Snake Draft: First-Round Bats, Late-Round Closers

Snake drafts runScored when a runner safely touches all four bases (1st, 2nd, 3rd, home). in reverse-serpentine order: if you pick 12th in round 1, you pick 1st in round 2, then 12th in round 3, and so on. Each manager's two-round 'turn' is locked in, which makes positional runs predictable if you pay attention.

The conventional wisdom is to take elite hitters in rounds 1-3. Top-end bats — five-category hitters who contribute average, power, and speed — are the rarest commodity in fantasy. Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Ronald Acuña Jr.-tier players are the safest bets to deliver across all five hitting categories. There are maybe 12-15 such players in the league at any time, and once they're gone, you're picking between specialists who help in 3 categories and hurt you in 1-2.

Starting pitching tends to come off the board in tiers around rounds 3-7. The single ace is rarely worth a top-15 pick — pitcherThe fielder on the mound who throws each pitch. Position number 1. injury rates are high and a single bad start can wreck your weekly ratios. Most experienced drafters wait for the second tier and take 2-3 starters together.

Closers are the late-round target. Saves are the most volatile category in fantasy — manager preferences shift mid-season, ninth-inningA unit of play with a top half (visitors bat) and bottom half (home bats); a regulation game has 9. roles change overnight. Drafting a closerThe reliever assigned to the 9th inning of close games. Earns saves. in round 5 means you've spent a premium pick on a category that can be replicated through waiver speculation. Wait until round 14+ for your first closerThe reliever assigned to the 9th inning of close games. Earns saves.; many league winners stream saves entirely off the wire.