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The first round of the DTBL Draft almost always features a crop of young up-and-coming stars. But this year’s group is especially notable for their youth. Eight of the ten players selected in the first round are under 25 years old, including the first seven picks of the draft. And two players, Ronald Acuna and Juan Soto, are among the most accomplished players at their age to ever enter the league. Acuna and Soto just turned 21 and 20 respectively over the offseason. All ten first round selections are DTBL rookies. A trade of two marquee players also highlighted an excellent start to the 2019 DTBL Draft.
For the second straight year, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year was the first pick of the draft. Ronald Acuna joins the Jackalope coming off a stellar rookie campaign. He hit .293 with 26 home runs and 16 stolen bases, flashing all of his plus tools. The Braves outfielder became a star almost immediately upon promotion and helped lead his team to an unexpected division championship. He could help the Jackalope make a similar jump in the standings this year. The Jackalope offense was especially disappointing a year ago, but the pieces are still there to be one of the best teams in the league. Acuna was a pretty clear choice here.
Last year, the Komodos took a young Dodgers star with the first pick of the draft (Cody Bellinger). This year, they took another young Dodgers star with the second pick. Walker Buehler should give a significant boost to a pitching staff that really struggled a year ago. Buehler was pretty clearly the best pitcher available in this draft. In 137 big league innings, he struck out 151 while posting an impressive 2.62 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. That ERA is a full point lower than any Komodos starting pitcher posted in ’18, when they finished dead last in the league in that category, by a healthy margin. Buehler will immediately become the Komodos best pitcher.
Juan Soto has already put himself in rarefied air based on his accomplishments in the big leagues as a teenager. Nobody was expecting Soto to reach the majors for another year or two, but a series of injuries to Nationals outfielders caused them to bring him up last May. He was an immediate success and made it impossible to send him back down. He was so good in his rookie campaign that the Nationals decided to only make a halfhearted attempt to retain Bryce Harper this winter. Soto hit .292 with 22 homers in just 414 at bats. The Naturals selected him with the third pick and he could have joined his Nationals teammate Victor Robles to form an exciting young duo for the Naturals as well. But Soto was immediately traded to the Mavericks in a blockbuster swap of outfielders. In return, the Naturals acquired Andrew Benintendi. These are two of the best outfielders in the game, so this is quite a swap. Benintendi is more established and is a little more well-rounded, offering a stolen base threat as well. But Soto has a nearly unlimited upside in the power categories. It will be very interesting to compare these players as their careers progress. For the Mavericks, an outfield of Soto, Mike Trout and Aaron Judge is pretty darn scary. But the Naturals have no shortage of young star hitters either.
With the fourth pick, the Moonshiners selected this year’s most interesting player, two-way star Shohei Ohtani. Coming over from Japan, Ohtani was expected to be an immediate star on the mound, but many questioned if he would really be able to hit big league pitching. In fact, some thought if he truly wanted to be a two-way player, he may need some time in the minors. Well, turns out he can hit major league pitching. He hit .285 with 22 home runs in just 326 at bats. An injury limited him to just 51 innings on the mound, where he struck out 63 with a 3.31 ERA. Unfortunately, he needed Tommy John surgery and will not pitch in 2019. He does intend to hit, but probably won’t see action in a big league game until May. The Moonshiners have all sorts of options with Ohtani. First, they can use him at 1B or OF this year since he didn’t play a non-pitching field position last year. And looking forward, they will have the option to use him as either a pitcher or hitter next year, assuming he is a keeper. The sky is the limit with this pick, but the Moonshiners probably won’t get their money’s worth until next year and beyond.
