RealTime Fantasy Sports Mock Draft #3

Have I mentioned yet that I love mock drafting? It was round three for me to participate in an expert mock draft run by Howard Bender over at RealTime Fantasy Sports.  Again, Howard from Fantasy Alarm and host on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, wasn't the only expert in this draft.  2-time AL Tout Wars champ Lawr Michaels (@lawrmichaels) was also in attendance . There were a number of other excellent players making this a very competitive mock draft.

Similar to my last two mocks (check them out here and here), this one was a 23 round standard 12 team draft (14 hitters / 9 pitchers).  This time I landed with the 3rd pick overall.  I haven't drafted 3rd yet this season so I was looking forward to seeing some different players in the early rounds.

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

And here is my team:

1. Paul Goldschmidt (Round 1.03, overall pick 3): I have him #2 overall in my ranks. Trout and Harper went before me so this was an easy one.
   
2. Max Scherzer (Round 2.10, overall pick 22): I debated between Scherzer and Jose Abreu.  I decided Scherzer because I felt if I missed Abreu coming back to me, there were still a few hitters that I would be happy with in the next round.  I wanted the ace more who is my #2 pitcher behind Kershaw.
   
3. Jose Abreu (Round 3.03, overall pick 27): I was very happy to see Abreu fell to me anyways.  I have him in my top 20 and this felt like this was a nice third round value.
4. Ryan Braun (Round 4.10, overall pick 46): In rounds 4 and 5 I wanted another great SP and another great bat.  Knowing the 2 picks were close, I went with the bat first because there was a group of SP's still left I liked, and one would fall to me in the 5th.  Braun the the top bat on my board and I see myself with a lot of him this year.  I'm just higher on him than most.
   
5. Stephen Strasburg (Round 5.02, overall pick 51): Wanted a second ace to backup Scherzer and I was very pleased to get the high K/9 upside.
   
6. Wade Davis (Round 6.10, overall 70): As long as it's not overpaying, I want to get an elite closer.  Jansen and Kimbrel were gone and Davis was the last elite guy in that tier for me at the right value.
   
7. Yasiel Puig (Round 7.02, overall 75): I actually have Puig ranked close to Braun in the mid 40's overall so this felt like another steal.  Really the upside is just as high as last year when he was a second round pick.  He just comes with a cheaper price tag this year.
   
8. Jon Lester (Round 8.10, overall 94): I wasn't planning on another SP here, but monitoring my tiers, I saw a run happening.  Lester was the last guy in a tier before a reasonable drop-off to me, so I went Lester here.  After watching the next few rounds unfold, was very happy I made this pick.
   
9. Ben Revere (Round 9.03, overall 99): Looking at my roster construct, I had a lot more power than speed so far.  Looking at the overall value of the guys left on my big board, Revere was the highest rated guy that would help me the most catch up where I felt I was a bit lacking.  Not overpaying for him either was a plus.
   
10. Matt Duffy (Round 10.10, overall 118): I have Duffy within my top 75 and have a piece here detailing exactly why.  Love Duffy in 2016, another bargain.
    
11. Hector Rondon (Round 11.03, overall 123): Over the last couple of rounds a lot of closers went off the board.  Rondon and only one other were in a tier that I was happy with as my #2 closer so this was something I felt like I needed to do.
    
12. Michael Pineda (Round 12.10, overall 142): Similar to my Lester pick, watching my tiers deplete, I wanted to get one of the last SP options before it fell off.  I knew at this point I had 3 very good SP's but that didn't stop me from getting one more.
    
13. Salvador Perez (Round 13.03, overall 147): I didn't have a catcher yet and this was a spot for me that was close to where I had Perez ranked.  I don't like reaching for catchers and this wasn't a reach based on my ranks.  Also, there was a huge value drop off after him so I took him.
    
14. Shawn Tolleson (Round 14.10, overall 166): I wanted a third closer and there were only a couple left that I felt had solid job security coming into the season.  Tolleson was the best of that crew.
    
15. Kole Calhoun (Round 15.03, overall 171): Just great value here.  I wanted a bit more power and he was a good OF option to make that happen.
    
16. Kolten Wong (Round 16.10, overall 189): Not a guy I was targeting, but I was fine taking him.  I waited on 2B but there were still a few guys I would have been happy with.  A 2B option that gives a little power and speed
    
17. Yu Darvish (Round 17.03, overall pick 195): Another pick that I felt was just too much value to pass up.  Sure there is risk associated with Darvish, but tremendous upside for the 17th round.
    
