MLB
Fantasy Baseball: 7 Late-Round Hitters With Stolen-Base Upside
With stolen bases on the decline in Major League Baseball, which players can we target late in fantasy baseball drafts who are able to boost that category?

Travis Jankowski, San Diego Padres

NFBC ADP: 292.38 | Projected Steals: 28

Back to those Padres, we still have the playing-time concerns around Jankowski that were noted with Margot. There is upside, though, if Jankowski can play consistently.

In his first extended action in the bigs last year, he stole 30 bases over just 383 plate appearances. That's a number you'd likely take at this price, and it came in just a partial season. If he bats leadoff (again, as he is currently projected to do), the odds of reaching those marks just jump higher.

Jankowski does have concerns around strikeouts with a 26.1% strikeout rate last year, but it came along with an 11.0% walk rate. You don't need a base hit to steal a base; a walk works just as well, even if it won't aid you in traditional five-category leagues. This walk rate also helps Jankowski's appeal in on-base percentage leagues.

Unfortunately, there is almost no pop to go along with this speed. He had just a 23.9% hard-hit rate and 15.5% fly-ball rate last year. That can play fine as a center fielder, but with Margot seemingly the favorite to hold down that spot, Jankowski likely gets shoved to a corner. In terms of bats, Dickerson's would profile much better there, and it puts Jankowski in some serious danger.

If there's any injury among the Padres' four outfield candidates or one of them struggles, Jankowski is going to play, and he's going to steal bases. That makes him worthy of his current ADP for deeper leagues. Just know that if you wind up clicking his name, it does come with some big red flags that could wipe out the upside.

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