Joey Votto Falls to Mock Draft Round 7
Apr 22, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto (19) prepares to bat against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Reds won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Round 6 of the early fantasy baseball mock draft can be found here. A few former elite fantasy options found their way into round 7 as Joey Votto, David Wright, David Ortiz, Matt Harvey, and Dustin Pedroia were all selected.
My favorite pick in the seventh round was Brian Dozier. How a second baseman like Jason Kipnis is drafted above Dozier is just laughable in my mind. I was a fan of almost every pick across the board, but I am a little iffy on the Gerrit Cole and Julio Teheran selections.
The numbers listed to the left of each name represent the round and the overall pick they were drafted.
7.73 1B Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds
Joey Votto was a colossal disappointment in 2014 dealing with a plethora of injuries that cost him most of the season and zapped him of all his productivity. However, Joey Votto still has the most professional approach I have ever seen at the plate. No one wastes fewer plate appearances than Joey Votto.
Since 2010, Joey Votto has had 2,840 plate appearances and only four infield pop-ups. Beyond not making bad contact, Votto makes a lot of good contact with his 25.3% line drive rate. The 2010 MVP has a career BB% of 15% and a BB/K of .82. He is a godsend in OPS leagues because of his .950 career mark in the category. There is no telling how Joey Votto will perform in 2015 and his fantasy impact could be limited if his power is down again, but this is still a very high upside pick.
7.74 2B Brian Dozier of the Minnesota Twins
At pick #63, I was down to Kyle Seager or Dozier. I went with Seager and hoped for the off-chance that the breakout second baseman would fall to me in the seventh round. His 23 homers and 21 steals put him in a rare 20-20 club that had only five members in 2014. Dozier was also a run scoring machine with 112 runs scored last season. This is an elite 2B way below market value. You can read more here.
7.75 OF Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals
After years of being heralded as the future to the Royals and then labeled a bust, Alex Gordon has proven his worth with four straight years of excellence. Even with the Royals’ magical run to the Fall Classic, Gordon will still be underrated and a big time contributor in all fantasy categories.
7.76 3B David Wright of the New York Mets
After nine years of brilliance at the plate, David Wright bombed in 2014. His walk rate plummeted down to 7.2%, which was the first time in his career he had a single digit BB% (excluding his 2004 69-game rookie campaign). David Wright also found himself in single digits for the first time in his career in the home run category with a mere eight long balls. The past credentials of Wright still make him a strong candidate to be a bargain in 2015.
7.77 SP Gerrit Cole of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Cole has all the makings of a superstar, but his pedigree is not there yet. The first pick of the 2011 draft has a fastball that averages over 95 MPH, but I would wait a little longer to draft a player who has a career high of 138 innings in a season.
7.78 DH David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox
David Ortiz, or “Big Papi,” is one of baseball’s timeless treasures even though it seemed like his hitting abilities disappeared in early 2009. Even though Ortiz started to perform marginally worse in 2014 at age 38, he still managed to crush 35 homers and drive in 104 runs. Age is certainly a huge question mark for Big Papi, but it is hard to pass on those type of power numbers with the 78th pick.
7.79 SP Matt Harvey of the New York Mets
The seventh round was full of home run picks and the Mets’ staff ace coming off of Tommy John surgery fits the bill perfectly. In 2013, Harvey destroyed Major League hitting to the tune of a 2.27 ERA, .93 WHIP, K-BB% of 23.2%, and 2.00 FIP. There is a real chance of slightly limited innings or not being at 100% this season, but 2013 Matt Harvey would not last past the third round.
7.80 OF Christian Yelich of the Miami Marlins
Baseball fans all over are thrilled with Christian Yelich and a lot of them are doing anything to acquire the young hitter on to their fantasy team, especially in keepers. In fact, he could be the next Joey Votto because Yelich is so professional in his approach. He has one infield pop-up in 933 plate appearances. Read more about Christian Yelich’s potential here.
7.81 1B/3B Carlos Santana of the Cleveland Indians
Carlos Santana had a strange year this past season by only hitting .231 while capturing the heart of many sabermetricians even with his stocky frame. Santana led the league with his 17.1% walk rate and suffered from a .249 BABIP that was fifth worst in MLB. He is a classic rebound candidate paired with his 27 home runs.
7.83 SP Hisashi Iwakuma of the Seattle Mariners
I think there is a strong case to be made that Iwakuma is the most underrated player in the game. He does all of the little things right. His 2014 walk rate of 3% is almost unfathomable. Hisashi Iwakuma had a K/BB of 7.33, which is stuff of elite Cy Young winners. He only walked 21 batters in 2014. I have seen little league games with more walks in an inning. It is time that we start treating Iwakuma as an ace. Plus, his career 3.07 ERA and 1.09 WHIP is pretty nice for fantasy baseball.
7.84 SP Julio Teheran of the Atlanta Braves
Teheran’s 3.72 xFIP in 2014 and career xFIP of 3.81 significantly exceed his 2014 and career ERA of 2.89 and 3.16, respectively. His career BABIP of .276 makes me believe that he is in order for a touch of regression, especially in wins leagues where the Braves are now rebuilding.