RCL Update: April 2

Drafting is complete! The season has started! Hope you’re still in the running in your league. 64 leagues made 19,200 selections at the draft table in March. 456 different players were chosen, with 214 being selected in all leagues. Another 18 were drafted in 63 of the 64 leagues. 44 were taken in just 1 league. I tried to get Jaywrong to make me a GIF showing proper drafting technique, but he wouldn’t share that particular talent, so my draft recap will once again be GIF-free.

For the second year in a row, Miguel Cabrera garnered the most first overall selections. Cabrera was the #1 choice in 59% of the drafts; Ryan Braun led the way in 26.5%. Mike Trout (8 times) and Matt Kemp (once) were also selected first overall. Kemp, though, was not a first round choice in every league, falling once to 15th. Miggy, Braun, and Trout were joined by Albert Pujols, Andrew McCutchen, and Joey Votto as the only players going in the first round of all leagues.

>> First Round Selections <<

>> Average Draft Position – Top 24 <<

You can find all the draft numbers here. Included are each league’s first 3 picks (24 times it was Cabrera – Braun – Trout, and 33 other times it was the same 3 in a different order), the 1/24/25 picks (9 times Jason Heyward joined Miggy), and the picks at the 12/13 turn (Justin Upton was picked 23 times at the turn, paired with Troy Tulowitzki 7 times and Evan Longoria 6 times).

Catcher: No surprise, Buster Posey was the first catcher selected in all 64 leagues, with an average draft position of 26. The earliest he was drafted was 14th, with a latest pick of 44th. More surprising to me was Yadier Molina’s ADP of 78. Molina’s selection range went all the way from 49th to 159th. An average of 15 catchers were chosen in each league, with a couple leagues nabbing 19 backstops.

First Base: The loss of Miggy from the position left Pujols as the top 1B, but just narrowly over Votto and Fielder. Paul Goldschmidt (ADP: 30.5) was the #4 first baseman, selected as early as 18th and as late as 52nd. Eric Hosmer dropped 50 spots from his average draft position in 2012 to 91.

Second Base: Rookie Jedd Gyorko was drafted in all leagues, including once at 106. His ADP is 204. Robinson Cano moved up 5-and-a-half spots from his 2012 ADP of 10.4. Danny Espinosa had an ADP of 122, but was chosen anywhere from 85th to 183rd.

Third Base: Longoria finished with an ADP of 15.6, a drop of only 6 spots from his injury-plagued 2012 position. Ryan Zimmerman also had a small drop, from 32 to 36. Injuries drove down the ADPs of Brett Lawrie, Pablo Sandoval, and Chase Headley in later drafts, and possibly had the opposite effect on Todd Frazier, whose ADP was 114 the last week and 126 in earlier drafts. Frazier was selected as early as 78th, and dropped to 192nd in one league.

Short Stop: Razzball favorite Josh Rutledge had very similar numbers to Frazier, being grabbed with the 77th pick in a league, but languishing until the 192nd pick in the Razzball writers’ league, Razzball Elites. Tulowitzki usually was drafted in the first 2 rounds, but did fall to the 32nd pick in one league. J.J. Hardy had a range of 151 with an early pick of 81 and a latest of 232. Derek Jeter’s injury dropped him even further, though he was still picked in every league. Everth Cabrera selections ranged from 90 to 297 in the 63 leagues he was taken.

Outfield: Led by Braun and Trout, outfielders dominated the first round, representing 53% of the selections. In comparison, last year the outfield took 29.5% of the round 1 picks, while first base led with 36%. Bryce Harper went anywhere from 5th to 39th, finishing with an ADP just under 24. Several top OFs had sizable ranges, including Josh Hamilton (11 to 39), Adam Jones (14 to 42), Heyward (14 to 41), and Jay Bruce (17 to 46). The trend continued with the next group of outfielders:

Drew Stubbs dropped from an ADP of 95 in 2012 to being picked 183rd at the earliest, and not chosen at all in 10 leagues. Krispie Young fell even harder, being picked in just 5 leagues after having a ADP of 94 in 2012.

Starting Pitcher: The drafting of SPs (as designated in the ESPN draft recap) was very similar this year to last. In 2012 the average was 79.7 per league; this year it is 80.3. There was an slight increase in the first 2 rounds, from 2.3 to 2.95 pitchers drafted per league. Justin Verlander was the first pitcher chosen in 38 leagues, with Clayton Kershaw #1 fourteen times. Stephen Strasburg was picked first 11 times, including a best for a pitcher sixth by the Carolina Bedwetters in Eddy’s RCL on PEDs. The Bedwetters followed that pick with Kershaw in the second round and Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, Gio Gonzalez, Jonathan Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan, and Fernando Rodney in the subsequent 7 rounds (leading to a line of 2 wins/19 K/0.72/0.64/1 save on opening day). Zack Greinke had an ADP of 57.6, but with the injury scare he fell to 97th in a draft. Like the outfielders, many pitchers showed a wide range in their selections. Jered Weaver (39 to 93), CC Sabathia (54 to 101), Jordan Zimmermann (53 to 101), Mat Latos (54 to 102), and Max Scherzer (43 to 90) are just a few of the examples. The ECFBL once again drafted the fewest starters by far, grabbing just 56. I’m sure they will once again use effective streaming and many middle relievers to put up pitching stats among the best in the RCL.

Relief Pitcher: Kimbrel was the first RP chosen in every draft (shocker!) with an ADP of  51.5. He went as early as 31, but once lasted until the 95th pick. Aroldis Chapman, Jonathan Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, Rafael Soriano, and Fernando Rodney rounded out the top closers chosen.

Defending Champion: The Rank Railheads (Something Something Mustache) are back to try and duplicate their amazing 119-point 2012 season. They had the third pick and started with Miggy, Kinsler, Jones, and Bruce. They then anchored their pitching staff with Bumgarner and Greinke. Good luck Mike and Charley!

There have now been 27 trades involving 83 players. In the last week Justin Upton, Adam Jones, Mike Trout (twice), Carlos Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, and Ryan Braun have all been traded. Check out the Fantasy Baseball Forums for all the details. Also in the Razzball Commenter Leagues forum you can find the top fantasy lines and league and team of the day. Congrats to Team Harris (BOOM), our 1st winner! And, if you’re looking for daily and season team and league stats, we’ve got you covered here.

So, here’s to another great season of tough competition! Good luck!