When we are looking at the first round in fantasy drafts you always have to try to go the safe route. You can't win your fantasy league in the first round, but you can lose it, is the usual mindset. But every now and then it's good to overdraft someone with huge upside.
That brings us to Fernando Tatis. Tatis was recently called the best all-around player in baseball by Juan Soto and it's easy for fantasy players to forget how electric he can be. Right now, on various websites he is going in the second round of standard drafts and right around pick #15. That is a bargain, but you shouldn't bank on that. Go get Tatis in the first round and I could even see grabbing him after the top 5 picks are off the board.
Tatis is still just 26 years old and should just be now entering his prime years. Tatis had another injury riddled season in 2024, which is one of the reasons his ADP is where it is, but when he returned, he looked as deadly as ever. In just 102 games, he smashed 21 home runs, 64 runs scored, 49 RBI, and stole 11 bases. His Statcast numbers tell a story of someone who is still an elite bat with 99th percentile hard-hit rates and in the 97th percentile for both average exit velocity and expected batting average.
In 2021 this is the same player that hit 42 home runs at just 22 years old and went along with a .282 average and 25 steals. If you prorate his stats from last season, you get a similar stat line. There are not many players that can give you 40+ home runs and 20+ steals, and Tatis is one of them.
Of course, the injury issue will be looming with him, but he is still young, and you could do worse in the first round with aging veterans and unproven young talent. As his body fills out more, and word is he hit the gym hard this offseason, he will have the ability to hit even more home runs. Tatis is certainly not the 'safe' first round option but if you want to roll the dice on a potential league winner and a possible 40-20 player, who you can get at the end of round 1, Tatis is the guy to reach for.