You can see the title of this article above, but the alternative title, or perhaps the subtitle, should be “Why Not to Target Single-Category Contributors.”

One-trick ponies tend to be over drafted. It’s common for drafters to reach for a single-category stud in an effort to “lock-up” a specific category. Examples of this in early ADP (average draft position) are speedster Jonathan Villar and a power hitter like Pete Alonso .

Villar has stolen 161 bases in the last four years over 581 games, which works out to an average of about 45 steals per 162 games. Villar may never come anywhere close to the 62 steals he had in 2016, and it took him a full 162 games last season to get to the 40-steal mark. However, he should steal 30-plus this season, and in an era where steals are in decline, he’s a safe bet to be a top-five base stealer.

The problem is that you’ll be lucky if Villar gives you above average production in any other counting category outside of runs, and he’s going to hurt you in average. The 24 home runs from last season look nice, but Villar homered once every 30 plate appearances. The league, on average, homered once every 28 plate appearances. You know RBIs aren’t a plus for a leadoff hitter, and even the runs may not be as helpful as you think when you consider that he’s unlikely to play all 162 and total over 700 plate appearances again. We could get in to how Villar had a spike season like the one in 2016 and how 2017 and 2018 were cautionary tales. But the main point here is that the only bankable skill Villar has is steals.

It’s confusing why Villar would be going towards the end of the third round in early ADP when you could get a different middle infielder like Bo Bichette at the end of the seventh. Bichette has real upside in the steals department as he stole 32 bases in 2018 at Double-A in 595 PA, and some projection systems like him to steal 20-plus bases in a full season of work this year. If that plays out, Bichette’s biggest fantasy contribution will come in the steals category, just like Villar.

The difference is that Bichette has pop and will hit for better average. In his rookie season, Bichette hit a home run once every 19 or so plate appearances, and, again, Villar hit one every 30. Bichette also hit .311 in his first 212 PA, and while he likely regresses in that department over a full season, he’s got a leg up on Villar who has maxed out at .274 in his last three seasons. All told, the young, upside laden Bichette should be a much more well-rounded fantasy contributor that still helps you in speed at a lower cost than Villar.

As for Alonso, someone is going to have to explain why he is going a round earlier than his 2019 Rookie of the Year counterpart, Yordan Alvarez . Alonso had a remarkable rookie season hitting 53 home runs, scoring 103 runs and driving in 120 runs in 161 games. However, the 161-game number is the key number there. Had Alvarez been in the big leagues all season and played the same number of games and had he maintained his rate of production, he would have finished with 49 home runs, 107 runs and 144 RBI!

Despite the potential similarity in numbers over a full season, the better argument for Alvarez over Alonso comes from the underlying plate discipline numbers. Alvarez led Alonso in strikeout rate by about a percentage point, and Alvarez’s walk rate was 3.7 percentage points better than Alonso’s, which led to Alvarez having a 54-point advantage in OBP. Alvarez was much more selective swinging at pitches outside the zone at a rate about four percentage points lower than Alonso, and Alvarez made more contact with a swinging strike rate two percentage points lower than Alonso.

Neither one of these guys is going to run, but we can reasonably assume they will produce at similar rates in the counting categories, and Alvarez is unquestionably going to help more in batting average absent some fluke BABIP luck. So why would you take Alonso over Alvarez?

Focusing on multi-cat contributors allows you to build a deep, flexible roster. You’re less susceptible to devastating injuries, and you have more options as far as the types of players you can add via waivers or trade. As an example, if the plan is to compete in steals with Villar and he gets injured, you’re in trouble. Villar was coming off a 62-steal season in 2016 but got hurt in 2017 and only played 122 games with only 23 steals. You can probably add a 20-25 SB type guy off the wire mid-season in that situation, but they’re also going to provide you no power and hurt you in batting average. On the flip side, if you focus on multi-cat guys consistently in your draft, injuries won’t kill you, and you’ll be able to add specific category contributors if needed and will be less impacted by their negatives.

