RealTime Fantasy Sports Mock Draft #2

I was again fortunate enough to participate in an expert mock draft run by Howard Bender over at RealTime Fantasy Sports.  And again, Howard, from Fantasy Alarm and host on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, wasn't the only expert in this draft.  Ivar Anderson (@johnwhorfin), writer for FantasyGameday.net  and FantasyAlarm.com was also a participant as well as Sean Murphy (@bpsmurph), contribute at Numberfire, Last Word on MLB, & Hardball Scoop. There were also a number of other excellent players making this quite a competitive mock.

Similar to my last mock (check it out here), this one was a 23 round standard 12 team draft (14 hitters / 9 pitchers).  This time I landed with the 11th pick overall which was a nice change of pace.  In other recent mocks, I drafted near the beginning to I was looking forward to seeing how this one played out. 

Before I dive into my picks, you can go here to see the full grid results of every team's picks round by round.

Now, onto the picks:

1. John Donaldson (Round 1.11, overall pick 11): I had him #5 on my board, he fell to #11.  Easy choice.
   
   
2. Max Scherzer (Round 2.02, overall pick 14): Second round and already a pick I agonized over.  I had a few choices: do I take the elite pitcher (#2 on my board behind Kershaw), or take the top bat available and hope there isn't a run on starters where I feel like I might miss out?  I took Scherzer, however looking back, probably could have waited with what fell to the 3rd/4th round.  Still happy with the pick.
   
   
3. Robinson Cano (Round 3.11, overall 35): I had a number of pitchers ahead of him still on the board, but couldn't justify taking another one just after taking Scherzer... or could I?  Most people were waiting on pitching so more bats went early than expected.  Thought about Lorenzo Cain an I have them very closely ranked, but went with Cano.
   
   
4. David Price (Round 4.02, overall 38): I mentioned people were waiting on pitching and there were still elite arms left. I decided to pair Price with Scherzer and give my team probably the best top 2 pitchers out there. Also, there wasn't a bat I loved so it made it a bit easier.
   
   
5. Matt Kemp (Round 5.11, overall 59): This was a tough one.  We start 5 OF and I didn't have one yet.  A mini run happened and I wanted to get the top OF I still had on my board.  Was hoping Braun fell but he went the pick before so I took Kemp.  Risky, yes, but still some upside for power and speed.
   
   
6. Kyle Schwarber (Round 6.02, overall 62): It's funny, a few days ago I posted my catcher rankings and specifically mentioned how I couldn't imagine myself landing Schwarber this year.  I was lower on him than most and he probably wouldn't fall to a place where I felt I was paying proper value.  Well it happened so I took him.
   
   
7. Wade Davis (Round 7.11, overall 83): I'm a fan of getting an elite closer if possible at the right price.  I have a tier of 3 guys I think are elite, and the other 2 went along with someone outside of that tier.  I know if I didn't take him I wouldn't have a chance at him so this was an easy pick for me.
   
   
8. Johnny Cueto (Round 8.02, overall 86): Remember when I said people were waiting on pitching?  This was one of the best values in the early rounds in my opinion.  I'm happy he's back in the NL and should be better than his 2nd half last year.
   
   
9. Kole Calhoun (Round 9.11, overall 107): This pick I didn't love.  It was more about filling my OF slots and I'm not sure I really needed to at the moment.  That said, he's fine and should give decent power production.  Just a meh pick.
   
   
10. David Ortiz (Round 10.02, overall 110): I liked this pick.  He should be much better than 110 overall, but fell because he's only a DH.  Yes I lost flexibility with my utility, but should have very good production in his last year.
    
    
11. Billy Hamilton (Round 11.11, overall 131): I'm usually a Hamilton hater, but looking at the construct of my team at this point I had a serious lack of speed.  So I took the best SB option available.
    
    
12. Hector Rondon (Round 12.02, overall 134): Wanted another closer at this point and he was top on my board with only a couple left in the tier I was looking at.
    
    
13. Josh Reddick (Round 13.11, overall 155): I'm quite high on Reddick this year and compared to my projections/rankings, this is a huge steal. Very happy with this pick for his 20/10 upside.
    
    
14. Jeff Samardzija (Round 14.02, overall 158): I could have went a number of ways here, but I was very strong with my first 3 starters and wanted to continue to back them up.  Looking back, I missed a name on my board that I would have rather had here (Michael Pineda), but they were close in my projected value so I'm ok with it.
    
    
15. Ian Desmond (Round 15.11, overall 179): I'll feel a lot better when he has a team, but regardless, this was far too far down the board for him to fall.  SS is thin and I didn't have one yet so thrilled with Desmond.
    
    
16. Dustin Pedroia (Round 16.02, overall 182): I needed to fill my MI slot and there were only 3-4 options I had left in the tier I was looking at.  After taking Pedroia, those other 3-4 kept falling so this actually ended up being a bad pick, but I'm still fine with it.
    
