Happy Thursday, everyone! Dan Schneier here again, and as I promised in the last newsletter, we'll be delivering at least one mock draft recap/review every single time you open a newsletter in your inbox at least until we get some news on the lockout -- and then likely after that as well! It's mock draft season -- you get it! 

With very little to discuss on the lockout front, there's no need for any further preamble, so let's dive right into the recent H2H categories mock draft our Fantasy Baseball Today team conducted.

Of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast right when they drop on Apple and Spotify . Catch up now for a more detailed look at ADP risers and fallers you need to know about plus Scott's top-50 keepers heading into the 2022 season -- for everyone in keeper leagues.

The first and most important thing to go over in any mock draft recap is how the specific format impacts the draft results. This one specifically was a 12-team H2H categories league using the standard Yahoo! lineup which consists of one of each infield position, three outfielders, two UTIL and then pitching is interesting and this is where the strategy comes in: two starting pitchers, two relief pitchers, 4 pitcher spots, and five bench slots.

The categories are standard 5x5: BA, HR, runs, RBI, SB… ERA, strikeouts, saves, wins, WHIP. Participants were asked to draft this team as if it was a daily lineup league where you need 25 innings minimum per week.

How it impacts draft strategy: One key way this format changes draft strategy is via the devaluation of stolen bases. If you find yourself in a league that uses this scoring format, make sure you adjust accordingly. But it's also important to note that while most H2H leagues (points format) make stolen bases worth next to nothing, this format doesn't have quite that impact because it is still a categories H2H league. Scott White did an excellent job breaking this down in his draft recap:

"The 5x5 scoring keeps the emphasis on stolen bases high, but with fewer lineup spots to fill than in standard Rotisserie, you can't afford too many detours for the sake of one category. And by "too many," I mean more than one.

"It's why if I don't take care of stolen bases early in this format, with players who'll offer me big production across the board, I'm probably just punting -- or something close to it. Even in Rotisserie, I'm making a point not to sell out for stolen bases, content instead to keep feeding the home run monster, but it goes double for this format, which measures stolen bases a week at a time rather than across a full season. Say your lineup features four guys projected for 15-20 steals. What's that going to look like from week to week? One here, two there, five there, none here? I don't understand what you're actually assuring yourself, and if securing those four costs you in the other categories, it hardly seems worth it.

"The one steals specialist I'll make an exception for is Adalberto Mondesi, whose frequent injuries have him on people's bad side right now. But I like him even more in this format than Rotisserie. He's so uniquely prolific in that scarcest category that he might single-handedly win it for you every week that he's healthy. It's like a cheat code, and if he's available for even half the season, he'll have been worth it."

Another H2H strategy -- the "Marmol strategy" is as follows: In a H2H category league with either no weekly innings minimum or a low one, use your first 10 or so picks on hitters. Don't draft a single starting pitcher unless your league requires you to. If you must draft a starting pitcher, target ones late that have innings concerns but good ratios. From rounds 11 on, focus on remaining closers and high-end setup relievers with strong ratios. You punt wins and strikeouts but your offense is theoretically good enough and you should win ERA/WHIP/saves most weeks.

In every H2H draft I've ever taken part in, there has been at least one Marmol Strategy drafter, often Scott White himself.

The Participants

1) Frank Stampfl, CBS Sports (@Roto_Frank)   
2) Tim Kanak, Fantasy Aceball (@fantasyaceball)  
3) Chris Mitchell, FantasyData ( @CJMitch73)  
4) Scott White , CBS Sports (@CBSScottWhite)   
5) Nick Mimikos, Stack Attack Podcast (@NMimi)   
6) Raymond Atherton ( @RaymondAtherton)  
7) Chris Towers, CBS Sports ( @CTowersCBS)  
8) R.J. White, CBS Sports (@rjwhite1)  
9) Corey Pieper, The Heater Podcast (@copieps )   
10) Chris, Baseball Pods ( @baseballpods)
11) Zev Traum, lucky reader who got to join in
12) David Mendelson, Triple Play Fantasy (@DMendy02)

First two rounds 

Round 1

• Fernando Tatis, SS, SD
• Ronald Acuna, OF, ATL
• Trea Turner, SS, LAD
• Vlad Guerrero Jr., 1B, TOR
• Juan Soto, OF, WAS
• Bo Bichette, SS, TOR
• Jose Ramirez, 3B, CLE
• Bryce Harper, OF, PHI
• Corbin Burnes, SP, MIL
• Shohei Ohtani, DH, LAA
• Mike Trout, OF, LAA
• Mookie Betts, OF, LAD

Round 2

• Kyle Tucker, OF, HOU
• Gerrit Cole, SP, NYY
• Walker Buehler, SP, LAD
• Freddie Freeman, 1B, FA
• Rafael Devers, 3B, BOS
• Max Scherzer, SP, NYM
• Brandon Woodruff, SP, MIL
• Jacob deGrom, SP, NYM
• Luis Robert, OF, CHW
• Ozzie Albies, 2B, ATL
• Manny Machado, 3B, SD
• Zach Wheeler, SP, PHI

• Acuna coming off the board at No. 2 overall is the highest we've seen this mock draft season.
• Frank likes the pseudo-Marmol strategy: Grab an ace early and then get a second ace before loading up on relief-pitcher-eligible pitchers later.
• Robbie Ray came off the board at No. 42 overall to Chris Towers and it's another example of when he likes to zig when others are zagging. Chris buys the breakout with Ray.
• Scott White took FIVE -- count 'em, five hitters with his first five draft picks. Yes, that's the Scott White we're talking about ripping off five straight picks without a starting pitcher. The same Scott White who was all in on starting pitchers with his early draft capital in 2021. As he explained, part of it was because this was a mock and he's testing things, but Scott has been less pitcher-heavy throughout the early mocks until this point. Scott added that part of the reason for this was because of the format -- making starting pitching less valuable. Ratio stats can get so messed up over just a one-week sample.
• To add to that, through five rounds, the draft was a lot less pitcher-focused than we've grown accustomed to. We had four teams who had drafted just one starter and one -- Scott White -- who drafted none.
• This is the perfect format for Mondesi because while in Roto he may miss too many weeks, in this format, week-by-week he'll single-handedly win you the steals category when he is active. Scott considered him an absolute steal in Round 7 of this draft.