Here’s a look at The Wonkypenguin’s cheat sheet for 2023 fantasy baseball drafts.
Kelly Kirby’s Draft Day Cheat Sheet (2023)
My Favorite Targets By Position
Catcher: Willson Contreras, William Contreras, Sean Murphy, Tyler Stephenson, Jonah Heim, Logan O’Hoppe
First Base: Freddie Freeman, Pete Alonso, Jose Abreu, Christian Walker, Ryan Mountcastle, Rowdy Tellez, Tristan Casas
Second Base: Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jeff McNeil, Thairo Estrada, Josh Rojas
Third Base: Jose Ramirez, Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson, Alec Bohm, Jordan Walker
Shortstop: Bo Bichette, Corey Seager, Wander Franco, Nico Hoerner, Oswald Peraza
Outfield: Ronald Acuna Jr., Julio Rodriguez, Kyle Tucker, Mike Trout, Kyle Schwarber, Corbin Carroll, Christian Yelich, Jake McCarthy, Seth Brown, Jose Siri, Garrett Mitchell, TJ Friedl, Oscar Colas, Josh Lowe
Utility: Yordan Alvarez, Eloy Jimenez, Giancarlo Stanton
Starting Pitchers: Aaron Nola, Spencer Strider, Shane Bieber, Kevin Gausman, Cristian Javier, Yu Darvish, Luis Severino, George Kirby, Hunter Greene, Lance Lynn, Joe Ryan, Charlie Morton, Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Tyler Anderson, Marcus Stroman, Justin Steele, Hunter Brown, Kyle Bradish, Hayden Wesneski, David Peterson
Relief Pitchers: Josh Hader, Devin Williams, David Bednar, Clay Holmes, Andres Munoz, Jhoan Duran, A.J. Puk, Rafael Montero
Targets By Round (12 Team League)
1st: Ronald Acuna, Julio Rodriguez, Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez, Juan Soto
2nd: Freddie Freeman, Mike Trout, Rafael Devers, Bo Bichette, Pete Alonso, Bobby Witt Jr.
3rd: Austin Riley, Francisco Lindor, Marcus Semien, Edwin Diaz
4th: Corey Seager, Matt Olson, Randy Arozarena, Kyle Schwarber
5th: Cedric Mullins, Jazz Chisholm, Kevin Gausman, Josh Hader
6th: Luis Castillo, Yu Darvish, Max Fried, Cristian Javier
7th: Devin Williams, Framber Valdez, Corbin Carroll, Wander Franco
8th: Jose Abreu, Gunnar Henderson, Tim Anderson, Felix Bautista
9th: Nestor Cortes Jr. Willy Adames, Giancarlo Stanton, Jeremy Pena
10th: Christian Yelich, Nathaniel Lowe, George Kirby, Willson Contreras
11th-15th: Lance Lynn, Christian Walker, Nico Hoerner, Hunter Greene, William Contreras, Charlie Morton, Jeffrey Springs
16th-20th: Tyler Stephenson, Josh Rojas, Jon Gray, Tristan Casas, Seth Brown, Edward Cabrera
21st-25th: Thairo Estrada, Josh Jung, Riley Greene, Oswald Peraza, Marcus Stroman, Ross Stripling
Post-300 ADP: Shea Langeliers, Justin Steele, Hayden Wesneski, Oscar Colas, Garrett Mitchell, Rafael Montero, Andrew Painter, Jose Siri
Players To Avoid Near ADP
Strategy/Advice
- While there are many ways to build a roster, this year seems particularly difficult to go heavy on pitching early. Managers who like the “Pocket Aces” strategy will definitely be the contrarians at the draft table.
- The dropoff at OF, 1B, 2B, and 3B is quicker than you think, with 3B being perhaps the shallowest after Ramirez, Devers, Riley, Machado, Witt, and Arenado go.
- Quality shortstops can be had through the first 10 rounds. While those in the 8th-10th are not as elite as those at the top of the board, when experts say you can wait on the position, they’re not kidding.
- Outfielders make up eight of the first 12 picks in 95% of mock drafts I’ve done. If you don’t draft an OF in the first round, you can wait til Round 6 or Round 7 to hop in. (But then hop in and collect three of them in a row from that group.)
- Starting pitching really is incredibly deep. There is an entire tier of potential SP2s showing up as late as the 10th round.
- Teams called up an abundance of rookies last year, so 2023 is the Year of the Sophomore. Be careful how many of these you draft, given the notorious sophomore slump possibility.
Overall, you can build a quality team in a myriad of ways and never be afraid to come up with a strategy that turns an entire draft on its head. Make sure to utilize some of the amazing FantasyPros tools we have. And, as always, good luck!
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Kelly Kirby is a featured writer and the lead copyeditor at FantasyPros. You can check out her archive here and follow her on Twitter at @thewonkypenguin.
