The 2026 MLB season is almost here and that means you’re probably gearing up for your fantasy baseball draft. One of the best ways to prepare is to write as many mock drafts as possible. Of course, sometimes it’s difficult to find an accurate representation of your league’s metrics using the public mock draft lobby.
Don’t be afraid! If you are a Yahoo Fantasy+ subscriberYou have access to the Instant Mock Draft tool, allowing you to practice your draft in seconds. You can test different strategies, choose from different draft slots, and experiment with roster building as many times as you want, at any time, instantly. Now is the perfect time to subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy+so you can use the wealth of tools for your draft preparation.
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(Yahoo Fantasy+ unlocks premium draft tools, player projections and more)
In this series, we’ll use the Instant Mock Draft tool to choose from each of the 12 slots in a 12-team fantasy baseball league. In this article, we will draft from the No. 7 overall pick.
I’m not revealing my strategy here, because that will reveal my first choice.
No more mock drafts
Note: We use Yahoo’s default points league settings for these mock drafts.
Full list
C: Cal Raleigh, Sailors
1B: Bryce Harper, Phillies
2B: Brice Turang, Brewers
SS: Willy Adames, Giants
3B: Austin Riley, Braves
FROM: Randy Arozarena, Sailors
FROM: Seiya Suzuki, Cub Scouts
BY: Jo Adell, Angels
USER: Daulton Varsho, Blue Jays
USER: Spencer Torkelson, Tigers
PS: Paul Skenes, Pirates
SP: Luis Castillo, sailors
RP: Raisel Iglesias, Braves
RP: Daniel Palencia, Cub Scouts
P: Ryan Pepiot, Rays
P: Andrew Abbott, Reds
P: Shane Baz, Orioles
P: Ryan Weathers, Yankees
Bench: Kyle Teel, White Sox
Bench: Willi Castro, Rockies
Bench: Matt Wallner, Twins
Bench: Jake Cronenworth, Padres
Bench: Justin Verlander, Tigers
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STRATEGY REVEAL! It was HeroSP.
I recently read an article by Chris Towers on the starting pitcher’s dead zone. I believe it won him an award, so it might be worth taking a look. Regardless, it explains how as a draft progresses, the value of starting pitchers slowly decreases until things flatten out. The idea is to take a high-end starter early in the draft, then employ a “HeroSP” approach, similar to a HeroRB strategy in fantasy football. So I took a pitcher in the first round and didn’t think about the pitching position until the 10th round.
(Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2026 MLB season)
As you can see, we have chosen Paul Skenes as our “hero” in this exercise. Tigers SP Tarik Skubal, who I’ve dodged in every mock so far, was already off the board when I got to No. 7. So it was between Skenes and Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet. The Pirates should be a little better this season, which could lead to a few more wins for Skenes. I don’t think you can really go wrong with any of these trios as your top arm.
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Moving forward, we caught Skenes, so everything was offensive until the next few rounds. I noticed Raleigh fell to me in the second round and I haven’t had a chance to draft him yet in this series. Most projections have him between 34-45 HR this season. But what if there was a world in which he didn’t regress much? If that’s the case, I’ll buy the potential for Raleigh to duplicate — or come close to — the season he had in 2025. If that’s the case, you’re getting first-round value after the fact.
I also waited a bit in the outfield (not intentionally) but it worked out well for me. The position is still quite deep and you will be able to find energy sources in later turns. We were able to put together a solid group consisting of Arozarena, Suzuki and Adell, players that I frequently target. Wallner regressed in 2025 but has potential coming off the bench.
Okay, back to the launcher strategy. So my first SP pick after Skenes was Castillo in the 10th round. I’ve published my colleagues a lot in this series, but we can never connect too much — Fred Zinkie has Castillo as one of his safest picks based on a 10-team draft. It’s a 12-team league, but what does that matter in this context? “According to data from Relative Range via Yahoo Fantasy Plus, Castillo is the 27th safest starter in baseball,” Zinkie writes.
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I was also able to source a few reliable door closers in Iglesias and Palencia. The Braves closer has made at least 29 saves in three straight seasons. Palencia will get the first chance to close out what should be a good Cubs team. I reiterate that you should always be proactive on the waiver wire when it comes to relief throws. There will almost certainly be relievers who emerge due to the injury opportunities present who can help you.
Let’s look at the rest of the SP staff. Abbott is a polarizing name this season. With Hunter Greene out for up to four months after elbow surgery, Abbott is Cincinnati’s de facto ace. He’s entering his prime and is coming off his best season in MLB with a 2.87 ERA and 5.6 WAR, finishing in the top 10 in NL Cy Young voting. As a ground ball pitcher, he won’t miss many bats, so K numbers are not ideal. Although his ERA should increase, you won’t find many Opening Day starters this late in your draft.
Finally, we picked up a flyer about Verlander’s farewell tour. The future Hall of Famer is expected to give everything he has at age 43 in what should be his final MLB season. He pitched well last year for the Giants and could have more wins on a better Detroit team. Verlander was my last choice, so you basically get it for free. Why not?
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Takeaways: In point formats, I really like this wait approach on SP. Maybe it won’t be a full ZeroSP or HeroSP, but an iteration where you don’t spend too much of your high draft capital on the position. Obviously there is a shortage of positions, but based on projections, pitching has less value. But if you want to miss out on one of the best sticks (Judge, Ohtani, Soto, Witt), then it makes sense to move to SP in the first round. There won’t be as much difference between this second tier of bats.
