If Andrew Luck is healthy all year, Hilton should be fantastic. www.colts.com
This week I wanted to take everybody through a mock draft so you can see how your team changes based on what draft selection you have. For this draft, I selected out of the No. 7 spot and I took Alvin Kamara in the first round. I did this knowing that one of the elite WRs would be there when I drafted in the second round. When I’m drafting in the middle of the 1st round, I know that one of the RBs I love will be there.
In the 2nd round I took Packers WR Devante Adams and I really love this pick. I think he has a ton of upside this year with a hopefully healthy Aaron Rodgers, and Jordy Nelson now playing for the Raiders. Many might take AJ Green over Adams, but I think Green opened a can of quit late last year, and I think that could happen again because let’s face it, he plays for the Bengals.
Round 3 is a best player available situation for me, which most likely means I’ll take either the RB or WR I like the best. I went with TY Hilton and I’m very happy with this especially after Andrew Luck looked pretty good in the first preseason game. With Luck healthy, I have Hilton at the bottom of the elite WR group. This is a PPR league, so I like him better than a RB that doesn’t catch a lot of passes like Jordan Howard.
Round 4 brings me my second RB, and I was pleased to get Kenyan Drake. I think he’ll continue to catch a lot of passes in Miami, and he was terrific after the Dolphins traded Jay Ajayi to the Eagles. I know Frank Gore may take some touches away, but I’m okay with that. Plus, I was able to draft Gore with one of my last picks, so I have that backfield locked up.
Typically, I like to wait until the 9th round to grab a QB, but with Aaron Rodgers still available in the 5th, I had to take him. Now I have a stack with Rodgers and Devante Adams, and that’s scary for anyone playing me. I am very thin at TE after taking a QB this soon, so there are some negatives when you take a QB early.
The 6th round is where I take Chris Hogan in almost every mock draft I have done this season. I love his upside with Brady, especially with Julian Edelman out the first four weeks. He was on pace to have a big year until he busted up his shoulder last season.
If Delanie Walker is available in the 7th round, take him because it’s stealing. I wasn’t able to get him in this draft, so I added depth at WR. I didn’t want to reach for a TE just because I needed one, so I waited until the bitter end to grab my TEs. I took George Kittle (Round 11) and Hayden Hurst (Round 13) in the last few rounds before my defense and kicker. Kittle fell because of the shoulder injury, and I took Hurst as insurance. I rounded out my team by gobbling up Packers RBs Jamaal Williams (Round 8), Aaron Jones (Round 12), LeGarrette Blount (Round 10), and the aforementioned Frank Gore (Round 14). I really love the Blount pick because he looks like the starter heading into the season, and this is the best Lions O-line I can remember.
Finally, I was able to get Devin Funchess (Round 7) and Marqise Lee (Round 9) to round out my receiving core and I’m totally good with that. The only thing I would change is the Devin Funchess pick. That was picked on accident with auto draft. I’m not a big fan of his, but that’s okay. It’s just a mock. I expect to be starting Adams, Hilton, and Hogan so these guys are just depth anyway.
This is my first edition of Mock my mock and I’ll be drafting at the top of a mock draft for next week’s exercise. Pick number one or two, and all my mock drafts have been on ESPN. Be sure to check out my new show MoneyLine with Jerry Bo on ESPN 97.5. We’re on every Sunday from 10-noon, and we’ll talk a lot of fantasy football and NFL gambling. Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter.
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or eight games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after the 6-10 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez. A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.