Mock Draft Rounds 16-20
Oct 24, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; Kansas City Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain makes a diving catch against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning of game three of the 2014 World Series at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Paul Buck/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports
Rounds 11-15 of the early fantasy baseball mock draft can be found here. In the last five rounds of the mock draft, I have decided to give an explanation on certain notable players and the reasoning behind my picks.
The last few rounds saw some teams drafted lower ranked players because they offered high upside or filled out the rest of the roster that had no bench spots.
The numbers listed to the left of each name represent the round and the overall pick they were drafted.
16.181 SP Phil Hughes of the Minnesota Twins
Phil Hughes only walked 16 batters in 32 starts in 2014. That is truly outrageous. His 2.65 FIP, 3.18 xFIP, and 3.17 SIERA all bode well for someone who was an underrated starter in 2014. Phil Hughes posted an absurd 11.63 K/BB. Second in that category among starters is Clayton Kershaw with a 7.71 K/BB. Yup, Phil Hughes is another stratosphere in terms of control.
16.182 OF Oswaldo Arcia of the Minnesota Twins
183. player. 7. At this point in the draft, I still needed to draft two more outfielders, so I targeted a little speed and decided to go with <strong><a href=. OF. Kansas City Royals. Lorenzo Cain
16.184 RP Glen Perkins of the Minnesota
16.185 RP Fernando Rodney of the Seattle Mariners
16.186 RP Koji Uehara of the Boston Red Sox
Koji Uehara is one of my favorite baseball players right now. He is nearly 40 years old and his fastball sits in the high 80’s despite the fact that he is a closer. However, Uehara is a wizard at not allowing walks. His even 10 K/BB only trailed Sean Doolittle and Phil Hughes in 2014 and his 11.19 K/9 is impressive, especially when you consider his stuff at this age.
16.187 SP Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds
16.188 OF Joc Pederson of the Los Angeles Dodgers
With Matt Kemp a little further down the West Coast, the path to a starting job gets a little clearer for Joc Pederson. I think he will be a stud as you can read in this earlier post and he should be able to win a starting role in Spring Training. If Kemp was gone when this mock draft took place, then the stock of Joc Pederson surely would have been higher.
16.189 SP Mat Latos of the Miami Marlins
Mat Latos was uncharacteristically bad in 2014, and it was largely due to the fact that he was almost never healthy. Latos is now in an environment that is unfavorable to hitters and he has a strong career track record outside of 2014. He was featured in the recent 2015 Rebound Series.
16.190 SP Ian Kennedy of the San Diego Padres
16.191 SP Lance Lynn of the St. Louis Cardinals
16.192 SP Wily Peralta of the Milwaukee Brewers
17.193 SP Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants
Matt Cain used to be an absolute stud pitcher who seemed to almost defy sabermetric models, but his decline in the past two seasons has been sharp. I believe that you should avoid drafting Matt Cain as you can read here.
17.194 SP Matt Moore of the Tampa Bay Rays
17.195 SP Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
17.196 RP Santiago Casilla of the San Francisco Giants
17.197 RP Hector Rondon of the Chicago Cubs
Hector Rondon had a very impressive 2014, and it seems like the Chicago Cubs have found their man in the ninth inning that they can trust. With an expected full season as the closer on an improving team, Rondon should see more save opportunities according to this.
17.198 OF Carlos Beltran of the New York Yankees
17.199 OF A.J. Pollock of the Arizona Diamondbacks
Pollock has battled with quite a few injuries, but he put together a great mini-season in 75 games this past year. A.J. Pollock slashed .302/.353/.498 to go along with 7 homers and 14 steals. I should have drafted Pollock instead of Lorenzo Cain, but I am now targeting this centerfielder that is likely to improve.
17.200 OF Curtis Granderson of the New York Mets
While Curtis Granderson is no longer the fantasy superstar he once was with the Tigers and Yankees, I have tagged him as a leftfielder that is likely to improve in 2015. In 2014, Granderson hit 20 HR, but I believe that he still has 25 HR power. As a result, those five extra bombs should give him a slight uptick across the board.
17.201 1B Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals
<strong><a href=. SP. Milwaukee Brewers. Mike Fiers. 202. player. 76
17.203 SP Michael Wacha of the St. Louis Cardinals
17.204 OF Adam Eaton of the Chicago White Sox
Adam Eaton is the poor man’s A.J. Pollock because he is Pollock with less power coming off a promising season derailed by injuries. As a result, I have also labeled Adam Eaton as a centerfielder likely to improve.
