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I have never been one to reach for starting pitchers. In fact, I have been fairly strong in my opposition to using a first round pick on a pitcher. But I may be changing my mind and the approach Chris Towers and Mike McClure took in our recent mock draft helps show why.

Towers started his draft with Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale from the 10 spot. McClure, drafting at the turn, selected Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber. Had these picks happened in 2017 or before I would have panned them... heartily. But not today.

In fact, I think I like them.

There is a pretty clear tier of high level aces that ends after the four pitchers listed above. You can list them in a different order if you like, but they're the top of the mountain. They also feel like the only thing close to a guaranteed ace. While I still think it's riskier to take one of these aces instead of an elite hitter in the first round, it also increases your upside. When you take two of them? You just need them to stay healthy and come close to expectations.

To be clear, I still thought pitchers went a little too fast in this mock after the top four pitchers were taken. I still think it's safer to spend your early round picks on hitters. But I'm no longer thoroughly opposed to the idea of taking pitchers early, especially in a points league. Worried about what your hitters will look like if you do this? Check out the teams of Towers and McClure below.

This is a standard, 12-team CBS Sports points league, with the following scoring system:

Hitter Stats 
Pitcher Stats 
Single1 ptWin7 pts
Double2 ptsLoss-5 pts
Triple3 ptsSave7 pts
Home run4 ptsQuality start3 pts
RBI1 ptInning3 pts
Run1 ptStrikeout0.5 pts
Walk1 ptWalk-1 pt
Strikeout-0.5 ptEarned run-1 pt
Hit by pitch1 ptHit-1 pt
Stolen base2 ptsHit batter-1 pt
Caught stealing-1 pt 

Here's the crew we put together for this mock draft, and you can find the full results below.

  1. George Maselli, CBS Sports
  2. Mike Kuchera, The Fantasy Man
  3. Igor Mello, CBS Sports
  4. malamony, Razzball
  5. Scott White, CBS Sports
  6. R.J. White, CBS Sports
  7. Adam Aizer, CBS Sports
  8. Heath Cummings, CBS Sports
  9. Phil Ponebshek, Patton & Company
  10. Chris Towers, CBS Sports
  11. Lawr Michaels, creativesports2.com
  12. Mike McClure, SportsLine
Round By Round
Round 1
Pos Team Player
1 Lucas Staggs
2 Chris Towers
3 Brian Labude
4 Zac Morain
5 Scott White
6 Jeffrey Paternostro
7 Doc Eisenhauer
8 Daniel Labude
9 Matt Morris
10 Jeremy Heist
11 Tim Kanak
12 Michael Polidoro
Round 2
Pos Team Player
13 Michael Polidoro
14 Tim Kanak
15 Jeremy Heist
16 Matt Morris
17 Daniel Labude
18 Doc Eisenhauer
19 Jeffrey Paternostro
20 Scott White
21 Zac Morain
22 Brian Labude
23 Chris Towers
24 Lucas Staggs
Round 3
Pos Team Player
25 Lucas Staggs
26 Chris Towers
27 Brian Labude
28 Zac Morain
29 Scott White
30 Jeffrey Paternostro
31 Doc Eisenhauer
32 Daniel Labude
33 Matt Morris
34 Jeremy Heist
35 Tim Kanak
36 Michael Polidoro
Round 4
Pos Team Player
37 Michael Polidoro
38 Tim Kanak
39 Jeremy Heist
40 Matt Morris
41 Daniel Labude
42 Doc Eisenhauer
43 Jeffrey Paternostro
44 Scott White
45 Zac Morain
46 Brian Labude
47 Chris Towers
48 Lucas Staggs
Round 5
Pos Team Player
49 Lucas Staggs
50 Chris Towers
51 Brian Labude
52 Zac Morain
53 Scott White
54 Jeffrey Paternostro
55 Doc Eisenhauer
56 Daniel Labude
57 Matt Morris
58 Jeremy Heist
59 Tim Kanak
60 Michael Polidoro
Round 6
Pos Team Player
61 Michael Polidoro
62 Tim Kanak
63 Jeremy Heist
64 Matt Morris
65 Daniel Labude
66 Doc Eisenhauer
67 Jeffrey Paternostro
68 Scott White
69 Zac Morain
70 Brian Labude
71 Chris Towers
72 Lucas Staggs
Round 7
Pos Team Player
73 Lucas Staggs
74 Chris Towers
75 Brian Labude
76 Zac Morain
77 Scott White
78 Jeffrey Paternostro
79 Doc Eisenhauer
80 Daniel Labude
81 Matt Morris
82 Jeremy Heist
83 Tim Kanak
84 Michael Polidoro
Round 8
Pos Team Player
85 Michael Polidoro
86 Tim Kanak
87 Jeremy Heist
88 Matt Morris
89 Daniel Labude
90 Doc Eisenhauer
91 Jeffrey Paternostro
92 Scott White
93 Zac Morain
94 Brian Labude
95 Chris Towers
96 Lucas Staggs
Round 9
Pos Team Player
97 Lucas Staggs
98 Chris Towers
99 Brian Labude
100 Zac Morain
101 Scott White
102 Jeffrey Paternostro
103 Doc Eisenhauer
104 Daniel Labude
105 Matt Morris
106 Jeremy Heist
107 Tim Kanak
108 Michael Polidoro
Round 10
Pos Team Player
109 Michael Polidoro
110 Tim Kanak
111 Jeremy Heist
112 Matt Morris
113 Daniel Labude
114 Doc Eisenhauer
115 Jeffrey Paternostro
116 Scott White
117 Zac Morain
118 Brian Labude
119 Chris Towers
120 Lucas Staggs
Team by Team
Lucas Staggs
Rd Pk Player
1 1
2 24
3 25
4 48
5 49
6 72
7 73
8 96
9 97
10 120
Chris Towers
Rd Pk Player
1 2
2 23
3 26
4 47
5 50
6 71
7 74
8 95
9 98
10 119
Brian Labude
Rd Pk Player
1 3
2 22
3 27
4 46
5 51
6 70
7 75
8 94
9 99
10 118
Zac Morain
Rd Pk Player
1 4
2 21
3 28
4 45
5 52
6 69
7 76
8 93
9 100
10 117
Scott White
Rd Pk Player
1 5
2 20
3 29
4 44
5 53
6 68
7 77
8 92
9 101
10 116
Jeffrey Paternostro
Rd Pk Player
1 6
2 19
3 30
4 43
5 54
6 67
7 78
8 91
9 102
10 115
Doc Eisenhauer
Rd Pk Player
1 7
2 18
3 31
4 42
5 55
6 66
7 79
8 90
9 103
10 114
Daniel Labude
Rd Pk Player
1 8
2 17
3 32
4 41
5 56
6 65
7 80
8 89
9 104
10 113
Matt Morris
Rd Pk Player
1 9
2 16
3 33
4 40
5 57
6 64
7 81
8 88
9 105
10 112
Jeremy Heist
Rd Pk Player
1 10
2 15
3 34
4 39
5 58
6 63
7 82
8 87
9 106
10 111
Tim Kanak
Rd Pk Player
1 11
2 14
3 35
4 38
5 59
6 62
7 83
8 86
9 107
10 110
Michael Polidoro
Rd Pk Player
1 12
2 13
3 36
4 37
5 60
6 61
7 84
8 85
9 108
10 109