Justin Mason’s Pitcher List Experts Mock Draft (Rounds 1-11)

For the second year in a row, I was asked to participate in the Pitcher List’s early mock draft. It’s not a 2 Early Mock , but just early enough. This year had a great group of participants in three drafts. You can find all the draft boards here:

https://clickydraft.com/draftapp/board/168639

https://clickydraft.com/draftapp/board/168640

https://clickydraft.com/draftapp/board/168641

Strategy

I landed the seventh pick of the draft and at first was going to stay true to my usual strategy of waiting on starting pitching. However, after the second round, I made a course correction due to the format. We were drafting 12-team, standard 5×5, 3 OF, 2 UTIL, 9 P, 5 bench spots, H2H, 23 rounds. The format made the offensive talent a much deeper pool and so I decided to attack pitching.

My Team 

1.7- Trea Turner, SS, WAS

I have seen Turner go as high as 4 and as late as 12 in drafts so far. I think he should be going fifth, so to get him at seven felt pretty good. In only 122 games he went 19/35 with a .298/.353/.497 triple slash. Shortstop is extremely deep, but I love getting him to start my team.

2.18- Anthony Rendon, 3B, FA

I don’t love drafting free agents, but Rendon will be great no matter where he plays and this felt like too good of a discount to pass up.

3.31- Shane Bieber, SP, CLE

I really wanted to take Flaherty here, but I thought he might make it back to me and I knew Bieber wouldn’t. Shane has been hotter than his Justin this draft season and for good reason. The breakout was supported by the underlying skills so there little reason to think he can sustain his gains.

4.42- Jack Flaherty, SP, STL

I am very high on Flaherty and I think as draft season goes on his price will go up. That being said, if I see him available this late, I will scoop him up. He made improvements to his walk rate and increased his velocity at the same time last year. I believe what he did last year and see him as a top 5-7 pitcher in 2020.

5.55- Matt Olson, 1B, OAK

Usually when you come back from hamate surgery, there is a bit of a dip in power. Olson defied that rule, hitting 36 home runs after returning on May 7th. He also hit for an improved average in the second half giving him an impressive .282/.368/.530 triple slash after the All-Star Break. First base (and third base) is shallow this year, so I will be addressing those positions early on.

6.66- Ozzie Albies, 2B, ATL

Albies pretty much just repeated the success from his rookie year except for improving his average 30 points. It feels like there isn’t a tax for that at all. I don’t usually care about average, but any time you can get a five category player in the sixth round, you should.

7.79- Kirby Yates, RP, SD

Yates was up there with Josh Hader as the best closers in the game last season. This year there isn’t a tax for elite closers like we have seen in previous seasons, so I will be grabbing at least one early on when I can.

8.90- Yasiel Puig, OF, FA

People either love Puig or hate him. I am in the love camp, but in a real draft, I will likely wait until he signs before grabbing him just in case his reputation scares too many teams away. In spite of injury issues here and there, Puig has been remarkable consistent the last few years, so you should be able to pencil him in for 23-28 homers and 15+ stolen bases no matter his landing spot.

9.103- Michael Conforto, OF, NYM

I am a Conforto apologist. I already have multiple shares. He seems to be hurting often, but has played in 150+ games in each of the last two seasons with pretty similar results. His StatCast metrics don’t jump off the page, but he puts the ball in the air, walks, and makes good contact. A perfectly boring pick.

10.114- Brandon Woodruff, SP, MLW

Fire up the hype machine! Paul Sporer and I talked about him on a recent podcast and I think the price is going to get out of control, but that is why I am getting my shares now. He was fantastic when he was healthy, but how many innings can we expect from a guy that has never thrown a ton of them in the Majors? I am willing to take this gamble in a shallow league like this format, but when he jumps into the top 75, I won’t be willing to do it in deeper formats.

11.127- Sean Doolittle, RP, WAS

I am assuming that after his big playoff run, Daniel Hudson finds a closing job elsewhere and Doolittle returns to having the role full time in Washington. I want to wait and see if the Nats do anything in real drafts, but here I was willing to take the shot. Always good to grab his handcuff though in every league.