Whether you’re new to fantasy baseball or a seasoned pro, our Fantasy Baseball 101: Strategy Tips & Advice page is for you. You can get started with our Sabermetrics Glossary or head to more advanced strategy — like How to Make Custom Fantasy Baseball Rankings with Microsoft Excel — to learn more.

While the delay to the start of the MLB season is hard on everyone, it does allow for deeper dives into different aspects of fantasy baseball. You’ll notice that we’re doing this on a team-by-team and player-by-player basis with a pair of series we’ve put together. Additionally, we’re going to examine fantasy baseball on a round-by-round basis, covering 12 players per article and providing you a plethora of info specific to each fantasy baseball round.

We’ll keep things going with Round 17. You can find the complete series here.

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Round 17 Player List

 
*Editor’s Note: Since this article was written, it’s been announced that Trey Mancini will miss the entire 2020 season.

Expert Analysis*

 
*Value: A total assigned to how the overall fantasy value of the round compares with other rounds relative to ADP/ECR (10 = most value: 1 = least value); Risk: A total assigned to how much potential risk exists compared with other rounds (10 = most risk: 1 = least risk); Studs: the number of potential league-winning players that can be found in the round; Busts: the number of potential busts that can be found in the round.

Q1. Who has the most league-winning potential of any Round 17 fantasy pick?

 
Q2. Who has the biggest bust potential of any Round 17 fantasy pick?

 
Q3. What is your general strategy tip for Round 17?

All the pitchers are solid in this round, but nobody really has tantalizing upside. There is a lot of positive rumors surrounding the Pirates employing a new pitching coach, which could help Musgrove capture the form he has only demonstrated in flashes. I was high on Verdugo before his injury, and it remains to be seen if he’ll be ready whenever the season starts. If he is, he’s a fantastic pick at this point. Give me Jimenez over Leclerc if I’m going closer here. I do not trust Jose Leclerc one iota.
– Jarad Evans (@Jarad_Evans)

This is often a spot where I round out my pitching staff. Musgrove and Foltynewicz are both excellent candidates. There aren’t many quality closers available after Jimenez and Leclerc, who at least offer high strikeout upside.
– Andrew Gould (@AndrewGould4)

I like taking a shot at a young hitter in this round, with Verdugo, Newman, and Will Smith being the most appealing guys just because of their upside. I am not thrilled by the boring, low upside guys like Murphy and Garcia, and you can get pretty much the same kind of closer as Jimenez/Leclerc later, so I would focus on upside here.
– Jon Anderson (@JonPGH)

The one trend we continue to see when going through each round is that at least one or two legitimate sleepers appear regularly. We can’t always expect to draft them — partly because someone else will and partly because it’s dangerous to have so many unstable players — but we can take advantage of the compounding value that must be falling as a result. For every sleeper, it’s likely that an overlooked veteran or non-flashy player fell. If you can’t get the sleeper, target the best value possible.
– Mario Mergola (@MarioMergola)

This is quite a fun round, filled with guys I am substantially both higher and lower on. This is where I’ll start targeting my SP5, and if Musgrove is still on the board, I’m buying. He is a common sleeper across the industry, so don’t expect him to be around this long. I’m actively avoiding Mancini (injury), Foltynewicz (too much upside elsewhere), and Verdugo (is his back going to get better?). Others I’m fading include Stroman and both Will Smith’s. Murphy could be a league-winner if he proves that last year’s slump was due to injury. Finally, If I haven’t taken a second closer, LeClerc is ripe for the taking.
– Carmen Maiorano (@carmsclubhouse)

You’ll see that I listed Murphy as the one with league-winning upside but I am drafting Avisail Garcia over him all day every day because his likelihood to help your fantasy team is so much higher. Garcia was exceptional in a pitcher’s park and now moves into Milwaukee, or at the very least, a neutral park in Arizona. He should get increased runs and RBIs in the powerhouse lineup too.
– Bobby Sylvester (@bobbyfantasypro)

This is a great round, particularly for pitchers, where I love scooping up Mike Foltynewicz or Joe Musgrove, or even Marcus Stroman. Intriguing bats such as Alex Verdugo, Daniel Murphy, and Will Smith make this almost a can’t miss round. And that’s not even mentioning one of my favorite sleepers, Avisail Garcia. I have no problem taking most of the players here a round or two early.
– Dan Harris (@danharris80)

Complete Round-by-Round Fantasy Baseball Draft Analysis

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