FOX Sports’ ultimate MLB playoff rosters: National League edition
The American League might’ve had the more stacked All-Star roster, but there’s no shortage of talent in the National League playoff field. That much was evident in Part 2 of our superteam draft.
After selecting AL teams — each roster includes eight position players, one designated hitter, four starting pitchers and one closer — Fox Sports’ Deesha Thosar and Rowan Kavner moved on to their ultimate NL rosters. Only players expected to be playing this October were eligible. (Worth noting: Since pitching triple crown winner Chris Sale is unavailable for the wild-card round, he was ultimately ruled out for this draft, too.)
The writers could assemble their teams in any order but had to declare what position each player would occupy upon selecting them. Again, they took some … creative liberties with those positions. And, again, the competitive juices got flowing.
Since Thosar drafted first in the AL version, Kavner got first pick for the NL portion. From there, the two writers switched off picks, and the back-and-forth barbs and slights commenced until two superteams formed.
Here’s our NL mock draft! (Part 1: AL mock draft)
No. 1 (Kavner): Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers DH
Rowan: It takes an otherworldly type of talent for a DH to go first here. Ohtani, who leads the National League in WAR at a time when he can only hit, is that singular talent. He has already delivered plenty of unforgettable moments in his first season with the Dodgers, including a walk-off grand slam to get to 40/40 and one of the greatest single-game performances of all time to record the first 50/50 season in MLB history. I expect more to come in his first ever postseason.
Deesha: Keep it snippy, Kavner. I have a soccer game to play. We don’t need 150 words on why you selected Ohtani first.
No. 2 (Thosar): Francisco Lindor, Mets SS
Deesha: It’s only right for the NL MVP runner-up to go second. He carried the Mets all year with a sore back to prove it. On my squad, he won’t need to do as much heavy lifting, but the clutch performances will be welcomed.
No. 3 (Kavner): Bryce Harper, Phillies 1B
Rowan: As good as the two-time MVP is during the regular season, there’s another level the 2022 NLCS MVP tends to find in October. With a career postseason OPS close to 1.000, he brings a level of playoff intimidation and experience to my squad that few can match.
No. 4 (Thosar): Mookie Betts, Dodgers 2B
Deesha: It’s time for Betts to get redemption for last year’s 0-for-11 showing in the postseason and starting at second will help him shake off those demons. Plus, Betts himself has admitted he believes he plays better when he’s part of the infield mix, so I’m setting him up for optimum success.
Rowan: You’ve been thinking hard, huh? Had that SS/RF ready to go at 2B.
Deesha: Overthinking is the name of the game.
Rowan: That angle throwing from 2B might feel a little different now.
Deesha: Gotta be easier than rolling a bowling ball.
No. 5 (Kavner): Fernando Tatís Jr., Padres RF
Rowan: Injuries have not been kind to Tatis lately, but they didn’t stop him from winning a Platinum Glove in his first full season in right field last year, and they didn’t stop him from producing when on the field this season. This is still one of the sport’s most dynamic talents, as evidenced by his .958 OPS since the start of June.
Deesha: Arghhhhhhhh.Whatever, .607 OPS in his last seven days.
No. 6 (Thosar): Kyle Schwarber, Phillies LF
Deesha: Postseason hero with a .941 OPS and 20 home runs in 65 playoff games? Sign me up. I’m asking for a little more from him as my left fielder when he’s used to DHing, but he handled it all the way to the World Series in 2022, and he can handle it again.
Rowan: Lotta open grass on that defense.
Deesha: My starters won’t even let balls go out that far.
No. 7 (Kavner): William Contreras, Brewers C
Rowan: Another year, another .800-plus OPS for the Brewers backstop, who leads all NL catchers in hits, homers, doubles and RBIs. Among NL catchers with 100 games played this year, he leads in every slash line category. He’s hitting the ball harder and whiffing less than ever before, and he played a vital role in putting Milwaukee atop the Central. Sign me up.
No. 8 (Thosar): Zack Wheeler, Phillies SP
Deesha: Wheeler doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being arguably the best big-game pitcher in the game right now. He’s consistently calm under pressure-packed moments, and then backs it up with a 2.42 postseason ERA across 11 outings (10 starts). Ace.
No. 9. (Kavner): Manny Machado, Padres 3B
Rowan: It was a difficult start to the year for Machado as he worked his way back from elbow surgery, but the six-time All-Star looks like himself again. He has an .879 OPS since the start of June, and he has settled back in at the hot corner after DH’ing early in the year. That game-ending triple play last week was something to behold.
