Fantasy Baseball Draft Picks to Avoid: Zac Gallen, Alexis Diaz, J.T. Realmuto (2024)

We are now less than three weeks away from the start of the season with the majority of your real drafts ramping up soon. It is important to remember that the average draft position (ADP) and where players are valued/ranked is different on every platform, so you can find different values and players to avoid on each platform.

Here is a look at a handful of players who could be overvalued on CBS.

Overvalued Players in CBS Fantasy Baseball Drafts

J.T. Realmuto (C – PHI) — 67 ADP on CBS

One of the positions I tend to punt the most in fantasy drafts is catcher. It’s understandable if you want to invest early in someone like Adley Rutschman. Otherwise, I believe you are much better off waiting till the double-digit rounds rather than overdrafting J.T. Realmuto in the sixth round of 12-team leagues.

The .252 batting average for Realmuto last season was his lowest since his rookie season, while he struck out the most times in his career (138) and had his lowest RBI mark (63) since 2016, not including the shortened 2020 season.

Zac Gallen (SP – ARI) — 32 ADP on CBS

Zac Gallen is trending down five spots in ADP on CBS, where he is still a bit overvalued.

It was a huge season last year for Gallen — 3.47 ERA across 210 innings with 220 strikeouts while finishing third in Cy Young voting.

Despite all of those numbers on paper, Gallen did allow a lot of hard contact. His strikeout-to-walk percentage rose and his xERA rose to 4.16 on the season. Gallen still figures to likely be solid this season but he does carry some risk if you’re drafting him as your No. 1 starter given the red flags that came from his advanced numbers last season.

Alexis Diaz (RP – CIN) — 150 ADP on CBS

After a dominant first half of the season, where he posted a 2.03 ERA last year, Diaz saw his ERA rise to 4.61 in the second half. He also saw his strikeout-to-walk ratio take a significant drop.

On the season, Diaz finished No. 2 in the National League in saves with 37. He was also in the sixth percentile in walk percentage at 12.6, though, and he pitches in one of the more hitter-friendly ballparks in the MLB, which is another risk.

The Reds are looking to take another step forward as a team this season with a lot of young talent, so Diaz should continue to see solid opportunity as a closer. The risk he carries given where he pitches and his lack of control at times simply needs to be understood.

It is important to understand that there is a difference between the terms “overvalued” and “busts.” In fantasy baseball and any fantasy sport for that matter, every player can be worth drafting if they fall far enough. These are simply a handful of players to be cautious of for different reasons based on their ADP on CBS heading into this fantasy baseball season.