Shortstop is a generally glamorous position for fantasy baseball. Huge names like Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson, Mookie Betts and Elly De La Cruz fill up the top of most fantasy baseball drafts with strong options like Francisco Lindor, Trea Turner and Corey Seager just behind them. If you’re shopping for value at the position, there are some strong fantasy baseball sleepers to consider as well outside those well-known options.
Whether you prefer season-long leagues, DFS contests or DraftKings Best Ball, DK Network will have you covered throughout the upcoming season. To begin our coverage, we went through potential breakouts at each position: AL SP Breakouts, NL SP Breakouts, AL OF Breakouts, NL OF Breakouts, Catcher Breakouts, 1B Breakouts, 2B Breakouts, 3B Breakouts and SS Breakouts. In my SS breakouts, I highlighted Matt McLain, Zach Neto and Jordan Lawlar as potential breakouts and also included Ceddanne Rafaela as an OF breakout. In addition to those four options, here are three more fantasy baseball sleepers I’m targeting at SS.
Ezequiel Tovar, Colorado Rockies
Tovar is currently the No. 16 SS according to his ADP, but he hits in a premium lineup spot for a team that scores plenty of runs, and he’s quickly emerging as one of their best players. He won the Gold Glove at the position last year after signing a seven-year deal that locks him in as a centerpiece of their current rebuild. His exceptional defense doesn’t do much for his fantasy owners but does keep him in the lineup.
Tovar’s bat has been catching up with his glove, and he’s still just 23 at the start of the season. He hit .253 with a .298 wOBA in 153 games in 2023 as a rookie and improved those numbers significantly last season. He played 157 games for Colorado in 2024 and hit .269 with a .324 wOBA. He also had a power surge with a .200 ISO and 26 home runs and an NL-leading 45 doubles. Exactly half his long-balls came at Coors Field, but he also put up strong numbers on the road with a .320 wOBA and 104 wRC+.
He had a hot July but slumped in August before finishing strong over the last month of the year. Since he’s still a work in progress at the plate, the inconsistencies could continue this season, but that also gives him a very high ceiling if he is able to sustain at his highest level.
Tovar remains very aggressive at the plate (just a 3.3% walk rate), and he could be an even better hitter if he is more selective in 2025. His upside makes him one of my favorite fantasy baseball sleepers at shortstop once the big names are off the board.
Tyler Fitzgerald, San Francisco Giants
Fitzgerald will be eligible at SS this season, but he also brings great versatility since he is expected to play plenty of OF and 2B with free agent acquisition Willy Adames holding down SS on a regular basis for the Giants. If you’re looking for a backup or deep-league starter, Fitz is extremely interesting as the No. 27 SS right now by ADP.
Last year, Fitzgerald got his first extended look in the MLB, playing 96 games and making a great impression with 15 home runs, 17 stolen bases and a .280 batting average. In Triple-A before being called up, he had eight home runs and a stolen base with a .310 average in 17 games. In the previous season at Double-A and Triple-A, Fitzgerald had 22 homers and 32 stolen bases while hitting a solid .292.
Fitzgerald offers both power and speed production with a strong batting average. He did have a strikeout rate over 30% in the majors last year, so he’ll need to improve on that this season.
Given his success last season, a 25-25 season or even a 30-30 season is a possibility since he’ll be a regular in the lineup. As a multi-position player, Fitz is one of my top late-round fantasy baseball sleepers, and he should be a key part of the Giants’ batting order this season.
Luisangel Acuna, New York Mets
Maybe this belongs more in the “breakout” category, but Acuna is going so late in drafts that he’s also a great fantasy baseball sleeper to target late. The 22-year-old prospect will have a “huge role” this season, according to manager Carlos Mendoza, and he’s expected to play multiple infield positions. If you wait at SS, he is a nice pick late that will also probably have eligibility at 2B and 3B as the season goes on.
In case you missed it, Acuna is the younger brother of Braves’ starter Ronald Acuna Jr., and he got a shot to join his brother in the NL East as a September call-up. In his 14 games, he hit .308 (12-for-39) with two doubles, a triple, three home runs and a .406 wOBA. He was unsuccessful in his only stolen base attempt, but he has huge stolen base potential this year.
He had 40 stolen bases at Triple-A last season while hitting .258 with a .295 wOBA. While the Mets have a great lineup coming into the season, they don’t have many base stealers, so Acuna brings a new dimension if he is able to earn a full-time spot.
Acuna is still very unproven, but he has the raw tools to be a late-round steal. Especially if you’re shopping for speed, add Acuna to your list of fantasy baseball sleepers to watch for late in your drafts.
