As we continue through our positional spotlights here at Fantasy Alarm for the Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide, you’ve likely seen a trend over the past couple of days: bold predictions. Everyone loves bold predictions and while sometimes more fun than helpful, it can be a helpful part of your fantasy baseball research. 

 

 

 

Typically, bold predictions are given for players we tend to really like or really dislike for the season. So, you’ll get an idea from the bold predictions below which players I’m likely targeting in my fantasy baseball drafts, as well as those I may be avoiding at their current fantasy baseball ADP. 

Without further ado, let’s take a look at my fantasy baseball 2B bold predictions for those fantasy baseball sleepers and MLB busts at the second base position.

Fantasy Baseball 2B Bold Predictions

Edouard Julien Leads All 2B In OBP

Our fantasy baseball projections here at Fantasy Alarm aren’t that bullish on Julien in the OBP department (.317). But in his first taste of major league action last season, Julien posted a 15.7 percent walk rate across 109 games, good for a .381 OBP. 

Sure, he struck out over 31 percent of the time, but he had a 17.2 O-Swing rate, showing that he won’t leave the strike zone often. Yes, we want to see a bit more contact from Julien, which will help his batting average and strikeout rates, but in terms of plate discipline, he’s well beyond years in terms of maturity.

Take a look at this rolling graph from last year, and the more major league pitching he saw, his walk rate overall trended up, while his O-Swing% trended down.

If he had enough ABs to qualify, his O-Swing% last season would have been the best amongst qualified hitters in the MLB, besting that of Juan Soto (20%) and Mookie Betts (20%). In fact, amongst players with at least 300 plate appearances, Julien did have the lowest O-Swing% in Major League Baseball. 

With a year of MLB experience under his belt, I’ll take the bait that Julien continues to develop and mature in the batter’s box, and hopefully make a little more contact this year than last season. If he does that, he can either sustain his batting average from 2023 or maybe even improve upon it a bit, and then his high walk rate will only inflate his OBP more.

Nolan Gorman Goes 30/10 In 2024

Actually, when you consider that Gorman hit 27 home runs and stole seven bases in just 119 games last season, maybe it isn't that bold. I’m buying into an offseason program focusing on conditioning and nutrition that will help keep him limber and healthy in 2024. 

Over the course of a full season, Gorman’s numbers from 2023 – mainly a 16.5 percent barrel rate and 48.5 percent hard hit rate – would produce massive fantasy results. His xSLG last season was .498 and he hits a ton of fly balls.

I alluded to it in my fantasy baseball 2B power hitters piece, but the equation for Gorman is simple. Hard contact + fly balls = elevated power floor.

Gorman already has a stolen base in spring training, which is both exciting and irrelevant at the same time, and so long as his back holds up in 2024, he’s opportunistic enough on the base paths to take advantage of the new rules and reach double-digit swiped bags this season.

He’ll run a bit streaky at the dish, and likely post a strikeout rate north of 30 percent once again, but there’s no denying the power, and health willing, we can get a full season from the young slugger.

Zack Gelof Goes 20/20, Jose Altuve & Marcus Semien Do Not

I’ve been rather bullish on Gelof in past fantasy baseball 2B articles, so that part of the prediction may not come as much of a surprise. In a limited sample size last season, he posted 14 home runs and 14 stolen bases in just 69 games, while posting a 11.1 percent barrel rate. 

The quality of contact with Gelof is great, but the quantity of contact leaves a lot to be desired, as he posted an underwhelming 67.9 percent contact rate and 16.1 SwStr% last season. There is plenty of swing-and-miss in his game, and he’ll need to improve against left-handers, but he’s a legit power-speed combo guy that is set to join the 20/20 club in 2024. 

Altuve should hit 20+ home runs, but the stolen base total shouldn’t exceed 20 this season. Altuve hasn’t been a member of the 20/20 club since 2017, though to his credit, he was just two stolen bases shy back in 2022. 

He hasn’t logged more than 20 stolen base attempts since 2018, though his pace last year (16 attempts in 90 games) was more aggressive than seasons past. He’s not the threat on the base paths he once was, and despite recording multiple stolen bases in meaningless spring training games, he’ll stay below 20 swiped bags in 2024. 

As for Semien, his last year of admission in the 20/20 club was 2020, which just so happens to be the only year he’s done it. The stolen base rate in 2022 wasn’t something Semien was going to match in 2023, and he logged just 17 stolen base attempts across a full 162 games last season. Bruce Bochy didn’t have the team run a ton on the bases, and if that continues in 2024, Semien will likely post a stolen base total in the low-to-mid teens.