Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: Trea Turner Falls and Giancarlo Stanton Rises
Round 5
| Overall | Player | Pos Rank | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | Justin Verlander | SP 10 | McClung |
| 58 | Chris Archer | SP 11 | Kupferle |
| 59 | Johnny Cueto | SP 12 | Musico |
| 60 | Rougned Odor | 2B 5 | Lynch |
| 61 | Jon Lester | SP 13 | Tredeau |
| 62 | Jose Bautista | OF 20 | Sannes |
| 63 | Christian Yelich | OF 21 | Carpenter |
| 64 | Jacob deGrom | SP 14 | Stolnis |
| 65 | Carlos Carrasco | SP 15 | Whalen |
| 66 | Adrian Beltre | 3B 7 | Liscio |
| 67 | Justin Upton | OF 22 | Bruno |
| 68 | Matt Kemp | OF 23 | Nammour |
| 69 | Alex Bregman | 3B 8 | Storin |
| 70 | Anthony Rendon | 2B 6 | Kas |
Best Pick: Justin Verlander
At some point, starting pitching starts flying off the board as fantasy owners need to find an anchor for their staffs. The starting pitcher run definitely arrived in Round 5, as 6 of the 14 picks were starting pitchers. In fact, the run started perhaps a hair earlier at the end of Round 4 with David Price, as six of the next seven picks were starters.
Slotting in Round 5 was arguably the man with the best Cy Young candidacy last year in the American League. Verlander was dominant in the strikeout department, racking up whiffs at the fourth-best rate in all of baseball (28.1%). Even better was his 227 2/3 innings pitched, third-best in the game, meaning that impressive 1.00 WHIP provided a big boost overall to roto pitching staffs.
If Verlander can put up numbers close his 2016 campaign, a Cy Young finalist at the 57th pick is an absolute steal.
