Fantasy Baseball Sleepers 2024: Best Hitting and Pitching Prospects to Draft

Opening Day of the 2024 MLB season is fast approaching.

For real this time.

While the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers technically got things going during the two-game Seoul Series, Thursday will see the league's other 28 teams in action for the first time.

That's also the day when many fantasy baseball leagues will get underway, meaning there is little time left to draft.

If you're reading this, you're surely doing some last-minute cramming, so let's cram away by highlighting three of the top prospects worth targeting.

The Tigers are big believers in Colt Keith. You should be, too.

And it won't cost you nearly as much to commit to that belief as it did for Detroit.

In January, the Tigers gave the 22-year-old a six-year, $28.6 million contract extension that includes options and escalators that could increase its value to $82 million over nine seasons.

A fifth-round pick out of Biloxi (Miss.) High School in 2020, Keith has basically crushed minor league pitching ever since. This past season, which he split between Double-A and Triple-A, he delivered 27 homers and 101 RBI in 126 games. His stat sheet also featured 41 other extra-base hits (38 doubles and three triples), 88 runs scored and a .306/.380/.552 slash line.

He'll be a contributor from the start, and if he wastes no time in maximizing his potential, he could push for 30 home runs and 100 RBI.

Wyatt Langford's star has been on the rise from the moment Texas took him fourth overall in last year's draft.

The 22-year-old appeared at four different levels last season and obliterated all of them. His combined production from those 44 games included 10 homers, 12 steals, 66 combined runs and RBI and a .360/.480/.677 slash line. He even tallied more walks (36) than strikeouts (34), just as he had during his final season of college ball at Florida.

He couldn't match that feat this spring (five walks to 15 strikeouts), but otherwise, he more than lived up to the hype. He's had six homers, 13 runs and 20 RBI with a .375/.429/.732 slash line across 19 contests.

The Rangers seemingly saw everything they needed to from Langford and added him to their Opening Day roster.

Fantasy managers would be wise to do the same, because every indication we've been given is that Langford is well on his way to becoming one of baseball's next rising stars.

The 2023 MLB draft class looked loaded with potential stars, and Paul Skenes still sat atop it as the No. 1 overall pick.

The 6'6" hurler pairs triple-digit heat with a wipeout slider, a twosome that hitters have yet to figure out—and may never be comfortable facing.

College hitters clearly had no chance, as Skenes, an instrumental part of LSU's national championship last season, delivered a 1.69 ERA and 0.75 WHIP with 209 strikeouts (against just 20 walks) in 122.2 innings in 2023.

The 21-year-old didn't pitch a ton after the draft, as he made just five starts at the rookie, Single-A and Double-A levels last season that totaled only 6.2 innings. While he allowed five hits and four earned runs, he also flashed that premier stuff with 10 strikeouts.

Skenes will open the season in the minors, which should surprise no one given his limited workload at the professional level, but if he pitches the way he can, he won't be down for long. A big-league call-up in May feels entirely doable, and if he makes it there by then (or sooner), he could be a fantasy asset.