2024 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Spotlight: Finding Power At 2B
With fantasy baseball in full swing, you’ve likely been reading all the great content in our fantasy baseball draft guide here at Fantasy Alarm, as well as partaking in many fantasy baseball mock drafts and best ball contests.
When looking at some of your teams, you may notice that the elite talent at second base dries up rather quickly, and once you get beyond the likes of Zack Gelof and Nolan Gorman, it gets rather dicey at second base. Additionally, you’ll notice that the second base position lacks power overall.
So, in this edition of the fantasy baseball positional spotlight, we are going to take a look at finding cheaper power production at second base, and I have found three guys, all outside of the top 100 that you can draft as above-average power producers (A.K.A. cheap power) at the position.
Using the 2024 fantasy baseball projections here at Fantasy Alarm, here are the average projected slugging percentage and home run totals of the top 20 players at each position. Again, this is the average of the top 20 players (sorted by projected home runs) at each position:
| SLG | HR | |
| C | .427 | 20.85 |
| 1B | .473 | 26.75 |
| 2B | .449 | 21.8 |
| 3B | .457 | 25.2 |
| SS | .448 | 22.4 |
| OF | .509 | 32.9 |
| OF (top 40) | .469 | 27.8 |
As I mentioned earlier, the elite options dry up a bit quickly at 2B, and by NFBC ADP, the top three projected guys in home runs at the position are the first three being taken off the board.
Alas, here we are, looking for other options later in the draft to help your team’s power numbers from the second base spot. Here are my favorite sources of cheaper power at second base for the fantasy baseball season:
Nolan Gorman, St. Louis Cardinals
I can’t stop writing about Gorman this season! So, here I am again! Yes, Gorman is one of my favorite values at the position, and yes, he’s one of my favorite sources of power at the second position. Remember, through the month of May last year, he slashed .272/.360/.555 with 13 home runs, 41 RBI, and four stolen bases!
Yes, he cooled off from there, but Gorman is still incredibly young, and last season, he hit 27 home runs and had a 97th percentile barrel rate! Thus far in his young career, he has a 162-game average of 32 home runs!
97th percentile barrel rate. 86th percentile hard hit rate. 79th max exit velocity. 77th percentile average exit velocity. 87th percentile xSLG. 94th percentile xISO. He’s a 30+ homer bat this year, something that only a couple of second baseman will likely do.
Brandon Drury, Los Angeles Angels
Much like Gorman, Drury’s number tailed off as the 2023 year went on, but by season’s end, Drury still had 26 home runs and a .497 SLG to show for the campaign. He’s been very consistent over the last two seasons, slashing .262/.313/.495 with a .232 ISO and 54 total home runs.
His 2023 season saw him post the best barrel rate (11%) of his career, not to mention his highest average exit velocity. Drury remained excellent against left-handed pitching, but in 2023, his improvements against RHP were noticeable, namely the .261 average and .503 SLG! Drury is locked into an everyday role for the Angels, and he figures to hit right outside the heart of the order.
He’s a free agent at the end of the year, so we have the contract year narrative with him, or perhaps he gets dealt at the deadline to an improved lineup. Our projections have Drury hitting 25 home runs with a .450 SLG in 2024.
Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays
Lowe’s 2023 season was impacted by injuries, as a lower back issue sent him to the injured list in June, and then a right patella fracture cut his season short. Despite the injuries, he still managed to hit 21 home runs with a .443 SLG and .212 ISO across 109 games.
Lowe had a slow start to the season, and by slow, I mean slowwwwww. Prior to his back injury in June, he was slashing just .205/.299/.398. However, once he returned from his injury, he rode a .254/.353/.483 slash line the rest of the way, alongside a 23.8 percent strikeout rate and .229 ISO.
While the Rays likely sit him against left-handed pitching, he’ll play on the large side of a platoon at second base, and his combination of a double-digit barrel rate and 40+ percent fly ball rate is quite lucrative for power production.
Lastly, I’ll leave this here…
In 2021, Brandon Lowe hit 39 home runs.
- 2021: 89.3mph EV, 16.9 degree LA, 14.0 Barrel%, 43.1 HH%, 44.0 FB%
- 2023: 91.4mph EV, 16.0 degree LA, 10.7 Barrel%, 47.5 HH%, 44.8 FB%
Just keep that in mind in your upcoming fantasy baseball drafts.
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Daulton Varsho picked up three hits, three RBI and a homer in a win over the Angels on Thursday.
Varsho has only played in seven games this year, but they’ve been seven good ones. He’s homered three times already, and his slugging percentage is a remarkable — and entirely unsustainable — .727 over 22 at-bats. Varsho has been a mediocre offensive player in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, but it’s possible at the age of 28 he’s having a breakout campaign. Far from a guarantee, but possible.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in a loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday.
Ward, 31, gave the Angels a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Chris Bassitt in the first inning. He’s now gone deep in two of his last three games, and it ‘improves’ his slash to .181/.224/.391. Ward has been one of the most hot/cold players players in the sport over the last few years, so fantasy managers who can afford to make some roster moves may want to look at Ward while the going is good.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. picked up three hits and scored twice in an 8-5 win over the Angels on Thursday.
Guerrero also drew a walk. It gives the first baseman multiple hits in back-to-back games, and it’s the third time in May that he’s reached that mark. That’s helped raise his average from .268 to .295, and the only thing fantasy managers can be disappointed with is his .432 slugging percentage. That number should continue to climb as the season unfolds, but Vladdy Jr. has had some inconsistent seasons when it comes to power production.
Chad Green picked up his first save of 2025 with a scoreless ninth against the Angels on Thursday.
Green got the save after Jeff Hoffman worked in back-to-back games — and struggled — in the first two contests against the Angels. He struck out two and looked the part while needing just nine pitches to get through the inning. Hoffman should remain the closer, but Green is on his tail if the struggles were to continue.
Chris Bassitt allowed five runs — four earned — while working six-plus innings against the Angels on Thursday while picking up a win.
Bassitt allowed three runs over the first two innings on a pair of homers, but settled down over his next four frames. He came out to work the seventh, but ended up being charged for two more runs after leaving the contest. The 36-year-old veteran has forged a 3.35 ERA and outstanding 49/8 K/BB ratio over the first quarter of the season, but this wasn’t him at his best. He’ll get the Rays next week if the rotation order stays the same for Toronto.
José Soriano allowed three runs over five innings while not factoring in the decision Thursday against the Blue Jays.
Soriano left with a 4-3 lead, but it was erased quickly after his departure. The 26-year-old was not exactly dominant in his outing with eight hits allowed and four free passes, but he did strike out six to help balance things out a smidgen. Soriano takes an even ERA of 4.00 into a scheduled start against the Padres in San Diego on Tuesday. There should be better options for that one.