Fantasy Baseball: 7 Late-Round Hitters With Stolen-Base Upside

Jarrod Dyson, Seattle Mariners

NFBC ADP: 243.77 | Projected Steals: 31

Last year with the Kansas City Royals, Jarrod Dyson notched a career-high 337 plate appearances. Now, he's with the Mariners and projected to bat leadoff; he could blow the lid off that number.

Even with limited playing time, Dyson has always been able to rack up the steals. He had 30 last year, and he has at least 26 in all five big-league seasons with at least 225 plate appearances. He has been shining in that department at low volume, and now he should be gaining expanded opportunities.

The problem with Dyson -- unlike Martin -- is that he seems more likely to sit when there's a left-handed pitcher on the bump. Dyson has just 278 plate appearances in his career versus southpaws, 35 of which came last year. Martin -- despite also being a left-handed stick -- faced lefties 190 times in 2016. Between the two, Martin is less likely to wind up in a platoon, helping to bolster his relative value.

Still, it's hard to ignore the upsides of Dyson. Assuming that Nelson Cruz acts as the designated hitter every day, there's not a ton of competition to push Dyson out of a job, and he has been hitting leadoff during the spring. There's value in that.

Dyson also made strides last year in cutting his strikeout rate all the way to 11.6%, easily the lowest mark of his career. This helps keep his batting average at a respectable level. He doesn't have the pop or the job security of Martin, but there are enough reasons to like Dyson to justify him at his cost.