It’s March and draft season is in full swing. The best way to prepare for your drafts is to practice with FantasyPros’ Draft Wizard. Syncing your league’s settings and draft order gives you the most realistic mock drafts to practice different strategies. Let’s use the Draft Wizard to draft a team focused on starting pitching early.
This 12-team roto league will use a roster of 1-C, 1-1B, 1-2B, 1-3B, 1-SS, 1-CI, 1-MI, 5-OF, 1-U, 9-P, no bench. Full draft results.
It’s March and draft season is in full swing. The best way to prepare for your drafts is to practice with FantasyPros’ Draft Wizard. Syncing your league’s settings and draft order gives you the most realistic mock drafts to practice different strategies. Let’s use the Draft Wizard to draft a team focused on starting pitching early.
This 12-team roto league will use a roster of 1-C, 1-1B, 1-2B, 1-3B, 1-SS, 1-CI, 1-MI, 5-OF, 1-U, 9-P, no bench. Full draft results.
Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: 12-Team Roto, Starting Pitcher-Heavy
Spencer Strider was already off the board and it’s hard to pass up on a player of Fernando Tatis’ caliber. He can truly be an elite source of R, HR, RBI and SB, with a solid AVG.
As the second starter drafted, I chose Zack Wheeler over Gerrit Cole (elbow concern) and Corbin Burnes (new team). Wheeler has been nothing short of an ace since joining the Phillies in 2020. He’s had three seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA and two top-six National League Cy Young Award finishes. Last year was a down year by his standards with a 3.61 ERA. He still had 212 Ks in 192 IPs and a 1.07 WHIP.
For my SP2, come on down, Luis Castillo. With the top five starters already gone, it was between Castillo and Pablo Lopez. Lopez broke out in 2022 with the Marlins but took it to another level in 2023 with the Twins. He had 234 Ks in 194 IPs, both career-highs. He might take another step forward this year but Castillo provides a safer floor. The Mariners righty has been excellent since joining the team in 2022 with a 3.29 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 10.2 K/9.
With two starter foundation pieces, I decided to take a gamble on Yoshinobu Yamamoto as the ninth pitcher off the board. He’s never pitched an inning in the MLB but still got a 12-year deal from one of the best organizations in baseball. Eno Sarris wrote a great article for The Athletic about Yamamoto summing it up as his numbers are comparable to Kevin Gausman‘s fastball and splitter, Chris Bassitt‘s curveball, and Zach Eflin‘s control. There may be an adjustment period but he should settle in just fine.
In two of the last three seasons, Josh Hader has had an ERA of 1.28 or lower with 33+ saves in all three. He’s been one of the best closers in the game for a while now and his advanced metrics back that up. He signed with the Astros in the offseason. Another great year should be in store.
Josh Lowe was taken as the second batter on the team. He broke out last year with 20 HRs and 32 SBs. Hopefully, the Rays decide he has proved enough to stay in the lineup every day.
Zach Eflin had the best year of his career last year, his first with Tampa Bay. He recorded a 3.50 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 16 wins. His expected stats suggest he could have been even better.
Nolen Arenado was being drafted as early as the second round in some drafts a year ago. He had a down season but still finished with 26 HRs and 93 RBIs. The entire Cardinals offense should bounce back this season.
Getting Joe Musgrove as my SP5 just further solidifies this rotation as the best in the league. Musgrove has dealt with his fair share of injuries but has put up respectable numbers. His stats over the past three seasons: 459.2 IPs, 3.05 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a 31-19 record for the Padres.
Even though the offense is lacking with this team, adding Bryson Stott with Tatis and Lowe should help compete in stolen bases. Stott had 31 SBs last season and a .280 AVG. He doesn’t hit the ball all that hard or get many RBIs from the five-hole but his steals should still be there.
Getting the Yankees closer as the 17th reliever drafted seems like great value. Clay Holmes and Hader are projected for 62 combined saves.
Hunter Greene as the sixth and final starter gives this team huge strikeout potential. In his two seasons at the MLB level, he’s pitched 237.2 innings with a 30.7 strikeout rate. He was in the top 9% of the league in each season.
With pitchers established, it’s time to make up ground in the hitting categories. Enter Max Muncy. Muncy is batting right in the middle of one of the best lineups in the league and his run production is elite this late in the draft. A 100 R/35 HR/100 RBI season is definitely in reach.
Chase McCormick broke out last year with 22 HRs and 19 SBs for the Astros. He is kind of boring but is in a good lineup and can hopefully come close to a 20/20 season again.
Jeimer Candelario had a great season last year split between the Nationals and Cubs. He had a career-high 22 HRs and .807 OPS. He signed with the Reds in the offseason and should get everyday at-bats, whether at first, third or DH. According to Statcast, he would have had 30 homers if he played every game in Cincinnati last season.
Willy Adames provides a solid floor in HRs and RBIs at the shortstop position. He had a down year in 2023 but his strikeout and walk rates were better than his 2022 numbers, where he hit a career-high 31 HRs.
Jorge Polanco was traded to the Mariners in the offseason and is projected to bat third between Julio Rodriguez and Mitch Garver. He should have plenty of RBI opportunities and could be in for a great year if he can stay healthy.
Mitch Garver was another offseason addition for Seattle after winning the World Series last year. He had 19 HRs and a .270 AVG in only 87 games a year ago. He’s always hit the ball hard but he’s dealt with injuries seemingly every year. Hopefully, the move to Seattle and DH can keep him healthy enough to play 100+ games for just the second time in his career.
Jung Hoo Lee signed with the Giants in the offseason and had a career Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) average of .340. So far in spring training, he has a triple slash of .348/.423/.522. His lone home run was clocked at 110 miles per hour (MPH), which is notable compared to other contact hitters.
Giancarlo Stanton still hits the ball as hard as anyone in the game. The only question is whether or not he can stay on the field, or in the batter’s box.
For the past two seasons, Bryan De La Cruz has underperformed his xBA but there’s not much else to be excited about with his profile.
Aroldis Chapman signed with the Pirates this offseason and David Bednar is dealing with a lat issue in spring training.
Draft Wizard Insights
The Wizard gave this draft a B-, 81-out-of-100. Projected to finish top-four in W, K, ERA and WHIP, but bottom-four in R, SB and AVG.
Predictably in the bottom third of most hitting categories, average is the only one that seems out of reach. Tatis, Lowe, Stott and McCormick can all steal 20+ bags. Tatis, Lowe, Arenado, Muncy, Candelario, Adames and Polanco all have 20+ homer power with solid counting stats. That’s a good offensive floor to work with if this league was to be played out.
If I could make any changes to this strategy, I would probably take another outfielder instead of Yamamoto or Musgrove. Drafting Randy Arozarena, Mike Trout or Nolan Jones in the fourth round or Jordan Walker or George Springer in the ninth would make the offense look much better. Getting to the final two rounds and still needing an outfielder is not ideal.
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