It’s time to start prepping for fantasy baseball drafts as the long offseason ends. A fantasy baseball mock draft is a great way to familiarize yourself with the upcoming player pool and find trends for real drafts. FantasyPros’ Draft Wizard tool lets you run realistic mock drafts with your league-specific settings.
Let’s run an early, points league fantasy baseball mock draft using the Draft Wizard. This 10-team roto NL-only league will use a roster of 2-C, 1-1B, 1-2B, 1-3B, 1-SS, 5-OF, 1-CI, 1-MI, 1-UTIL, 9-P and three bench spots. You can find the Draft Board here.
- Fantasy Baseball Draft Rankings
- Fantasy Baseball Research & Advice
- Fantasy Baseball Average Draft Position (ADP)
- Fantasy Baseball News
Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft (NL-Only)
1.02: Juan Soto (OF – NYM)
With the second overall pick, in an NL-only league, I want volume with a good batting average as a base. No player does it as well as Juan Soto. This is as easy of a pick as there is.
2.09: Jackson Merrill (OF – SD)
Jackson Merrill surprised me last season. I felt the tools were there for him to be a decent accumulator, but I didn’t know if the playing time would be available. His fantastic defense gave him an opportunity and he didn’t disappoint, hitting with power and showing a great hit tool. I think he has upside and a very safe floor.
3.02: Corbin Burnes (SP – ARI)
I was pretty stoked to get a stud starter at this point. Getting an ace like Corbin Burnes makes setting up a strong rotation much easier.
4.09: Willy Adames (SS – SF)
Willy Adames is a bit of a reach here for me, but there aren’t many shortstops I love after him. He will provide volume even if his numbers take a hit in San Francisco from where they were in Milwaukee.
5.02: Brenton Doyle (OF – COL)
Brenton Doyle is another player I didn’t believe in last year who proved me wrong. Before last season he struggled with in-zone contact but made massive improvements in that regard in 2024. This allowed him to hit for average while unlocking more power. I think what we saw last season was legitimate.
6.09: Brice Turang (2B – MIL)
Brice Turang was up and down last season, but I need steals here and I love his overall contact skills. His upside is in stolen bases and batting average. With his speed, I felt like I gave myself a chance to lock down the category.
7.02: Ryan Walker (RP – SF)
I missed out on some of the elite closers so I needed to grab one here. Ryan Walker has elite skills and should open the season with the job. He may be one of the more underrated top-tier closers in the game.
8.09: J.T. Realmuto (C – PHI)
One of the places you can get an advantage in points-only leagues is at catcher. The bottom of the catching pool often actively hurts you, so getting a catcher who will return positive value is huge, especially one like J.T. Realmuto, who has been elite in the past.
9.02: Cristopher Sanchez (SP – PHI)
I wasn’t too thrilled with my options here but I knew I needed to add to my rotation. Cristopher Sanchez is a pitcher I have always loved because there is stud upside in his arm, but he allows too much contact. However, he reportedly has a new pitch, which could help him get more whiffs. He was the top pitcher on the board, so it ended up being the best choice.
10.09: Brandon Pfaadt (SP – ARI)
I am a big Brandon Pfaadt believer. I considered him with the last pick but went a safer route. When he was available 17 picks later I jumped on the opportunity to draft him. Pfaadt has really good stuff and control but can struggle with command. I believe he will figure it out and won’t be as unlucky as was last season.
11.02: Trevor Megill (RP – MIL)
Another bargain closer. Trevor Megill won’t go this late in many drafts, so he was an easy pick here. With Devin Williams gone, Megill is the man in Milwaukee and has elite skills.
12.09: Matt Shaw (2B, 3B, SS – CHC)
This was my first real gamble. Third base can dry up pretty quickly and I don’t have much risk on my offense. Matt Shaw could end up in AAA, but the Cubs appear as if they will give him a real shot to win the third base job. His bat should play and it will come down to if he can handle third defensively, which the reports are good on so far.
13.02: Michael Busch (1B – CHC)
First base was getting a little thin. I was torn between Michael Busch and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. The latter is intriguing, but his role isn’t set and he is coming off of an injury that limited him a ton last season.
Busch has always been someone I have believed in, but I don’t know if the power is going to get much better. I do think he will get plenty of playing time, but his 2024 is probably his ceiling.
14.09: Ranger Suarez (SP – PHI)
Once again I needed pitching and I didn’t love the options available. Ranger Suarez is a very good and stable pitcher. He has limited upside but provides a safe floor. I do worry about rostering too many bad WHIP pitchers. I just didn’t love the other options, though, and didn’t want to fall behind on strikeouts and wins.
