Seeing as this is our last mock draft for the 2025 season, I should take this opportunity to address an issue that's come up over and over again in our Head-to-Head points leagues.
We have to talk about first base.
I've written elsewhere that it's the position where you're most likely to get boxed out, but that goes double in Head-to-Head points, where fallback options like Jake Burger, Michael Toglia and Ryan Mountcastle are rendered toothless. With walks registering a point each and strikeouts revoking half a point, those three simply don't have the plate discipline to measure up. You could start them in an emergency, sure, but you don't want your roster in emergency mode from the get-go.
So how to avoid it? The simplest way is to take a stud first baseman at the point where they normally go. Vladimir Guerrero is only realistic for those picking at the Round 1-2 turn, and Bryce Harper soon follows in the middle of Round 2. Matt Olson sometimes lasts to the middle of Round 3, and Freddie Freeman is now right there with him given the new concerns over his health (none of which scare me off of him). If you pass up those chances, you may still have a shot at Pete Alonso in Round 4, but it's no certainty.
It's a tight window, which means if you want to be sure that you're set at first base, you have to be intentional about grabbing one of those guys. You know when to do it, so just do it.
And if you don't? There are a few others who could still work, but they tend to get pushed up due to the scarcity. Josh Naylor actually went ahead of Alonso in Round 4 this time, and by the end of Round 6, a point when borderline aces were still being drafted, Cody Bellinger, Vinnie Pasquantino and Christian Walker were all gone. Triston Casas, an upside play whose own strikeout concerns may also render him ineffective in this format, lasted only six picks into Round 7, and with that, it was game over for first base. No sneaky format specialists. No buzzy upside plays. Just a bunch of guys that you'd only care to start in an emergency.
So why bother? That's what I asked myself before waiting until the second-to-last round to grab my first baseman, Rhys Hoskins. He used to be a serviceable starter in this format and has shown signs of returning to that form this spring after a couple years afflicted by a torn ACL. It could work, but it's not where you want to be.
I could have avoided it by simply taking Matt Olson with the third pick of Round 3, so that's what I advise for you. If you don't want to have to reach for Pasquantino and don't want to have to settle for Hoskins, then just know that you're committing your second or maybe early third-round pick to one of the few good first basemen who's appropriately priced. That's the only way. I understand how tempting some of the other players in that range are, but I'd rather not put my roster in an immediate state of emergency.
For this draft, I wasn't able to secure as many industry folks, so I petitioned my Twitter followers (or X, if you prefer) to share with me their Head-to-Head points credentials and picked out the ones who made the most compelling case. They did a fine enough job of representing the format's priorities.
1) Chris Rossi, SportsEthos (@ChrisRossi701)
2) John Huerta, lucky reader who got to join in
3) Scott White, CBS Sports (@CBSScottWhite)
4) Zac Morain, Driveline Baseball (@makeitmorain)
5) Chris Baskys, lucky reader who got to join in
6) Nick Fox, NBC Sports (@CT_FOX)
7) Zach Ramsey, lucky reader who got to join in
8) Chris Towers, CBS Sports (@CTowersCBS)
9) Anthony Teague, lucky reader who got to join in
10) Todd Hedberg, Fantrax (@TheToddMpls)
11) Doc Eisenhauer, Scout the Statline (@DocHollidayDyna)
12) Sean Millerick, Marlins Maniac (@miasportsminute)
A few picks of note:
- Christian Yelich was selected 54th overall, the highest I've seen him go. This is his better format, as evidenced by him averaging more points per game (3.78) than Mookie Betts (3.75) last season, but the rise here would mostly suggest that enthusiasm for him is ramping up again now that we have some reassurance following back surgery. His stroke has looked great so far.
- Willson Contreras has been surging up the rankings more uniformly than Yelich, going 64th in this one. The extra volume he figures to get by shifting to first base (while retaining his catcher eligibility, of course) should help even more in this format, but clearly, no one is sleeping on that possibility anymore.
- I unveiled my new enthusiasm for Hayden Birdsong in this draft, taking him at 190. It was an aggressive pick, but I do think he's one of the clearer breakout candidates of the spring, striking out 18 while walking none in 12 innings. In a shallower format with a waiver wire full of fallback possibilities, it generally pays to sell out for upside.
- We're still awaiting a second opinion on Jared Jones' elbow, which probably means the first opinion wasn't so favorable, and I think it's right to fear the worst in this case. Since we don't actually know, though, he still needs to be drafted, and I fell on the sword with my fourth-to-last pick (214). If it's a wasted pick, it came at a point in the draft where it does me no harm.
- Anthony Teague's entire draft was offbeat, beginning with Corey Seager in Round 2 and continuing with Naylor in Round 4, Byron Buxton in Round 8, Brandon Lowe in Round 10 and Nolan Arenado in Round 12. His pitcher picks were fairly normal by comparison, and he was among the most dogged in his pursuit of SPARPs, snatching up Kris Bubic, Nick Martinez, Drew Rasmussen and Hayden Wesneski. It was get-your-guys sort of approach, and it added an element of spontaneity to the proceedings, as is sure to be true for your home league as well.
