2024 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: Head-to-Head (H2H) points format encourages big swings on upside plays

After our last Head-to-Head points mock draft a few weeks ago, I remarked that we all seemed to recognize how different Round 1 should be from the typical Rotisserie league. There are enough first round-caliber bats -- 16 by my count -- that even more so than in years past, we can tailor our choices to our own scoring format.

Some of those bats will be better for 5x5 scoring and some will be better for points scoring. This latest mock draft also demonstrates the point, most notably with Julio Rodriguez, the consensus No. 2 overall pick in Rotisserie, going 16th overall. Maybe it's old news by now, but it's worth another quick mention for those who missed the last mock.

What stood out most to me this time is how hard we pushed for emerging young talent, taking them well ahead of their ADP. The first instance was Grayson Rodriguez being drafted at 46 overall, though given the caliber of players still available in that Round 4-5 range, I wouldn't go so far as to endorse that one. There was also Wyatt Langford at 81, Jackson Chourio at 103 and Jackson Holliday at 105.

It may just be that the tide is turning. Players are arriving for spring training, new reports are coming out, and Fantasy Baseballers are taking more seriously the possibility of those three prospects in particular breaking camp with the team. Given their enormous upside, and even factoring in the unlikelihood of them meeting it as rookies, it stands to reason their ADP will rise.

But I think what happened in this draft is more of a format-specific phenomenon. Head-to-Head points leagues don't require any balancing of categories, of course. All statistical contributions go into the same bucket, so you don't have to fixate on the particular shortfalls of one player. You just need to bludgeon your opponent with as much hitting goodness as possible, and a top prospect like Holliday has the potential for more goodness than, say, Bryson Stott

Of course, you could argue the same is true for Rotisserie, but in that format, you have 14 hitter spots to fill. In this one, you have only nine. Thus, the need for impact is greater at every spot, and the penalty for missing is less. All the incentives are there to swing big.

And it wasn't just the hitter picks that reflected this thinking. I already mentioned Rodriguez, but there wa also Paul Skenes at 147 and Hurston Waldrep at 238. Meanwhile, Jackson Merrill, another hitting prospect who has recently emerged as a candidate to win a job, was the 250th pick.

Here's who all took part in this draft:

1) Jake Holland, The Toss Up podcast (@jakebaseball17)
2) Frank Stampfl, CBS Sports (@Roto_Frank)
3) Darren "Doc" Eisenhauer, Scout the Statline (@DocHollidayDyna)
4) Scott White, CBS Sports (@CBSScottWhite)
5) Nathan Judah, Express & Star (@NathanJudah)
6) Jake Wiener, Prospects1500 (@GatorSosa)
7) Kayla Walz, former Podcast League participant
8) Chris Towers, CBS Sports (@CTowersCBS)
9) Nick Fox, NBC Sports (@CT_FOX)
10) Sean Millerick, Marlins After Dark (@miasportsminute)
11) JR Fenton, TGFBI participant (@JohnRussell215)
12) Anthony Tucker, Pitcher List (@AnthonyTucker81)