Deesha: I deserve that for going for my ace that early
No. 10 (Thosar): Jackson Merrill, Padres CF
Deesha: Besides helping Schwarber cover some (most) of that outfield grass, I’m expecting the Rookie of the Year candidate to have a banger of a first-career postseason on a red-hot Padres team. He had a .982 OPS with seven home runs in late and close games and nine homers in high-leverage situations. With the season on the line, I won’t be sweating it when Merrill is at the plate.
Rowan: That’ll help!
Deesha: Why do you think I put Schwarbs in left?Twice now you’ve missed out on the best CF available.
Rowan: I’ll live with what I’ve got.
No. 11 (Kavner): Willy Adames, Brewers SS
Rowan: Getting a guy with more than 30 homers, 20 steals and 100 RBIs at this point in the draft? I’ll take it. Adames will be getting paiiiid this winter regardless, but a strong postseason showing can only help the impending free agent’s case. The only NL player who has knocked in more runs than Adames this season is Ohtani. Nice to have them both on the squad.
Deesha: He’s gonna be an interesting one in free agency.
No. 12 (Thosar): Teoscar Hernández, Dodgers RF
Deesha: The All-Star slugger finished his one-year deal with the Dodgers by becoming BFFs with Ohtani and crushing 33 home runs with a .891 OPS that topped all NL outfielders with a minimum of 210 plate appearances. He fits right into my now stacked outfield, too.
No. 13 (Kavner): Jackson Chourio, Brewers LF
Rowan: I got a 50/50 guy to start, a 30/20 guy with my last pick and now a 20/20 guy in Chourio. Extraordinary rookie seasons from Paul Skenes and Merrill have taken some of the attention away from Chourio, but the Brewers rookie has an OPS over .900 in the second half. He has figured this thing out.
No. 14 (Thosar): Freddie Freeman, Dodgers 1B
Deesha: I didn’t want to insult him by taking him too much later, but after Rowan took Harper early, I knew I could wait. Freeman being in the second tier of first basemen just goes to show how stacked this position is in the NL and how lucky we all are to get to watch them go to work in the playoffs again.
No. 15 (Kavner): Dylan Cease, Padres SP
Rowan: It’s past time to take my first arm, and with Chris Sale off the table due to injury, I feel good getting a guy in Cease who has a no-hitter under his belt this year and an elite strikeout rate right up there with the best in the game.
No. 16 (Thosar): Michael King, Padres SP
Deesha: King taking the ball for Game 1 of the wild-card round against the Braves is exactly the kind of energy I need in my rotation. It’s been an excellent year for the righty after he was transplanted from the Bronx for Juan Soto, to the point where King flashed a lower regular-season ERA (2.85) than his rotation-mate Cease.
Rowan: Let me know if this is allowed …
No. 17 (Kavner): Trea Turner, Phillies 2B
Rowan: OK, time to play my “you-used-Santander-out-of-position-in-the-AL-draft” card. If he can be put in left field, I feel like I can conjure memories of 2021 Turner and bump him over to second. A lineup with plenty of power and speed gets even more.
Deesha: Only allowed if he played there this year! This is not like Mookie at second!
Rowan: Santander didn’t play LF this year!
Deesha: Oh, you’re right, it was last year, lol.
Rowan: And he played one game there last year.
Deesha: You need all the help you can get right now, so out of pity, this is fine.
No. 18 (Thosar): Max Fried, Braves SP
Deesha: Fried will have to be the starting pitcher to step up for the Braves with Sale down for the foreseeable future, and he ended the regular season with the right stuff to get the job done. The lefty takes a 2.39 ERA over his final eight starts of the year into the postseason.
No. 19 (Kavner): Reynaldo López, Braves SP
Rowan: There was always the injury risk for López as his innings mounted in his first season as a full-time starter since the COVID year, but he has persevered through forearm and shoulder issues in the second half and remains lights out every time he takes the mound. Paul Skenes is the only starter who’s thrown 100 innings this year with a lower ERA.
Deesha: I went back and forth between him and Fried foreva.
No. 20 (Thosar): Robert Suarez, Padres closer
Deesha: Sure, Suarez surrendered some ugly blown saves this season when he was fatigued, but how can you not go with the guy who has the most saves among NL playoff closers? He’s the final piece of the puzzle in a Padres bullpen that is stacked, and I trust him to get the final three outs when the season is on the line.
