Ari Koslow | Wed, Mar 18th 2026, 7:26am EDT

Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: Pitchers Early (2026)

It’s officially March. The season is now just a few weeks away. Let’s mock draft. We’ll draft for a 12-team points league with the following positions: 1-C, 1-1B, 1-2B, 1-3B, 1-SS, 3-OF, 1-UTIL, 6-Pitchers and three bench spots. I’m drafting from the eight slot.

The emphasis in this fantasy baseball mock draft was to test out loading up on starting pitching early.

Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft

1.07: Tarik Skubal (SP – DET)

With this strategy, Tarik Skubal was the pick at seven overall. It was between him and Paul Skenes. I like the upside for Skubal to earn more wins this season.

2.08: Junior Caminero (3B – TB)

With Paul Skenes and Garrett Crochet off the board, I wasn’t going to force a pitcher here. I wound up drafting Junior Caminero, who has impressed as much as anyone in the World Baseball Classic.

3.07: Bryan Woo (SP – SEA)

4.08: Cole Ragans (SP – KC)

This has been my sweet spot in many previous mock drafts for both Bryan Woo and Cole Ragans. It was between Woo and Hunter Brown in round three, followed by Cole Ragans and Chris Sale in round four.

5.07: Josh Naylor (1B – SEA)

After drafting the power upside of Junior Caminero, I wound up going with a bit more of a high floor in Josh Naylor.

6.08: George Kirby (SP – SEA)

I couldn’t pass up the value of George Kirby this late, who is usually drafted closer to round five. He is fully healthy heading into this season after he opened the 2025 season injured. That led to a bit rougher of a season for him compared to his usual standards.

7.07: Corey Seager (SS – TEX)

I have a hard time passing up the pure upside of Corey Seager this late. The injury risk is baked into his falling this far.

8.08: Christian Yelich (OF – MIL)

I don’t usually wait to draft my first outfielder this late, but that’s how it went in this mock. I elected to target a steadier option in Christian Yelich.

9.07: Tyler Glasnow (SP – LAD)

After addressing hitting the past two rounds, I went back to loading up on pitching with the strikeout upside of Tyler Glasnow. He is another player with injury risk, but that is baked into his falling this far.

10.08: Kyle Stowers (OF – MIA)

It was an impressive stint last season for Kyle Stowers, slashing .288/.368/.544 with 25 home runs. He could face some regression heading into this season, but I’m still confident in him as my second outfielder, having waited this long.

11.07: Yandy Diaz (1B – TB)

12.08: Sandy Alcantara (SP – MIA)

Sandy Alcantara has shown flashes of his old self in camp. He was named the starter for the Dominican Republic if it had advanced to the finals of the World Baseball Classic before Team USA took them down on Sunday.

13.07: Jeff Hoffman (RP – TOR)

I wound up drafting just one closer in this mock. I’ll target the position heavily on the waiver wire throughout the season.

14.08: Ian Happ (OF – CHC)

15.07: Matt McLain (2B – CIN)

One of the hottest hitters in spring training, Matt McLain is one of my favorite targets when waiting on the second base position.

16.08: Shane McClanahan (SP – TB)

Shane McClanahan is coming off picking up seven strikeouts over 3.3 innings of scoreless baseball against the Pirates in his latest spring training start. He may not go this late in drafts come next week.

17.07: Andrew Abbott (SP – CIN)

18.08: J.T. Realmuto (C – PHI)

I punted on the catcher position as I always do. J.T. Realmuto will be looking to bounce back for the Phillies this season.

Draft Wizard Insights

I received a B grade (83/100). I prefer prioritizing starting pitching more so in points leagues and less so in category and roto leagues, although I will always go best player available.

This wasn’t one of my favorite mocks I have done, but I wouldn’t be totally against going into the season with this squad either. I did like the way my outfield turned out, despite waiting longer on the position than usual.

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