Inaugural Draft Steals - Part II

We're back with a second and final installment of the Inaugural Draft Steals series - this time with two players from the pitching staff and one from the outfield! Picking out individual players from the fifth round and later isn't easy - and oftentimes it's as much a guessing game as it is an analysis of trends. But I've selected another three notable sim users from other sim communities as likely late-round draft steals.

There are some users in the first four rounds who may turn out to be absolute stars in spite of overwhelming odds - among them Captain Hook, who's taken the league by storm in the first few sims - but we can't truly rate them 'steals' unless they vastly outperform their draft position. That's hard to do as a top sixteen selection in league history!

Perhaps best known for his players Lester McCorn and Mr. Cornholio, Nate Nitro’s agent has a lengthy track record in the EFL and hopes to strike it big (no pun intended) in the SBL. A power pitcher by archetype, Nate Nitro will likely stay true to his name with his end build – but for now, he’s a pretty standard starting pitcher with generally high-quality control. Overall, scouts have rated his ‘stuff’ as upper echelon, with two fastballs (fastball, cutter) and an off-speed pitch (changeup) which will serve Nitro extremely well as he increases his velocity.

But why, exactly, might he be a steal for the Centurions in a mid-late round? Part of it has to do with reputation – some relative unknowns like Captain Hook have broken out into stardom, but few have the proven track record of Nitro and the pick that immediately followed him. The first couple of rounds were understandably staff heavy, as those were the few users that were able to more-or-less guarantee job pay from the get-go. And it was surprising to see Cornholio taken after so many non-staff selections if only because the league is presently EFL-heavy, and he’s rather well known for his Memphis receiver and Wisconsin cornerback.

Because of limited velocity, we may see Nate Nitro struggle a little in his first minor league season. Everyone has to work with the same limited TPE and power pitchers are absurd once they hit the upper end of their velocity, especially when considering the relatively low number of high-earning power pitchers. He’s currently part of a highly rated (if underperforming) Vegas starting rotation and continues to prove his worth in spite of limited team success thus far. He continues to earn 11/week consistently, which should be enough to elevate himself beyond many draft picks around and even above him.

Not to be confused with Dale Cooper (who can’t really be a steal as part of the top ten), Original Dale-Cooper fell probably three rounds beyond where most expected him to be – so much so that most GMs had assumed he’d already been selected by the time Pittsburgh gaffer Spartan took him. But as expected, he’ll likely fly a bit under the radar in favor of brand-spankin’-new sim league star Captain Hook and James Boxman, but make no mistake: Nykonax is in way too many sim leagues to not be a shoo-in top selection in the SBL. The fact that he fell to the sixth round makes his relative value skyrocket. But let’s say, hypothetically, that every GM knew Nykonax was available. What might have dissuaded them from selecting this confusingly named pitcher?

Well, there are a few options. The least likely is that the GMs were confused by the name Dale Cooper vs. Original Dale-Cooper and assumed that Original Dale-Cooper had already been selected – so let’s get that out of the way now. We can also assume that the other GMs have no personal problem with Dale-Cooper, as that probably would have been elucidated far earlier in the process. But this pitcher’s build may have been the overall culprit: Nyko poured every single last bit of TPE (save 3 for left control) straight into “stuff” at the time of the draft, and it wasn’t evenly distributed: the madman has a 68 rating forkball. It’s true that he probably has the best imaginable pitch in baseball right now, but GMs would be right in their trepidation for the pitcher. After all, starter quality is often predicated on high stamina and a collection of decent-to-excellent quality pitches to keep batters on their toes. Relievers and closers may have the luxury of working against tired batters (though their jobs are more stressful because of the clutch factor), meaning they can limit their variety of quality pitches and still be relatively successful.

Having just one viable pitch, however, presents some problems for Dale-Cooper. At this stage, it’s rather easy to correct stamina, movement, and control, as the lowest end of the TPE scale is the fastest moving. And I think that’s what redeems Dale-Cooper’s build in this situation: hardly anybody else in baseball uses the forkball right now, meaning he’s a wrench in the gears for most batting coaches, and he’s a proven earner in several sim leagues, both TPE cap & money-based. He may have slowed down a touch since being drafted but make no mistake: he was a high-quality selection at pick 6.4.

Last but certainly not least in our ‘steal’ series is outfielder Ashweather Cett, who made a magnificent return to the SBL in short order after the draft. It shouldn’t be surprising that Cett fell to the ninth round – as many GMs had presumed him inactive when the draft started. He’s since not only created an update page, but also made a massive 55 TPE deposit just last week, making him a formidable batter from every perspective (40 contact, avoid K, L gap, and power) save maybe his eye.

Archetypally, he’s a balanced hitter, and he’s embodied that in every aspect of his build thus far. He’s also probably one of the best defensive left fielders at this point in time, boasting 40 TPE thrown into range, error and arm thus far. He doesn’t excel in any category, but his stats through two sims speak to his build. He’s just above the league average in range and efficiency and has managed 39 putouts in just twenty games. His batting stats are relatively average, as he’s stuck at a .218 with several strikeouts, but with relatively few games under his belt, that’s likely more a product of a small sample size than anything problematic with his build. Most importantly, he’ll be a consistent contributor against every kind of pitcher (yes, even Dale-Cooper’s weird forkball-only build).

But what stands out most for Cett is how absolutely forgotten he was through the draft. Actives were selected through several rounds of the draft, and in spite of Cett’s agent activity in both the EFL and SBA, he was largely passed over, suggesting low confidence in Kelsier’s likeliness to return. Thus far, he’s proven a valuable asset and thus an absolute steal for the Storm thus far; it’d be solidified with another update this week.