Fantasy Baseball: 7 Late-Round Hitters With Stolen-Base Upside
Keon Broxton, Milwaukee Brewers
NFBC ADP: 185.67 | Projected Steals: 30
Keon Broxton comes with some legitimate concerns, but whew doggies, is this dude fun.
Despite recording just 244 big-league plate appearances last year, Broxton racked up 23 stolen bases and 9 home runs. If we add in his 199 Triple-A plate appearances, we get 41 steals and 17 dingers, an elite combo that would have him going much earlier in drafts if those concerns were a little bit lower.
The most glaring issue for Broxton is his batting average for those of you in five-category leagues. He struck out in 36.1% of his plate appearances last year, meaning that no amount of speed can prevent him from dropping anchor on your team in this department.
Additionally, the Milwaukee Brewers have done a tremendous job of stock-piling talent, meaning playing time is far from guaranteed. The team has Ryan Braun and Domingo Santana with pretty firm grasps on jobs, and top prospect Lewis Brinson could unseat Broxton as the starter in center field. If Broxton comes out sizzling like he did last year, this may not matter, but that's not a given for a guy with his strikeout rate.
That said, it's not all bad for Broxton. If he can snag a spot high in the order, he'll have extra chances for steals and runs scored, and that's certainly within the realm of possibilities.
Counsell on Broxton’s spot in lineup: “If we can get Keon going, we'd love to hit him in one of those spots at the top of the lineup."
— Tom (@Haudricourt) February 28, 2017
Broxton comes with a ton of risk, and he's not exactly free right now. That may force some of you to look elsewhere, and it'd be hard to blame you for doing so. But the upside here is obvious, so he'll make for an interesting decision on draft day.