18. Alex Gordon (Round 18.10, overall pick 214): Another guy I'm super high on that I target late in every draft.  Just fantastic value.
    
19. Neil Walker (Round 19.03, overall pick 219): I needed to fill my middle infield slot still, and looking at the player pool left, I knew I didn't want to do that with the available shortstop choices still out there. Hell, I didn't even have an SS yet.  Walker was the best 2B option left so somewhat of an easy choice.
    
20. Alexei Ramirez (Round 20.20, overall pick 238): While I'd like to be strong everywhere, it just doesn't happen, but getting a possible 10/10 shortstop late is fine with me.
    
21. Francisco Cervelli (Round 21.03, overall 243): I needed a second catcher and the player pool was very thin at this point.  Was happy to get a good average with a lot of potential AB's.
    
22. Hisashi Iwakuma (Round 22.10, overall 262): How he fell this late was nuts to me.  I get he's an injury risk as well, but the upside for a 22nd overall pick is well worth the risk.
    
23. Kevin Kiermaier (Round 23.03, overall 267): It's nice when your utility is the last slot to fill.  Added flexibility late and and I was happy to get a possible 15/15 OF option.
    

My initial reaction couldn't have been happier with this draft.  There were very few picks where I felt like I had a guy taken right before my pick and felt like a ton of value fell to me late.  Let's now look at the actual projected stats starting with the batting:

Pick	Name	Team	Position	AB's	Hit's	Runs	HR's	RBI's	SB's	AVG
13	Salvador Perez	KC	C	525	145	53	20	72	1	0.276
21	Francisco Cervelli	PIT	C	418	119	53	7	48	2	0.285
1	Paul Goldschmidt	ARI	1B	560	170	100	31	106	16	0.304
16	Kolten Wong	STL	2B	526	139	67	12	60	16	0.264
10	Matt Duffy	SF	3B	548	157	62	13	70	14	0.286
20	Alexei Ramirez	SD	SS	580	152	53	10	56	16	0.262
3	Jose Abreu	CWS	CI	565	163	84	31	94	1	0.288
19	Neil Walker	NYM	MI	529	141	67	17	66	3	0.267
4	Ryan Braun	MIL	OF	518	147	78	24	82	16	0.284
7	Yasiel Puig	LAD	OF	504	142	80	22	74	11	0.282
9	Ben Revere	WAS	OF	580	172	71	2	44	31	0.297
15	Kole Calhoun	LAA	OF	576	150	79	22	80	4	0.260
18	Alex Gordon	KC	OF	535	146	78	18	70	7	0.273
23	Kevin Kiermaier	TB	UTIL	510	135	60	12	43	15	0.265
			Totals:	7474	2078	985	241	965	153	0.278

Now, I understand at first glance this isn't the best hitting team I've drafted, but when you consider the pitching that goes along with it, I'm very pleased.  Average could win my league and SB would also be near the top.  I could be in the middle of the pack in Runs, HR's and RBI's looking at these numbers and I'm very happy with that. 

Now lets see 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
5	Stephen Strasburg	WSH	P	0	188	15	61	221	2.92	1.05
6	Wade Davis	KC	P	36	68	3	16	75	2.12	0.90
8	Jon Lester	CHC	P	0	202	13	73	201	3.25	1.13
11	Hector Rondon	CHC	P	34	67	4	18	66	2.42	1.07
12	Michael Pineda	NYY	P	0	172	13	68	160	3.56	1.15
14	Shawn Tolleson	TEX	P	33	70	3	24	72	3.09	1.17
17	Yu Darvish	TEX	P	0	146	10	54	162	3.33	1.18
22	Hisashi Iwakuma	SEA	P	0	142	10	53	128	3.36	1.05
			Totals:	103	1279	88	437	1339	3.08	1.08

Really felt like I hit it big with pitching.  ERA and WHIP could win a league and having more K's than IP would put me in a position to lead there as well.  Finally 3 closers that I'm comfortable with and I think it would be realistic to have a shot to win all 5 pitching categories.  Absolutely love this pitching staff!

So where does that leave this team projected overall?  Check it out here.  When I saw these projected results, my jaw dropped.  I knew I'd dominate pitching and figured I'd do well hitting, but I was shocked to see FantasyPros.com projected me to sweep both hitting and pitching.  This is now 3 mocks in a row where they've projected me to have the best team.  This time, it's not even close.  Hopefully this means I'm doing something right, but we shall see when it comes time for some real drafts. 

I'd like to thank Howard Bendor again for continually hosting these mocks.  They are always a ton of fun.