2024 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: Head-to-Head (H2H) points format shakes up the first round

I'll just say it: The industry is biased against points leagues. Most Fantasy Baseball content is geared toward Rotisserie leagues, and so most content creators are accustomed to drafting for Rotisserie leagues.

What it means is that when I invite them to take part in one of our Head-to-Head points mock drafts, the results can still have a Rotisserie bend to them. Sure, starting pitchers may get moved up (which I don't think is always the right approach, by the way), but the hitters are still drafted more or less like they would be in Rotisserie, with a few notable exceptions.

But not with this group. This group knocked it out of the park, delivering mock draft results that are truly representative of the Head-to-Head points format:

1) Sean Millerick, Marlins After Dark (@miasportsminute)
2) Frank Stampfl, CBS Sports (@Roto_Frank)
3) David Funnell, Fantrax (@sportz_nutt51)
4) George Kurtz, Sportsgrid (@GeorgeKurtz)
5) Scott White, CBS Sports (@CBSScottWhite)
6) Jake Holland, The Toss Up podcast (@jakebaseball17)
7) Darren "Doc" Eisenhauer, Scout the Statline (@DocHollidayDyna)
8) Nick Fox, NBC Sports (@CT_FOX)
9) Nick Mimikos, Faceoff Sports Network (@NMimi)
10) Chris Towers, CBS Sports (@CTowersCBS)
11) Jake Wiener, Prospects1500 (@GatorSosa)
12) Corey Pieper, Fantasy SIx Pack (@copieps)

Just look what happened in Round 1. Ronald Acuna (5.14 points per game last year) naturally went first overall, but Bobby Witt (3.65) lasted to Pick 8 and Julio Rodriguez (3.59) to Pick 13. They're usually 2 and 3 in Rotisserie. Ahead of them in this one were Mookie Betts (4.25), Juan Soto (3.64 in a down year), Aaron Judge (3.84), Freddie Freeman (4.14) and Yordan Alvarez (3.94), and in between them was Matt Olson (4.07). It's an unfamiliar order for Rotisserie leagues, but it's a logical one for Head-to-Head points, where plate discipline matters more than stolen bases.

If anything, this group leaned even harder into the format's peculiarities than I would have. Jose Altuve was the 17th overall pick, which is justified by his 3.94 points per game last year but doesn't account much for his injury risk. Corey Seager (4.14 points per game) was still the 19th overall pick despite the threat of him missing the first month due to hernia surgery. All things considered, I would have taken Trea Turner and Francisco Lindor ahead of him.

Other hitters who got a significant bump because of their advantages in this format were Triston Casas (Pick 60), Xander Bogaerts (Pick 76) and Steven Kwan (Pick 94). Somehow, Nico Hoerner slipped to Pick 82 even though he averaged 3.36 points per game last year. I felt lucky to get Yandy Diaz (3.45 points per game) at Pick 116, but the truth is there are probably too many quality first basemen for this format, which doesn't require a third corner infielder.

On the pitching side, starting pitchers with relief pitcher eligibility are thought to have an advantage because their scoring upside exceeds that of a typical closer, and boy, were they drafted like it in this one. Ryan Pepiot and Michael King went in Round 9. You know who else went in Round 9? That's right: Devin Williams! (Edwin Diaz and Josh Hader went a little bit earlier.) I kind of doubt Pepiot or King (or Nick Pivetta, who was the first pick of Round 10) will get the sort of workload needed to compete with a stud closer, but the point is that everybody understood the gimmick and was willing to pay a premium for it.

It's always fun to take stock of what starting pitchers are drafted late in this format. We tend to go deeper into the pitching pool because we devote most of our bench space to pitchers. In particular, I'd like to draw your attention to DL Hall, Robert Gasser and Aaron Ashby all being drafted in the final round. Word of the Corbin Burnes trade broke mid-draft and apparently clued everyone in to just how wide open the Brewers rotation is. Those three lefties all have the potential to seize a spot in that rotation, with Hall of course being one of the players coming back to the Brewers in the Burnes deal.