy third baseman right now and could easily be added and started in more leagues. 

Smith should already be owned and probably be started in all deep leagues, and at worst, he’s a bench option in standard leagues.

Cincinnati Reds’ Jonathan India is 14th in the league amongst qualified hitters with a .377 OBP. 

Along with a .275 average, India has 21 doubles, eight home runs, one triple, 38 RBIs, 48 runs scored, 46 walks, 72 strikeouts and eight stolen bases this season.

India was rostered in about 40% of leagues pretty late in June, but has seen that percentage rise to 77 now. I still think he should be utilized in more leagues based on the numbers he’s providing.

He too is a borderline top-10 fantasy player at his position, which means India should be rostered and started in deeper leagues and at least stashed on the bench in standard leagues. He’s also been one of the hotter hitters in the league of late, so he’s startable in all formats right now.

Don’t let the lack of homers and RBIs fool you into overlooking India (and the rest of these guys). Getting on base often can be just as beneficial to a player’s fantasy output.

Carlos Correa is a bigger name in the baseball world, but he’s not the player he once was. His OBP is .377 as well,

Along with a .308 average, Correa has 16 doubles, 13 home runs and two triples among his 86 total hits. He also has 47 RBIs, 51 runs scored, 30 walks and 53 strikeouts this season. Correa has accomplished all that in just 75 games, which is part of the reason why he’s underappreciated.

After sitting around 80% for his own percentage, he’s up to 95% now. That likely means he’s already taken in your league, but at the same time, acquiring him in a trade won’t cost you much at all, so he’s worth mentioning.

The fantasy shortstop position is loaded with talent, but even after missing a chunk of games, Correa is sitting inside the top 10 scoring leaders at this point. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t be owned and started in all standard leagues right now. If you already have a good fantasy shortstop, use Correa in an additional infield spot, or at least stash him on your bench in case your top option goes down.

Correa is simply having too good of a season to be started in less than 80% of leagues, which pretty much happens every day according to FantasySP data. Get him on your roster and into your lineup and I bet you’ll have a hard time pulling him from that spot the rest of the season.

Washington Nationals’ Jesse Winker is 17th in the MLB with a .374 OBP this season.

He’s very underappreciated because of his .260 average and 79 strikeouts across 94 games played. Winker’s overall numbers are pretty well-rounded though, with 18 doubles, 11 home runs, 43 RBIs, 47 runs scored, 48 walks and 12 stolen bases.

Winker isn’t the most consistent hitter out there by any means, but he’s a borderline top-20 fantasy outfielder at this point. His own percentage of 57 just doesn’t make sense for that kind of production.

I’d understand things if Winker was in a rut at the plate, but he’s hitting .289 with a .386 OBP in July. Not good enough for you? How about a .304 average and .421 OBP like Winker posted in June?

Those are fantastic numbers, and just because they aren’t accompanied by a ton of homers, RBIs or runs scored doesn’t mean Winker should be overlooked for another fantasy player. 

Get Winker on to your team (many of you in standard leagues could do it for free) and you’ll see how valuable he’s been all season. He can start in all formats right now and deserves to have a much, much higher own percentage.

The player I want to talk about next is someone I pretty much mention in every other story at this point, Oakland Athletics’ Brent Rooker. He’s got a .369 OBP, which is tied with Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr.

Rooker has a .291 average, 21 home runs, 18 doubles, two triples, 62 RBIs, 44 runs scored, 36 walks, 112 strikeouts and five stolen bases on the season.

The strikeouts are definitely an issue, but Rooker is a great power hitter, is driving in runs, has a good average and is an otherwise well-rounded hitter, so I’ll never understand why he doesn’t get more fantasy baseball love.

Rooker missed some time with an injury earlier in the season, which keeps him outside the top-end fantasy outfielders. But even with 83 games played on the season (compared to just under 100 for some guys), Rooker is still a top-20 fantasy option at the position.

He was rostered in roughly 60% of leagues for a good portion of June and into July. Thankfully, some fantasy owners are finally taking notice, and his own percentage has jumped to 84, but that’s still not high enough. As a top-20 fantasy option at the position, he needs to be rostered and started in all standard leagues. Who cares if he strikes out a bunch - he’s still putting up huge fantasy point totals most days.

There’s a good chance Rooker gets traded at the deadline, at which point fantasy owners will likely see his great value. Beat those fantasy owners to the punch by adding Rooker now.

Tampa Bay Rays’ Isaac Paredes is the last hitter I want to mention today. He’s got a .364 OBP.

Paredes has a .261 average on the season, along with 18 doubles, 15 home runs and a triple among his 86 total hits. Paredes also has accumulated 50 RBIs, 36 runs scored, 45 walks and 66 strikeouts.

Paredes’ lower average and run scored total make him a bit underappreciated in my eyes, but he’s got enough pop and a strong OBP to serve as a starting fantasy hitter everyday.

He’s rostered in 97% of leagues, so not many of you can add him for free, but his trade value isn’t crazy high either, so you should be able to acquire him for fairly cheap. Paredes is a top-10 fantasy third basemen, which means he should be starting in just about every league, every day - right now, he’s fluctuating between 80-90%, according to our charts.

Find a way to get Paredes on your team and he’s bound to help your team to a successful finish to the season. 

Adding a few of the players (some for free on the waiver wire) mentioned in this article could turn a middling fantasy team into a serious playoff contender. Adding a couple players to an already solid fantasy team gives you a chance to possibly win it all.