    
17. Shawn Tolleson (Round 17.11, overall 203): A full time closer with good skills and somewhat established in the job.  Sign me up for my 3rd closer and a further advantage in pitching.
    
    
18. Hisashi Iwakuma (Round 18.02, overall 206): At this point in the draft, pitching was really starting to go.  I knew I had 4 guys that were very solid so I wanted some risk with a lot of upside.  When Iwakuma is right, he's excellent.  I know he's coming in with health risks, but took a chance for the home run with this pick if he pans out.
    
    
19. Alex Gordon (Round 19.11, overall 227): I think this is the steal of any team in the entire draft.  I have him in my top 100 overall and to get him at 227 is crazy.
    
    
20. Daniel Murphy (Round 20.02, overall 230): I was actually thinking about Murphy when I took Pedroia, so it shows how much he fell.  But with 3B eligibility, I took him for my CI slot.
    
    
21. Justin Bour (Round 21.11, overall 251): I didn't write the script to get my 1B in the 21st round, that's for sure.  When I had guys in queue and they were picked just before I wanted them, I simply went in other directions with better value.  I took Bour with some potential for upside, and should be able to hit for some power.
    
    
22. Marco Estrada (Round 22.02, overall 254): Needed to fill one more SP so I took thr best one I had ranked left.  Happy with him also.
    
    
23. A.J. Pierzynski (Round 23.11, overall 275): My second catcher isn't great, but if I can get a good average, I'll be happy with that.

I was happy with this squad for the most part.  I felt likeIi killed it with pitching, both starting and relief.  I also felt like my hitting was better than average especially considering all of the picks I invested into pitching early (4 of my first 8 picks).

Here is how my batting looks with my projections:

Pick	Name	Team	Position	AB's	Hit's	Runs	HR's	RBI's	SB's	AVG
6	Kyle Schwarber	CHC	C, OF	484	127	74	26	79	4	0.262
23	A.J. Pierzynski	ATL	C	422	114	38	10	53	0	0.270
21	Justin Bour	MIA	1B	462	116	55	21	66	0	0.251
3	Robinson Cano	SEA	2B	592	174	78	22	77	2	0.294
1	Josh Donaldson	TOR	3B	610	168	110	36	115	5	0.275
15	Ian Desmond	N/A	SS	560	140	65	19	69	14	0.250
20	Daniel Murphy	WSH	CI	533	151	64	10	60	5	0.283
16	Dustin Pedroia	BOS	MI	500	141	74	11	60	5	0.282
5	Matt Kemp	SD	OF	545	146	73	21	88	10	0.268
9	Kole Calhoun	LAA	OF	576	150	79	22	80	4	0.260
11	Billy Hamilton	CIN	OF	430	106	61	5	36	59	0.247
13	Josh Reddick	OAK	OF	502	135	66	21	75	8	0.269
19	Alex Gordon	KC	OF	535	146	78	18	70	7	0.273
10	David Ortiz	BOS	U	488	130	70	28	87	0	0.266
			Totals:	7239	1944	985	270	1015	123	0.269

Not elite anywhere, but good enough to compete everywhere.  I would have liked to have seen a better projected average, but power was better than anticipated.

For a deeper look at my pitching:

Pick	Name	Team	Position	Saves	IP's	Wins	Earned Runs	K's	ERA	WHIP
2	Max Scherzer	WSH	P	0	224	17	70	254	2.81	1.01
4	David Price	BOS	P	0	222	16	68	225	2.76	1.07
7	Wade Davis	KC	P	36	68	3	16	75	2.12	0.90
8	Johnny Cueto	SF	P	0	188	14	61	168	2.92	1.09
12	Hector Rondon	CHC	P	34	67	4	18	66	2.42	1.07
14	Jeff Samardzija	SF	P	0	205	12	81	184	3.56	1.17
17	Shawn Tolleson	TEX	P	33	70	3	24	72	3.09	1.17
18	Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	P	0	142	10	53	128	3.36	1.05
22	Marco Estrada	TOR	P	0	176	13	71	126	3.63	1.16
			Totals:	103	1362	92	462	1298	3.05	1.08

Really couldn't be much happier with my pitching. Pretty dominant starters and happy with the closers I got.  If this squad held up through the season, it should more than make up for my batting.
ERA and WHIP are elite and I would contend for saves, wins and K's if I managed the team effectivly through the year.

After this mock, I looked at the FantasyPros Draft analyzer.  Again, I understand these analyzers don't always provide accurate projections, however if there is any one I would put some trust into, it's FantasyPros.  Their logic using experts consensus rankings and projections is one of the best methods of draft research available in my opinion.  That said, here are the results. 
This is the second mock I completed where they loved my team, so hopefully i'm doing something right.

Thanks again to Howard Bender for hosting this mock draft and thanks to all that participated.