When fantasy baseball managers gather together to draft and construct their teams there is always an emphasis on most of the major categories. There are some that like the power bats and load up on power to obtain home runs and RBIs. Others lean to the elusive speed categories to secure steals. On the pitching side saves are always chased but starting pitching becomes a category driven mindset trying to get high K's and low ERA and WHIP. What is often forgotten, even amongst some of the best fantasy managers in the business, is batting average.
Batting average for today's fan isn't as important and it once was. For 100+ years batting average told the story of how good a player was, now that mindset sits with OPS and WAR. The number of qualified hitters per season who have had an average of .300 or better over the past decade has gone down considerably. In 2016 there were 25 hitters, the same with 2017. By the time we reached 2022 that number fell to 11 and last year, after three straight seasons dropping, it settled at just 7 players. Overall batting average has not been .250 in any of the past five seasons. But, in fantasy baseball it still is a category to itself and can give you a distinct edge because of such a low number of players making a difference.
I would argue that batting average is the hardest category to master, and mathematically the toughest to come back from a hole in. There is a way you can secure this category, much like grabbing a team of steals or saves players and still have an overall successful team.
There are a few players who jump right out as batting average help. The problem is most won't do much in the way of other areas on your squad. Luis Arraez is the first name to jump out for those looking to really establish the category. Arraez is the best contact hitter in the game. He has hit over .300 every season in his career with one exception when he still hit .294. Arraez hit a remarkable .354 two seasons ago and that alone can win you a category. The problem is he doesn't do much anywhere else. Arraez has never hit more than 10 homers, never hit even 70 RBIs and has never stolen 10 bases. You an hope for 80+ runs, which gives him at least two categories, but he does dominate batting average like no other.
Xavier Edwards is just like Arraez, but maybe more valuable. Edwards batted over .300 for his career in the minors and then got called up for 200 plate appearances in the majors and went on to hit .328 last season. He will do even less in the way of HRs and RBIs than Arraez but he should pile up some runs and he does run. Edwards swiped 31 bags in 70 games last year and said he wants to run more this time around.
One young bat to look at that can help boost your BA is Jacob Wilson. Wilson batted over .400, yes .400 in 53 games in the Minors last season. He has always hit and hit well but lacks any sort of speed and power. Much like Arraez he is batting average and a hope for a touch of runs scored.
Don't just look at batting average this season as a category to supplement one of your low average, high power bats. It can be a category you can walk away with much in the same vein as saves or steals, you just have to make the commitment to old school average.