18.205 C Russell Martin of the Toronto Blue Jays
18.206 RP Andrew Miller of the New York Yankees
11. <p>I am really surprised that <strong><a href=. 1B/OF. Baltimore Orioles. Steve Pearce. 207. player
18.208 SP Michael Pineda of the New York Yankees
18.209 SP Brandon McCarthy of the Los Angeles Dodgers
Brandon McCarthy is a longtime sabermetric darling with his peripherals stacking up nicely against most pitchers, but his more standard statistics fell flat. McCarthy’s three flat SIERA ranked 11th in MLB and his 5.30 K/BB ranked 9th. You would find Brandon McCarthy’s K/BB sandwiched between Chris Sale and Corey Kluber. That is some pretty nice company and McCarthy should be in line for some improvement as long as his .328 BABIP normalizes as it should.
18.210 RP Neftali Feliz of the Texas Rangers
18.211 SP Jose Quintana of the Chicago White Sox
18.212 C Travis d’Arnaud of the New York Mets
Most of the time, catchers stink in fantasy, but I am big on quite a few of them in 2015 and maybe none more than Travis d’Arnaud and his top 5 upside. After his midseason demotion to AAA, d’Arnaud returned with a vengeance by hitting 10 homers in 276 plate appearances.
18.213 OF Carl Crawford of the Los Angeles Dodgers
18.214 RP Francisco Rodriguez is a free agent
18.215 1B Justin Morneau of the Colorado Rockies
18.216 OF Khris Davis of the Milwaukee Brewers
19.217 SS J.J. Hardy of the Baltimore Orioles
Hardy is consistently one of my favorite fantasy shortstops. He is the least expensive shortstop with 20 home run power. J.J. Hardy is also a very logical candidate to bounce back in 2015 as you can read in this post.
19.218 SP John Lackey of the St. Louis Cardinals
19.219 OF Michael Cuddyer of the New York Mets
19.220 SP Jesse Hahn of the San Diego Padres
19.221 RP Addison Reed of the Arizona Diamondbacks
19.222 SP Wade Miley of the Boston Red Sox
19.223 SP Taijuan Walker of the Seattle Mariners
19.224 SP James Paxton of the Seattle Mariners
Sadly, Paxton missed out on what could have been a great breakout season due to an injury, but he posted a 3.04 ERA in 13 starts. With a 94.4 MPH average fastball in 2014 and a couple plus pitches, I believe the southpaw has big time potential in what could be the nastiest rotation in the Majors.
19.225 SP Kevin Gausman of the Baltimore Orioles
RP. Philadelphia Phillies. Ken Giles. 226. player. 6. With only two P spots remaining on my roster, I decided to roll the dice on a very high upside potential closer in <strong><a href=
19.227 RP Joakim Soria of the Detroit Tigers
19.228 SP Kyle Hendricks of the Chicago Cubs
20.229 SP T.J. House of the Cleveland Indians
House is emerging as a popular sleeper who could have immediate value if he wins a spot in the Cleveland rotation that is quickly becoming really, really good. The standout numbers with the age 25 southpaw are his SIERA of 2.96 and xFIP of 3.10. He is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
20.230 RP Brad Boxberger of the Tampa Bay Rays
17. I may as well stay true to my <a title=. SP. Atlanta Braves. Mike Minor. 231. player
20.232 OF Dexter Fowler of the Houston Astros
20.233 C Evan Gattis of the Atlanta Braves
While I did not have room on my roster, Evan Gattis is a great fantasy target. While Evan Gattis still has a small sample size, his power is unquestionable. In 2013, Gattis played in 105 games and hit 21 home runs. He repeated the performance this season with 108 games and 22 homers. I would have drafted Evan Gattis if there was more roster flexibility with utility spots or if a bench existed.
20.234 SP Jake Odorizzi of the Tampa Bay Rays
20.235 C Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles
20.236 SP Francisco Liriano of the Pittsburgh Pirates
20.237 RP Joe Nathan of the Detroit Tigers
20.238 RP Kevin Quackenbush of the San Diego Padres
20.239 SP Wei-Yen Chen of the Baltimore Orioles
20.240 SP Derek Holland of the Texas Rangers
Even though Derek Holland takes home the dubious Mr. Irrelevant claim to fame in this mock draft, every player could have value. As you have seen many times before, a player drafted in the late rounds, if not the last round, has a breakthrough and is a fantasy difference maker.