Alright folks, grab a coffee and settle in. Yesterday was all about prepping for my fantasy baseball draft, specifically figuring out which pitchers I absolutely do not want to touch this year. Let me tell you how it went down, step by messy step.
Started off like I always do: sprawled out on the couch with my laptop buzzing and my phone blowing up with notifications from different fantasy sites and analysts. Everyone’s screaming about sleepers and breakout candidates, right? But I wasn’t buying the hype for everyone. Needed to sniff out the traps. My gut was telling me to focus on three names popping up way too often as “good values” or “bounce-back candidates.” Three guys everyone seems kinda hopeful about, but my spider-sense was tingling like crazy.
First up was Carlos “Corkscrew” Mendoza. Saw his name in a mock draft going way earlier than I expected. Okay, I thought, let’s peel back the layers. Pulled up his game logs from the last two years. Yeah, the strikeout numbers were flashy, I’ll give him that. But scrolling further down? Oof. Pitch counts sky-high by the 5th inning more often than not. Then I dug into the news archives – seems like his shoulder was grumbling off and on through September last year, but the team kept calling it “fatigue.” Got this sinking feeling in my stomach. Drafting him means planning for him to miss chunks of time, and honestly? I just don’t trust that arm to hold up throwing max effort every five days. Nope. Crossed him off the list completely.
Next on my worry-list: “Smiling” Sam Jenkins. Classic veteran vibes, everyone loves him in the clubhouse, throws strikes… looks like a rock-solid backend guy on the surface. Pulled up his Statcast page and just stared at the numbers. His fastball velocity? Down almost 2 MPH last year, and the trend over the last three seasons? Not heading in a good direction. Then I checked the hard-hit percentage. Whew boy. It’s been climbing steadily like a bad stock market chart. Teams were just teeing off on him last season, especially the second and third time through the lineup. That “control artist” label starts looking pretty thin when guys are crushing the ball even on his ‘good’ pitches. Drafting him feels like paying for the name, not the production. Hard pass for me. Gave his name a stern look and moved on.
Last one hurt a bit: Ricky “The Rocket” Diaz. Kid has electric stuff. I mean, genuinely filthy when he’s on. Watched some highlights from last season and saw flashes of brilliance. But then… the walks. Opened up his player profile and yep – leading the league in free passes issued per nine innings for two seasons running. It’s not a fluke; it’s a pattern. Control problems are deep trouble. Checked his minor league history – same story. He didn’t magically figure it out, it followed him up. You can’t win consistently in fantasy with a guy who can’t find the strike zone, no matter how many batters he fans when he does find it. The rollercoaster ride isn’t worth the draft pick. Feels like lighting your money on fire hoping for a brief hot streak. Too much risk. Put him firmly in the “do not draft” column.
So yeah, after all that clicking and groaning and muttering to myself about “Why is everyone fooled by this?!”, Mendoza, Jenkins, and Diaz are now officially on my fantasy no-fly list for 2025. Staying far, far away during the draft. Look, they might put up a good month, maybe two. But the risk? Way too high for what they likely cost. Rather throw my money at someone else entirely. Feels good to have that settled before the draft chaos begins!