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We are on to another mock draft, this time we will be punting pitcher strikeouts. This is one of the more interesting categories to punt, and I am excited to see how weird of a team I can build. You can find each of our articles in the series here.

League Settings

I set up this league to have 20 starting slots (10 hitters, 10 pitchers) and two bench spots. Here are the full details:

Rosters: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF x3, UTIL x2, P x10
Categories: R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, ERA, WHIP, K, SV
My Pick: 9th

2020 Draft Kit: View printable cheat sheets, sleepers & mistakes to avoid

Strategy

• Use FantasyPros’ Zeile projections and Microsoft Excel to make customer pre-ranks that factor in which category I am punting.
• Stock up on hitters and elite relievers, and have four to six starters on very good teams to try to keep my head above water in the wins category.

Results

1.9 Trea Turner (SS – WAS)
It was between Lindor and Turner here, but I decided to get off the blocks with Trea and solidify my steals. Turner has more upside than Lindor with a similar floor, and the things he lacks in (homers, RBI) are categories I can make up for a bit later.

2.4 Jose Ramirez (3B – CLE)
I won’t have to worry too much about steals after these first two picks. Ramirez’s upside is nearly unmatched, especially for a second-round pick. I fully expect him to be elite in two of the big three skills (average, steals, power) – so I am more than happy to start my team off with Turner and Ramirez.

3.9 Yordan Alvarez (DH – HOU)
The one thing Turner and Ramirez do not bring is 40+ homer potential, so I grabbed that here with Alvarez. He adds nicely to my homers and RBI counts while keeping my batting average up.

4.4 Ozzie Albies (2B – ATL)
I may have gone a bit off the rails here, overloading on speed – but the upside with Albies justifies it. He also plays second base, so I will have an advantage in that extremely weak position. I definitely need to focus on some power hitters moving forward though.

5.9 Zack Greinke (SP – HOU)
Greinke is a logical SP1 for this kind of team, as I am going to be focused more on the ratios on the pitching side. Greinke should be able to pile up some wins with that Astros offense behind him, and he should once again provide sterling ratios. He is one of the biggest risers when you do not have to worry about getting a boatload of strikeouts.

6.4 Eloy Jimenez (OF – CHW)
I had my fingers crossed for Hader here, but somebody nabbed him right before me – brutal. That shifted my focus to more offensive power, and Eloy was sitting right there nicely for me. He should have a nice 2020 for homers and RBI while giving me big upside in batting average as well.

7.9 Josh Bell (1B – PIT)
Needed a first baseman, and Bell fits nicely into this team. I can’t say for sure he will hit for a good batting average, but I do think he is a safe bet for a good supply of homers. There is also a steep drop-off at first base after this tier, so I wanted to get in before that happened.

8.4 Aroldis Chapman (RP – NYY)
There are only two relievers I feel are truly safe, Hader and Chapman. I took this opportunity to grab Chapman, as it is really important that I put up good ratios and saves with this kind of punt-strikeouts build.

9.9 Mike Soroka (SP – ATL)
This is the only kind of situation where you will see me drafting Soroka. I want a reliable starter that will give me a good supply of wins without being a total blow-up risk. That is who Soroka is with his massive ground ball rate.

10.4 Shohei Ohtani (SP/DH – LAA)
I hope this is a daily lineup edit league! Even so, Ohtani gives me nice versatility and should be a viable starting pitcher this season given the delayed and shortened season. I would not have done this if this not a two utility slot league, as I can start Yordan and Ohtani here, and in a lot of leagues I would not be able to do that.

11.9 Liam Hendriks (RP – OAK)
I’m not really a believer in Hendriks, but it’s hard to say he wasn’t the best available saves option here. I wanted to get off the blocks with two very good sources of saves, and while that isn’t truly possible without getting both Hader and Chapman in my mind, this is a fine consolation prize for now.

12.4 David Price (SP – LAD)
Price is unreliable but should be able to rack up some wins when he is pitching. The Dodgers have one of the most ridiculous looking lineups we’ve seen, so I wanted some cheap exposure to that Dodgers pitching staff.

13.9 Franmil Reyes (OF – CLE)
It was time to add some more pop, and few guys have the raw power that Franmil has.

14.4 Justin Turner (3B – LAD)
I just have such a hard time passing up on this batting average/power combination in the 14th round. Turner doesn’t have a ton of upside, but he should bolster my batting average, and I will always welcome a player who can do that.

15.9 Alex Colome (RP – CHW)
More saves were an order here with a shorter SP staff due to my punting of strikeouts. I need to win saves most weeks if I’m not winning strikeouts.

16.4 Masahiro Tanaka (SP – NYY)
This is the perfect kind of build to take some questionable pitchers on awesome teams. Tanaka fits that, as there should be several games where Tanaka earns a win without pitching all that great.

17.9 Jake Odorizzi (SP – MIN)
Same story as Tanaka here. Odorizzi is backed by one of the league’s best offenses and he should help me stay somewhat competitive in wins.

18.4 Justin Upton (OF – LAA)
Some more pop and RBIs hitting in the heart of the Angels lineup, Upton makes a nice late-round pick here.

19.9 Will Smith (C – LAD)
Needed a catcher, Will Smith was the best available.

20.4 Ryan Pressly (RP – HOU)
Ratios, ratios, ratios. Pressly gives me elite help in ERA and WHIP. Who knows, maybe he even stumbles into a closer role this year.

Review

They gave me an A for this draft. I am ranked first overall, second in hitting, and 8th in pitching.

This strategy definitely lends itself to having a good team on paper, since you can really ramp up your offense and pitching ratios by not having to select starters early on. I am not sure it’s actually this easy in practice – as not having a ton of weekly innings opens up your team to have a crazy amount of variance in the short term.

I think this is one of the more interesting ways to go if you are set on punting something. Ignoring or waiting on starting pitching makes it easy for you to have a really strong offensive unit and a really strong ERA, saves and WHIP projection.

I’d encourage you to try it out yourself and see how you feel about it.

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Jon Anderson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jon, check out his archive and follow him @JonPgh.