15.02: Ryan McMahon (3B – COL)
Ryan McMahon is the opposite of Matt Shaw, which is why I picked him. McMahon doesn’t have massive upside, but he will provide volume. He has four straight seasons of 596+ plate appearances with at least 20 home runs, 65 runs and 65 RBI.
16.09: Joey Ortiz (3B, SS – MIL)
Joey Ortiz is another player I have come around on. He is not a big power guy and likely never will be, but he makes a lot of contact and can accumulate stats. I think there is more speed and average in the profile, but as long as he does a little bit of everything, I will be happy
17.02: Nestor Cortes (SP – MIL)
Nestor Cortes is another volume play, but one I regret. He is moving to a worse team in Milwaukee and he can have WHIP issues, which I already have on this team. I probably should have gone with a starter with a better WHIP floor.
18.09: Spencer Horwitz (1B, 2B – PIT)
I love Spencer Horwitz. He will platoon, but I think he could be the strong-side leadoff hitter in Pittsburgh. He is eligible at first base and second base which is huge in an NL-only league. The upside is a little capped, but I love what he brings.
19.02: Jacob Young (OF – WSH)
I can’t imagine getting a player like Jacob Young this late very often, but this was too good of a value to pass up. He should play regularly in the Nationals’ outfield. While the power isn’t great, he will rack up a ton of stolen bases with a decent average.
20.09: Orion Kerkering (RP – PHI)
OK, so I needed to bolster WHIP on this team and Orion Kerkering was the start of that. Add in the fact he appears to be the next in line for saves if Jordan Romano‘s health issues resurface and he becomes a nice gamble late in a draft at his average draft position (ADP) cost.
21.02: Hunter Goodman (C, OF – COL)
This is one of my favorite picks of the draft. One of the reasons why low-end catchers can hurt you is they often don’t have a carrying tool for fantasy and can’t get enough plate appearances to volume well. Goodman doesn’t have either of those issues.
Goodman has enormous power, hitting 13 home runs in just 224 plate appearances last year. While he isn’t an everyday player because he can play other positions, he will get more playing time than most catchers going late. Even with 450 plate appearances, he could hit 30+ home runs. The average won’t be great, but that’s why I start with good average players early.
22.09: Pavin Smith (1B, OF – ARI)
Pavin Smith is another platoon guy I like for batting average help. There is power in the bat too, though, hitting nine home runs in just 158 plate appearances. Right now he could get 400 plate appearances and be a cheap little dual-eligible player.
23.02: Nick Martinez (SP, RP – CIN)
Nick Martinez should not be going this late, but people don’t trust Reds pitchers. After moving into the rotation, Martinez threw 63.1 innings with 53 strikeouts and a 2.42 ERA. Now, seven of his 11 starts were on the road, where he does pitch better, but he is someone you can optimize fairly well. This is just too good of a value to pass up.
24.09: Max Kepler (OF – PHI)
Max Kepler is a long-time favorite of mine, so this was a pick I was happy to make late. He has never quite developed into the guy I thought he would, but he is moving to a good home park and there is still power in the bat. He is also a good defensive player, which should keep him in the lineup more often than not, but there is a chance he platoons some.
25.02: Eduardo Rodriguez (SP – ARI)
I am shocked to get Eduardo Rodriguez this late. Yes, he missed a lot of time last season and wasn’t very good when he did pitch, but he finished the season on the mound and as a bench pitcher. He is a decent gamble to bounce back on a good team in a good park.
26.09: Rhett Lowder (SP – CIN)
Rhett Lowder is the odd man out of the rotation in Cincy right now, but I love his skills. The former first-round pick threw 30.2 innings over six starts with a 1.17 ERA. While his walk rate and WHIP were high, he was much better over his last four starts.
Lowder needs to earn a role in spring training, but he can outpitch someone like Andrew Abbott. If an injury strikes Nick Lodolo again, Lowder could be in the rotation pretty quickly.
Draft Wizard Insights
The Draft Wizard gave this draft an A-, 92/100 grade and projects it as the second-best team in the league. It was clear WHIP is my biggest issue. I should have not compiled so many WHIP killers on my team. If I had not drafted Sanchez, Suarez and Cortes, my team would have been much stronger from a WHIP perspective. Overall, I think I did a good job of getting a lot of volume on this team while mixing in upside plays.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | SoundCloud | TuneIn
