Over the past few seasons, we have seen an increase in the number of high-end starting pitchers selected in the first rounds or fantasy baseball drafts, and this has proven to be a viable strategy. Opening the draft with “pocket aces” was all the rage.
Still, with pitching injuries on the rise and how badly losing a starting pitcher in the first or second round can impact your entire team, taking a retro approach and going on offense early seems be a smarter way to fish. this season. You don’t need to draft a top five to create a winning fantasy rotation.
Justin Verlander, Astros starting pitcher USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
When people selected elite and started casting early, the advantage was obvious. Starters such as Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer delivered fantastic wins, strikeouts and ratios. Even the next level was loaded with talent with players like Chris Sale, Corey Kluber and Gerrit Cole.
But drafting them meant sacrificing offense, and all seven mentioned struggled to stay healthy, meaning your pitching advantage was gone while your offense was still catching up. This season we have Spencer Strider, Cobrin Burnes, and Zack Wheeler leading the way, and if history repeats itself, at least two of them will disappoint your fantasy teams.
By taking a look at the average draft position, you can grab some elite bats in the first four rounds while still landing incredibly strong starters for your rotation.
Zac Gallen, Pablo Lopez and Tarik Skubal are all likely to challenge for Cy Young honors this season, and all are available in the fourth round of most 12-team drafts. George Kirby, Framber Valdez and Grayson Rodriguez, all budding aces for their team, are even further down in your draft.
Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees starting pitcher Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Any of these six pitchers can be used as an anchor ace, and if you want to double-tap the position and grab a second starter to be safe, newcomers like Eury Perez, Bobby Miller and Cole Ragans have an ADP. this takes them to the seventh round.
The depth of the opening pitch should not be lost in your analysis and draft plan. Fewer starters are pitching 200 innings, fewer starters are reaching the 200 strikeout threshold and fewer starters are accumulating more than 15 wins. Focusing on a major target like Strider or Burnes just doesn’t give you the advantage it once did.
Build this attack first. Lock in your power and speed early on. There is a vast ocean of starting pitches available to you in your draft, and there are plenty of mid-round gems that will produce at a high level. This is how you build a championship team.
Howard Bender is the Content Manager at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on X @rotobuzzguy and find him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Channel weekdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy baseball news and tips.
2024-03-17 12:41:52
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