If you're gearing up for the fantasy baseball season here is a two round mock draft to help you decide which player is best for your draft slot. This is to be used in standard points leagues that are non keeper and dynasty.
This is based on what strategy I would use to create the best fantasy baseball team, not ADP.
ROUND 1
Team A: Jacob deGrom
Team B: Shane Bieber
Team C: Mike Trout
Team D: Mookie Betts
Team E: Juan Soto
Team F: Ronald Acuna Jr.
Team G: Fernando Tatis Jr.
Team H: Trea Turner
Team I: Trevor Bauer
Team J: Freddie Freeman
Team K: Gerrit Cole
Team L: Jose Ramirez
Round 1 Notes:
-Jacob deGrom is the number one pick and has the best chance to lead all MLB players in fantasy points. Shane Bieber has the second best chance. In most points leagues there will be one or two starting pitchers that lead all players in fantasy points and I believe you should draft those guys ASAP. deGrom and Bieber should be selected first in fantasy baseball drafts.
-My favorite tactic is selecting the best pitcher as soon as I can. However after the first two get selected there is a gap until the next one should be selected. I have that being Trevor Bauer selected ninth, then Gerrit Cole 11th.
-Mike Trout is the best baseball player in the world and the first batter taken off the board. Fellow Los Angeles star Mookie Betts should follow up.
-Juan Soto (22), Ronald Acuna Jr. (23), and Fernando Tatis Jr. (22) are seen as the future of baseball. These three could be interchangeable depending on what position or style of player you want. For me, I'm taking Soto. I believe he will supply more power and a better batting average with fewer strikeouts. Acuna and Tatis have similar power and plus speed to get stolen bases, but will likely have a lower batting average and more strikeouts than Soto.
-After Tatis gets selected fantasy managers should be looking to select the next best shortstop. The two candidates are Trea Turner, and Trevor Story. Turner is the better pick of these two. He strikes out less, and excels on the base-paths, creating more scoring opportunities.
-If you are looking for more power over Turner's speed you should think about Freddie Freeman or Jose Ramirez. Freeman is the best first basemen in baseball and coming off an MVP season, I wouldn't blame anybody for selecting Freeman earlier in the draft.
-For the final pick in the first round Ramirez barely beat out Machado, but both of these players are good selections here. However, it is possible to select both players and have the two hitters supplying your team points.
ROUND 2
L: Manny Machado
K: Trevor Story
J: Lucas Giolito
I: Bryce Harper
H: Christian Yelich
G: DJ LeMahieu
F: Marcell Ozuna
E: Francisco Lindor
D: Yu Darvish
C: Xander Bogaerts
B: Walker Buehler
A: Luis Castillo
Round 2 Notes
-Team L has an interesting scenario. They selected third basemen Jose Ramirez with the final pick of Round 1 and now get to select first in Round 2. One might think to draft Trevor Story here. Story has produced numbers and gotten better every year since his rookie season in 2016. However I believe Manny Machado should be the pick here. Story and Ramirez are both on teams that traded away their other star. The downside being potentially less production from Story and Ramirez and selecting both is risky.
-Machado will be the best second round pick in 2021. He is coming off a season where he batted an average of .304 and an OBP of .370. I can see those numbers falling slightly in 2021 but I believe Machado will have his first 100 RBI and 100 run season of his career.
-The strategy for the beginning of the second round will be to snag the best available batter. Story continues to produce and as a big fan of his it's hard to place him below other shortstops Tatis, and Turner. However I believe Tatis has more star power and Turner will have a more complete style of play. If Machado is no longer available Story will be the next best infield option.
-Another strategy for the beginning of this round is grabbing a pitcher at the top so the teams below cannot select the fifth ranked pitcher, Lucas Gioltio. Team K already selected Gerrit Cole in the first round and should pass on taking another pitcher so quickly. Team J however selected Freddie Freeman making this the perfect time to snag a high end pitcher. The options here are Giolito, Yu Darvish, Walker Buehler, and Aaron Nola. Some might like Darvish for his ability to keep hitters guessing, or Buehler due to his extreme fastball spin and velocity. If you click here, you will see why I am so high on Giolito this season.
-The next two players selected will most likely be Bryce Harper and Christian Yelich. If it wasn't for the trio of Acuna, Soto, and Tatis these two players would be picked much higher in the draft. These two players, similar to Machado, will be a really solid selection for whoever can get them in the second round.
-DJ LeMahieu is my favorite player in all MLB. He consistently bats for a high average while hardly ever striking out, has shown some pop while playing in Yankee Stadium, and hits the ball extremely hard even though he rarely gets the sweet spot of the barrel on the ball. LeMahieu also gives my favorite fantasy baseball team name "DJ LeMaggio" when you combine his name with one of the greatest baseball players of all-time and fellow Yankee Joe DiMaggio. I realize this might be reach for LeMahieu but truly believe he is a top 20 player in fantasy baseball.
-Marcell Ozuna is the biggest surprise in the second round. Ozuna had a hard time staying healthy with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2018-2019. In 2020 with the Atlanta Braves Ozuna played his best season yet and is returning to a strong Braves lineup after signing a four year extension in the off-season. Ozuna looks to follow up 2020 with another great season. If he returns to the form he had in St. Louis he will be seen as a bust for this draft slot.
-Luis Castillo is the other surprise as some might say there are better pitchers to select here. Lets take a look at those other options. Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Jack Flaherty, Aaron Nola. I believe Scherzer and Kershaw should be removed due to age and injury concerns. You do not want to make a mistake this early in a fantasy draft. Next I think we can remove Flaherty from consideration as his career statistics are lower than Castillo and Nola's. Now we have two options remaining in Castillo and Nola. I chose Castillo because his fastball and changeup are better. His fastball has more velocity and spin, his changeup causes strikeouts and has a higher whiff percentage, his slider is similar to Nola's curveball in terms of usage and whiff percentage. On top of the pitches they each throw we should consider the division these they play in and their opponents. Castillo should have a much easier time in the N.L Central that had a hard time improving their teams.
-For the final two picks I used the Pocket Aces method. This is when you select two number one pitchers with your top two picks. This is an easy one to mess up as the outcome depends on which two pitchers are selected. Teams A and B were able to draft deGrom and Bieber while also being able to get another Cy Young candidate at the bottom of round 2. If you are able to draft deGrom or Bieber in the first round I highly suggest considering taking another elite pitcher in the second round. You might be lucky and Giolito, or Darvish will fall to you, but Buehler and Castillo are dependable options.
These notes are ones I have taken from doing many fantasy baseball drafts and mock drafts. I compiled my two round fantasy baseball mock draft using my own rankings and not using average draft position(ADP) too often. The best combos selected today are teams A, B, E, and J.
Feel free to leave a comment, question or suggestion down below. You can reach out to me on social media as I am always available for a conversation about baseball or any sport for that matter.
This is to be used in standard points or category leagues that are non keeper and dynasty.
All stats from Fangraphs. All videos courtesy of MLB and Baseball Savant.
Featured image, Tomorrows Baseball logo.
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