Last Updated on March 6, 2026 4:09 pm by Anthony Kates | Published: March 6, 2026

Pocket Aces as a draft strategy has been around for some time. You grab two elite arms in the first three rounds of the draft. Lock in 340-plus innings of high strikeouts, low ERA, low WHIP and 22-plus wins, then you focus on tons of home runs and RBI before mixing it all back up again.

Like any draft strategy, there are pros and cons to the Pocket Aces strategy.

Pros

• Establish strikeout dominance early
  • When following this strategy, you should be targeting elite, high strikeout starters, so you don’t have to draft riskier, high strikeout starters later in the draft
• Provides “safe” options
  • Pitching tends to be more volatile than hitting, with more pitchers suffering elbow and shoulder injuries than ever before (at least, that’s how it seems)
  • Locking in two of the best starters in the game helps to mitigate the inherent risk that is pitchers, which leads to fantasy managers relying on less risky options later in the draft and throughout the season

Want to get access to the rest of Anthony’s article? You’ll need to have an MLB FantasyPass membership. Click here to learn more and sign up!
Premium Access Required

Come join us at SportsEthos by filling out an application by clicking here
Click here to join us on Discord!
Follow us on X by clicking here
Follow us on Bluesky by clicking here
Follow Anthony on X at @akfantasybb
Follow Anthony on Bluesky at @akfantasybb.bsky.social

• About the Author
• Latest Posts

Anthony Kates

I’m a husband, father and fantasy sports fanatic. I’ve been playing some fantasy sport or other since the fall of 1996, thanks to one of my childhood best friends, Brent. I enjoy watching all major sports, reading fantasy novels, watching TV shows and movies, playing video games and writing about fantasy baseball. I started at Sports Ethos in 2023, just writing one article a week and cutting my teeth in fantasy sports writing and I am now a co-lead of the Fantasy Baseball department, co-host of the Fantasy MLB Today podcast and the author of two weekly articles, our dynasty baseball rankings and a handful of random articles a year. I support the Houston Astros, Dallas Mavericks, Tennessee Titans and all things Texas Longhorns.

• Fantasy MLB Today: Dynasty Friday: Unheralded Breakout Prospects to Grab
• Fantasy MLB Today: 1st Half Fantasy Rookie All Star Hitters
• Working the Waiver Wire: June 24
• Weekly Pitching Guide - June 22 - June 28
• Fantasy MLB Today: You Know, I'm Something of a Bust Myself