Seattle Mariners: Marco Gonzales fantasy baseball advice

Marco Gonzales is one of the best fantasy baseball players on the Mariners roster. I am not one to brag, but I did draft him last year.

I can’t remember what round I selected Marco but it was in the middle rounds. Based on how Marco is trending and gaining respect around the MLB, he will probably be a hot commodity in fantasy drafts this season.

Marco Gonzales fantasy baseball advice. Should you draft Marco Gonzales?

Absolutely, times 100. If you have the chance to draft him, do it. Don’t let him get away.

Have you looked at Marco’s stats? He has been just incredible and he’s continuing to improve year after year. Based on how he pitched last year, he might even be competing for a Cy Young Award this season.

Last season he posted a 3.10 ERA, 7-2 record, 0.947 WHIP, and struck out 64 batters.

We could go into the sabermetrics but they don’t matter for fantasy baseball. For most fantasy baseball leagues, all you care about is innings pitched, ERA, wins, WHIP and strikeouts. Marco excelled in all of those categories.

The one downside of Marco is the Mariners operate a six-man rotation. That would reduce his innings pitched and strikeouts by a small margin, but not a significant enough amount for me to avoid him. Gonzales makes it up with his minimal WHIP (he barely walks people), consistent ERA, and wins.

On the topic of wins, Marco Gonzales should get even more wins than last year. You might be asking why?

[1) improved bullpen, 2) improved offense] = more wins for Marco and the Mariners

When should you draft the Mariners ace?

Don’t hesitate. Marco is one of those players that I would be willing to reach for and pick him a round or two before he should be drafted. That’s how confident I am in him.

According to Fantasy Pros’ 2021 fantasy baseball rankings, they have Marco Gonzales ranked 167th which I find fascinating. Craig Kimbrel is ranked 165th, Mike Soroka is ranked 169th, and Andrew McCutchen is ranked 171st.

So, Gonzales is still under the radar for fantasy projections, but I would value him more in the 120s where you will see names like Lance McCullers Jr., Dylan Bundy, Patrick Corbin, and Joe Musgrove.

Amongst pitchers, Marco is the 61st ranked pitcher. Hmm… I don’t agree with that but it’s better for Mariners fans who want to draft Gonzales.

I would honestly much rather draft Gonzales before David Price, Kevin Gausman, or Pablo Lopez.

Another thing to keep in mind, if your fantasy league is filled with Mariners fans, you definitely need to have Marco on your mind a lot earlier in the draft. The leagues I mostly play in aren’t packed with Seattle natives so I can afford to wait for players like Marco, but that might not be the case for you.

So, make sure to know your crowd going into the draft especially for Marco. Because if you do know, it could save you a couple of extra rounds before choosing the Mariners southpaw.

Marco could be a sneaky pick that would pair nicely with a couple of aces on your team alongside Clayton Kershaw, Shane Bieber, or the like. To summarize, go get him.

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