In the first two rounds, there are obviously quite a few hitters who will give you solid numbers across all five categories. However, there are a few guys you might want to avoid if you’re intent on getting five-cat contributors. Guys like Trea Turner and Fernando Tatis don’t fit the five-cat plan. Turner is a speedster who hit home runs at a league average rate last season, and you might do well to get an above average power hitter with a top pick. Tatis is worrisome because he might not get too much more than 80 RBI in a full season, and the youngster showed well below average contact skills in his debut that are going to hurt his average. The fact that he has not played more than 90 games in either of the last two seasons is unrelated to the theme of this article but is also concerning.  You’re not going to lose your league by drafting one of those guys, they just don’t fit the multi-cat game plan.

As you go through the later rounds of your drafts, here are a few additional multi-cat contributors to target.

Outfield

There’s no doubt that the majority of multi-category contributors are in the outfield. As a result, it’s not the worst idea to go with an infielder in the early rounds if you have a coin flip type choice between an outfielder and an infielder. You’ll have plenty of chances to fill your outfield slots with diversified contributors in the middle and later rounds.

Though we just got done mentioning durability concerns for Tatis, we must mention Shohei Ohtani . Ohtani is going just outside the top 100 overall and top 70 among hitters, but if he can clear even 550 PA, he could be a top-40 hitter. Ohtani has 40 home runs and 22 steals in his first two seasons, and if he produced at the same per-plate-appearance rates over 550 PA, he would end the season with 28 home runs and 15 steals. Obviously if he could manage to stay healthy for an entire season, his upside would be significant. He also has stability in both runs and RBI as a middle-of-the order-hitter, and his .286 career average is far better than the league average of .252 last season.

Going about a round later than Ohtani is White Sox rookie Luis Robert . Robert signed an extension this offseason that gets rid of the service time problem and should place him in the starting lineup from Day 1. Over three levels last season, Robert hit 32 home runs and stole 36 bases. In 223 PA at Triple-A, Robert hit .297, which means he should instantly hit for average at a rate better than league average, and projection systems have him hitting in the .270 range. There’s not a glaring weakness across the board, and he could provide significant value in the steals category. He’s another guy that would make much more sense to draft over Villar, especially given the six to seven round gap between them.

Once you get outside the top 200 in ADP, it can be difficult to find guys who will help in every category, or rather guys who won’t hurt significantly in any category. However, Andrew McCutchen could be such a guy if he’s able to return to health and play near a full season. He doesn’t need to get 650-plus PA as he did every year for nine seasons prior to last year (except for a 648 PA season), he just needs to play 130 games or so and get near 600 PA. If he does, he should be able to top 20 home runs and steal near double-digit bags with near average runs-plus-RBI totals, with one or the other being a bit better depending on where he hits in the lineup. Long gone are the days of hitting .300-plus, but with a league average of only .252 last season, McCutchen can at least give you average production in that category.

Infield

It’s easier to find multi-cat guys up the middle than it is at the corners, but Yuli Gurriel should help everywhere but steals though you can essentially throw out steals for first basemen. The only first baseman with double-digit steals last season was Danny Santana , and he played a plurality of games as an outfielder. The only other first basemen with more than five steals were Christian Walker and Freddie Freeman with eight and six, respectively. In the group of five 1Bs behind them with five steals was Gurriel, so he’s arguably giving you as much in that category as you can hope for from his position.

In the last three seasons Yuli has averaged 140 games, 21 home runs, four steals, 75 runs and 88 RBI with a .295 average. He also posted career bests in each category last season. He’ll likely regress this season, but slight regression per the aging curve isn’t going to take any of those numbers well below average.

We’ll quickly note without a deep dive that BrIan Anderson , who played 67 games at a corner infield spot last season, may give you slightly below average production in each category, but only slightly. Anderson is currently going outside the top 300 overall.

Up the middle, Yuli’s brother and Bichette’s teammate, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has multi-cat appeal. In about 55- to 60-percent of a conservatively projected full season last year, Gurriel hit 20 home runs, stole six bases and cleared 50 in both runs and RBI to go along with a solid .277 batting average. While contact is still a problem, Gurriel did become a bit more selective at the plate, and he got his OBP just above league average. There’s some risk in batting average due to the contact deficiency, but he has enough speed to maintain an above average BABIP, which offsets that downside.