MLB Best Ball: Your Guide To Baseball Best Ball on Underdog

Dylan Wilkerson Sports Betting Expert

11 minute read

_{Image Credit:  Rob Schumacher / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images}

TLDR: Draft players that are going to play a lot and are reliable. Avoid relief pitchers. Draft outfielders earlier on average, then pitchers, then infielders. Take chances on rookies late in drafts.

The stove is hot and before we know it, the World Baseball Classic will be underway then the MLB regular season will be here. This means that it is time to start warming up for MLB best ball drafts. This articles will serve as your all encompassing guide for MLB best ball drafts on Underdog.

This article will focus on MLB best ball contests on Underdog. New users on Underdog can claim our Underdog promo code VIBONUS to Play $5, Get $75 in Bonus Entries!. Click the module below to get started.

Updated on 12/18/25

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Underdog MLB Best Ball Contests

Underdog hosts a few MLB best ball tournaments throughout the year, but this early in the season the only contest available is "The Bullpen". However, most contests have similar scoring, roster construction and format. The usual differences include the number of entrants, the entry cost, and the payout/payout structure.

The Bullpen

The Bullpen costs $5 to enter, with the first place prize totaling $10,000. Once you pay the entry fee, you will be placed into a draft room with 11 other people.

You will be drafting teams of 20 players, all a mix of infielders/outfielders/pitchers. The beauty of best ball is that you never have to set lineups. Underdog selects your top scoring players for each position and their scores automatically count.

Here is the roster construction:

• Pitchers: 3
• Infielders: 3
• Outfielders: 3
• Flex (IF/OF): 1
• Bench: 10

Here is the scoring for MLB best ball:

The contest consists of 4 rounds that encompass the following timeframes:

• Qualifiers: Week 1-18
• Quarterfinals: Weeks 19-20
• Semifinals: Weeks 21-22
• Championship: Weeks 23-24

In order to advance throughout the rounds, you will need to draft players that score a lot of points all throughout the year. This means injuries/suspensions/missed games can prove very costly. This plays a large part in strategy when entering these drafts.

Advancing In MLB Best Ball

In order to advance through rounds in MLB best ball, you have to have players that stay healthy weeks 1-18. Any missed time can hurt your points ceiling, especially in that first round.

If you get out of the first pod, the rounds then become 2 weeks and injuries/missed time becomes less worrisome. You then want to account for players on teams that will be playing meaningful baseball late into the season. Players (specifically pitchers) can be shut down, especially late in the season. Be sure to take this into account when drafting MLB best ball teams.

Prizes for Underdog's "The Bullpen"

The grand prize for The Bullpen is $10,000. If you just so happen to find yourself in the final 124 seat final, you will lock up $100 in prizes at minimum. By just advancing out of the 1st round, you will make $10 which doubles your entry of $5.

See the picture above for a complete breakdown of the prize pool for this contest.

MLB Best Ball Strategy - How To Draft Correctly

Here are a few strategies I employ when drafting for MLB best ball teams:

• Players that have demonstrated reliability through injury.
• Everyday hitters that do not platoon (or don't have the ability to earn every day at bats).
• Pitchers that are at the top of their respective rotations.
• Draft outfielders EARLY! There are 3 outfielders on every team. There are 5 infielders on every team. The outfield pool dries up extremely fast.
• Draft infielders LATE. Notice I did not say last. There are certain situations and players I would take earlier, even though they are infielders. As a rule though, try to take infielders late.
• Take risks on rookies late in the draft opposed to veterans. There are plenty of rookies that are going to see playing time. Think Nick Kurtz, Justin Wilson, etc.. It is those lower-performing teams that will not be scared to debut rookies.
• DON'T DRAFT RELIEF PITCHERS
• Keep an eye on the hot stove, players like Kyle Tucker could wind up on new teams and this drastically changes the opportunities these players will have.

Here is a list of the batters that played the most baseball last season:

• Francisco Lindor (732 plate appearances)
• Rafael Devers (729 plate appearances)
• Shohei Ohtani (727 plate appearances)
• Matt Olson (724 plate appearances)
• Kyle Schwarber (724 plate appearances)3

Here is a list of the pitchers that had the most innings pitched last season:

• Logan Webb (207 IP)
• Garrett Crochet (205.1 IP)
• Cristopher Sánchez (202 IP)
• Max Fried (195.1 IP)
• Carlos Rodón (195.1 IP)

MLB Best Ball: Proper Roster Construction

The ideal roster construction is hard to find, because so many options work. I draft my teams with outfielders first, and since I spend my earlier capital there, and I draft more infielders and pitchers than outfielders with the hope that those outfielders are going to be reliable enough to advance me. I like to take 7 pitchers, 7 infielders, and 6 outfielders. However, I am not married to a rigid roster construction. I am flexible as the draft goes on.

I also like to spend my last 2 picks on rookies that may see full-play time by the end of the season. Here is an example of one of my MLB best ball teams:

You can see that I spent my first 4-picks on outfielders, then started to build out my pitching rotation, going Cease/Strider. I also used my late picks on young guys like Agustin Ramírez and Xavier Edwards and I took a chance on Daylen Lile, a young outfielder in the Washington Nationals system. He saw playing time last season, and I think he could work his way into a full-time role. I expect him to be an everyday bat in the meat of their lineup.

Thank you for reading. This contest is very fun to dissect, and I wish you the best of luck in your drafts! Be sure to check out my guide to PGA best ball while you are here.

Dylan Wilkerson

Dylan Wilkerson has over 5 years of experience reporting and analyzing the sports betting industry for various sites. His portfolio includes work for SportsHandle and Action Network, in addition to VegasInsider. His favorite sports are the NFL, College Football, The PGA Tour, the LIV Tour, and Cricket. Dylan has a broad and deep understanding of various sports-related topics. More from Dylan Wilkerson