No. 21 (Kavner): Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers SP
Rowan: He’s one of the postseason’s biggest wild cards — and the Dodgers’ biggest X-factor. Yamamoto didn’t go more than five innings in any of his four September outings after missing nearly three months with a shoulder issue, but the swing-and-miss stuff is still there to dominate as long as he can hold up, and he has the chance to end his stateside debut on a high note. The Dodgers’ pitching staff needs it.
Deesa: Nooooooo! Whyyyyyyy? Aaaaaaaaghhhhhh!
Rowan: We have no idea what we’re getting from him, but it might be good. Also, he’ll never go on short rest.
No. 22 (Thosar): J.D. Martinez, Mets DH
Deesha: The veteran slugger already hit rock bottom with his 0-for-33 hitless stretch in September, so it can only go up from here. I’m relying on Martinez to find his 2018 postseason magic (.300 BA, .923 OPS, 14 games) that helped the Red Sox win a championship.
No. 23 (Kavner): Devin Williams, Brewers closer
Rowan: A back injury held Williams out for the first half — and made the Brewers’ success all the more remarkable — but the shutdown closer and his airbender changeup are back in typical form. He didn’t allow a run in any of his final 13 appearances of the year, and opponents managed just four hits against him during that stretch.
No. 24 (Thosar): Freddy Peralta, Brewers SP
Deesha: Another wild-card Game 1 starter in my rotation is a win for me. Peralta will get the ball to open the Brewers’ postseason run after a solid regular season that featured a career-high 32 starts to accompany the ninth-best ERA (3.68) among NL starters who will pitch in October.
No. 25 (Kavner): Jack Flaherty, Dodgers SP
Rowan: How much do the Tigers wish they still had this guy? The most significant arm to move at the deadline hasn’t pitched to quite the same level in Los Angeles as he did in Detroit to start the year, but there’s a reason he was so highly coveted. This is great value for a pitcher who ranks in the top four among all qualified MLB starters this year in both strikeout rate and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Deesha: I forgot about him.
Rowan: I was stuck between the Phillies guys and him. He has been … not as good lately.
No. 26 (Thosar): J.T. Realmuto, Phillies C
Deesha: This was the first time since 2016 that Realmuto finished a full season with fewer than 17 home runs, but he was limited to just 99 games due to injury. Now that he’s fully healthy, I’m expecting Realmuto to be a catalyst on my squad, bringing veteran presence and star power to the bottom of my lineup.
No. 27 (Kavner): Michael Harris II, Braves CF
Rowan: It hasn’t been the season the former Rookie of the Year would have hoped for, but injuries and poor luck were part of it. He’s still hitting the ball hard, he’s still an elite outfielder, and the 23-year-old is turning his season around at the perfect time. He was one of MLB’s most valuable players in September, and I would expect that to continue as the calendar turns. Also, there’s a dearth of center fielders in the National League.
Deesha: Lol.
Rowan: Also kinda crazy we’re not drafting Jurickson Profar.
Deesha: Yeah, I thought that too.
No. 28 (Thosar): Mark Vientos, Mets 3B
Deesha: Listen, Vientos ended the regular season with the highest OPS (.861) among NL third basemen with a minimum of 300 plate appearances this season. He also had the fourth-highest fWAR (3.2) across all qualified NL third basemen, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. He stayed on the field, parked 27 home runs, and became one of the best in the league at his position. The hot corner doesn’t faze Vientos, and he fits right in on my stacked squad.
Rowan: OMGGGGGGGGG
Deesha: Alec Bohm is somewhere crying.
Team Rowan’s starting lineup:
1. Shohei Ohtani, DH
2. Fernando Tatís Jr., RF
3. Bryce Harper, 1B
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Willy Adames, SS
6. William Contreras, C
7. Trea Turner, 2B
8. Michael Harris II, CF
9. Jackson Chourio, LF
SP1: Dylan Cease
SP2: Reynaldo López
SP3: Jack Flaherty
SP4: Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Closer: Devin Williams
Team Deesha’s starting lineup:
1. Francisco Lindor, SS
2. Mookie Betts, 2B
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B
4. Kyle Schwarber, LF
5. Teoscar Hernández, RF
6. Jackson Merrill, CF
7. J.D. Martinez, DH
8. Matt Vientos, 3B
9. J.T. Realmuto, C
SP1: Zack Wheeler
SP2: Michael King
SP3: Max Fried
SP4: Freddy Peralta
Closer: Robert Suárez
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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