The Mavericks aren’t used to picking in the first half of the first round, at least not with their own pick. Last year was the first time they finished in the bottom half of the standings since 2011. They took advantage of the rare positioning to acquire two of the top five players selected in this draft. In addition to the trade for Soto, they selected pitcher Jack Flaherty with the fifth pick. The Mavericks have an absolutely loaded offense, but the once undisputed top pitching staff in the league was anything but that a year ago. Injuries destroyed the staff and caused them to finish dead last in pitching points. Flaherty is the first step to try to rebuild that group. Overshadowed a bit by the players already mentioned above, he had a rather dominant rookie campaign as well. 182 strikeouts in 151 innings is great for any pitcher, much less a 22 year old rookie. The Cardinals hurler also had a strong 3.34 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. He should provide stability for this revamped staff.
The Cougars have had a pretty good recent track record of selecting hitters in the first round. Second baseman Gleyber Torres is the next in line. The Cougars will likely open the season with their offensive lineup featuring their past five first round picks. Torres is younger than all of his predecessors though at the time of joining the squad. He hit .271 with 24 home runs during his age 21 rookie season. That combination of ability and age should make him a fixture on the Cougars roster for a very long time. The Yankees have a lot of options in their infield this year, but one thing is certain. Torres will be playing virtually every day, whether it be at second base or shortstop.
Speaking of impressive young Yankees infielders, another one was selected with the seventh pick, with the Choppers taking third baseman Miguel Andujar. Andujar hit .297 with 27 homers and 92 RBI, to finish second in the American League Rookie of the Year vote, behind Ohtani. The only knock on him is his glove, but that matters not at all in fantasy. The Choppers will look to Andujar to replace team legend and future Hall-of-Famer Adrian Beltre, who retired over the winter. If Andujar can provide a spark to the Choppers offense, they could have a chance of ending their 20 year title drought.
For the second straight year, the Demigods took the old guy of the first round. But in this case, it is still a league rookie. Jesus Aguilar started the 2018 season as a bench player for the Brewers. But the first baseman immediately showed off his incredible power, quickly earned a starting job, and then made the NL All-Star team. He slugged 35 homers with 108 runs batted in. He did cool off a bit in the second half of the season, with only 11 of those homers coming after the All-Star break. Outside of maybe Acuna and Soto, he was probably the safest bet for power in this draft. The Demigods finished eighth in home runs last year, the biggest weakness for an otherwise strong offensive team.
The Darkhorses selected Braves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz with the eighth pick, making this the first time since 2015 that more than two pitchers were taken in the first round. Foltynewicz had a breakout season a year ago, which earned him an All-Star appearance. He struck out 202 hitters in 183 innings with a sparkling 2.85 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. His previous best ERA season was 4.31, so ’18 saw quite a dramatic improvement. While he has spent parts of five seasons in the majors, he is still just 27 years old. The Darkhorses barely missed winning the championship last year, with a mediocre pitching staff holding them back. Foltynewicz could be exactly what they need to get over the hump.
Sitting with the last pick in the first round, the Kings believed there was one player remaining who was clearly the best available, but he was at a position in which they were already well stacked. So instead, they swung a trade with the Jackalope to move up a spot to grab that player. The Kings received the Jackalope 2nd round pick (11th overall) along with a swap of 4th round slots. The Jackalope then took Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi to close out the first round. Mondesi is a rare breed in that he is an elite base stealer, but also has surprising power. He managed to steal 32 bases and hit 14 home runs despite not making his big league season debut until late June. While he’s unlikely to maintain a pace like that for a full season, he still could be an above average contributor to the power categories while potentially leading the league in steals. Once considered an elite prospect, Mondesi had slipped under the radar a bit before his 2018 breakout. Slight spoiler alert for my upcoming season preview articles, but you definitely won’t see the Jackalope projected to finish last again. They managed to acquire the two players with the highest projected PAR in the entire draft pool. So the Jackalope started and finished the first round with a bang. Meanwhile, the Kings selected starting pitcher Zack Wheeler with that pick they acquired from the Jackalope, the first pick of the second round.
Thanks to all of you for the excellent pace to the first half of this draft. At this rate, we’ll be done with plenty of time to spare before the Japan openers. Let’s keep up the good work!