Throwing this out there for tonight’s 7-game slate – the weather makes this ugly for DRAFT.
We are focusing on the evening slate only.
We have a decent chance at a long delay/postponement possibilities in the Cubs/Reds and White Sox/Athletics games.
This is unfortunate because both the Cubs and Athletics are taking on two of the worst pitchers of the slate and offer some great power potential.
So what I am going to do for this slate is throw weather out the window and pretend it won’t be an issue since we are quite a few hours out from lock and anything can change between now and then.
It might be wise to draft closer to lock when lineups release today just to have a safer feel of how the weather may play out.
With that said, we will continue the format for DRAFT Strat – Top 15 hitter rankings, top 5 pitcher rankings, strategy for the formats I will be playing and a Darkhorse DRAFT Hitter of the Day.
Let’s get after it!
Top-15 DRAFT Hitter Rankings
1. Mike Trout (duh, right?)
2. Anthony Rizzo
3. Kyle Schwarber
4. Jake Lamb
5. Tommy Pham
6. Kris Bryant
7. Paul Goldschmidt
8. Matt Olson
9. David Peralta
10. Javier Baez
11. Travis Shaw
12. Eric Thames (No Projection as of this publishing, hint hint)
13. Christian Yelich
14. Bryce Harper (He has to show me something before I can pick him high)
15. Trea Turner
Top-5 DRAFT Pitcher Rankings
1. Max Scherzer (another duh)
2. Madison Bumgarner
3. Tyler Skaggs
4. Carlos Martinez
5. Zack Godley
DRAFT STRAT
3-Man Contests
The Strat: The first overall pick comes down to Max Scherzer and Mike Trout. Trout has been on an absolute tear and offers the highest ceiling and safety among all hitters on this slate. For that reason, I feel he is the overall No. 1 pick (and my bias of picking pitchers in the first round, especially in 3-mans, has something to do with this idea). If you have the second pick, I am definitely OK taking Scherzer in this spot because he’s a cut above the rest of the pitching options. This is the ideal slot in my book because you are going to get either Trout or Scherzer at No. 2 without having to think about it. As for the 3rd overall pick and back-to-back draft slot, I think this is where you start to stack the Cubs. I would go Rizzo and Schwarber here against Matt Harvey, who only has one face now instead of two. That face is giving up lots of hits, HRs and RBIs to left-handed bats. It’s in the Great American Smallpark and Schwarber and Rizzo are two big power bats that are finally getting it going. Personally, I like finishing off all of my 3-mans with a Jake Lamb/David Peralta stack, which you can get later. They are up against Chad Kuhl, who is a pitcher that helps out lefty bats a ton. Though I would definitely try to have some shares of Olson/Pham if available late. If I don’t get Scherzer, I am going to be picking between Bumgarner and Skaggs. I am very much OK with landing either one.
6-Man Contests
The Strat: I am not playing the 4-man Big A$$ Tournament today, but I would say the strategy for that wouldn’t change much from the 3-man. But as for 6-mans, things change a bit. I think Trout and Scherzer are the top-2 picks, but I think you gotta take either a Cubs’ bat first (Rizzo, Bryant or Schwarber) or snag Bumgarner. I think you can wait on Skaggs, Godley and C-Lo Martinez in the later rounds. With this many teams, I also believe you can snag Pham, Olson, Lamb and Peralta in later rounds, add in some Javy Baez, and then maybe some Nats if you trust them later on. Again, take Trout or Scherzer up top or snag Cubbies and Bumgarner if you have later picks in the first round. Build around the Cubs in this slate.
