NL-Only Mock Draft Results: Ace Starters are the New Power Hitters

I mentioned a few days ago....maybe a little longer than that, or maybe I have just been repeating myself lately, that I plan on drafting pitching early in my NL-only 5 x 5 redraft league this year. I even talked to another owner in that league this week telling him what my plan was. This owner loves his starting pitchers, and he said he might use his dump power strategy this year. I might do the same.

So, our conversation peaked my interest in what the current sentiment was over at Mock Draft Central. I entered an NL-only draft last night to see what the first round would look like, and it was shocking to say the least.

What used to be a round filled with guys like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder and David Wright is now filled with several starting pitchers. Granted, they are all aces, so one can't argue too loudly about drafting a starter in the first round. But, come on, FOUR starting pitchers in the first round?

The mock draft results after the jump:

You can tell which team is mine, and not looking at the the team name or highlighted pick either. You can tell by who was drafted first overall. I picked Matt Kemp with the first overall pick. Actually, I did not participate in the draft, so the site gave me their top ranked player.

I love Clayton Kershaw, and am very happy 6 other teams drafted someone else back in 2007, but Kershaw as the #3 overall pick? Ahead of Roy Halladay? I am shocked and can only conclude that the person who drafted him at 3 was present, because I am pretty sure Kershaw is not the 3rd ranked player in the National League.

Wait a minute!!! That makes TWO Dodgers in the first three picks! And someone in Wednesday night's fantasy chat had the nerve to say I was hyping the Dodgers players in the chat. Guess I am not the only one.

But, as I have already mentioned, taking Kershaw at #3 started a run on ace starters, as 3 of the next 8 picks were starting pitchers, including Roy Halladay at 6, Cliff Lee at 8, and Tim Lincecum at 11. The second round brought us more of the same with three more starters drafted: Cole Hamels at 15, Stephen Strasburg at 22, Yovani Gallardo at 23, and Zack Greinke was taken with the first pick in the third round, and 25th overall.

So, there were 8 starters taken in the first 25 picks in this NL-Only league draft. Quite amazing as I have never seen it happen before in any draft I have participated in.

A few other surprises in this mock draft is that Ryan Braun was taken with the last pick in the first round. I would take him in the late second round or early third round, but certainly not the first round. For sure. This pick tells me two things. Team 12 was certainly not present and its quite possible many of the other teams in this draft were present, as Team 12 was given the highest ranked player with the 12th pick overall. That, and the fact that the site's rankings still assumes Braun won't be suspended.

Another surprise for me was the fact that Jose Reyes was the second shortstop off the board, ahead of Hanley Ramirez. I guess I am not the only one who ranks Reyes ahead of Hanley.

Lastly, the fantasy baseball writers here at Fake Teams will be participating in a Fake Teams only mock draft, either on Sunday night or next Tuesday night, so be on the look out for some articles from our writers on the results of their draft.