NFBC Weekly Profile - Brett Clarke

[Tom Kessenich]

In a year that has featured so much uncertainty among closers due to injuries and lackluster production, having a ninth-inning shutdown artist you can trust has become a rare commodity.

Atlanta’s Craig Kimbrel has been a rare reliable closer so far this season. Brett Clarke believed in Kimbrel before the season began and when Draft Day arrived in his March 4 Online Championship league, securing Kimbrel for his roster was one of Clarke’s top goals.

Clarke selected Kimbrel in the fourth round of his draft and due in large part to the standout production from the Braves’ closer, Clarke finds himself near the top of the event’s overall standings.

Clarke began the week in first place in the Online Championship before dipping to second after action on Monday. Kimbrel has been a standout star for Clarke so far this season, posting 16 saves with a 1.80 ERA and 1.00 WHIP.

“I felt that if Kimbrel could come close to repeating what he did last year he’d be the key to a competitive staff so I took him earlier than most would,” Clarke said. “With his K differential over other closers, he allows a staff where you can go with three closers, assuring that I am near the top in saves while not sacrificing strikeouts.”

Kimbrel wasn’t the only pitcher Clarke aggressively targeted, though.

“I also took pitchers in seven of the first 14 rounds because I felt I could target hitters in Rounds 15-22 that would perform as well as hitters in Rounds 9-15,” he said. “In all the drafts I was in – I think 13 total – very few teams drafted pitchers in seven of the first 14 rounds.”

Clarke’s draft prep work wasn’t confined to simply studying, analyzing and projecting, however. He also dove into the highly popular Slow Draft event with the results of those drafts providing much of the groundwork for the draft plan he put into place in the Online Championship.

“I did five slow drafts which prepared me for the season better than mock drafts could ever do,” the 51-year-old Clarke said. “When money is on the line, people flat out draft more realistic. So by the time the real draft season rolls around I’ve researched every player extensively.”

In his second season with the NFBC, Clarke has been playing fantasy sports since the late ’80s. Although his team is perched near the top of the Online Championship’s standings, he is not about to get ahead of himself and start making plans as to how best to spend the event’s $60,000 grand prize.

“If I finish in the Top 10 I’ll be happy but I’m hoping for the obvious,” said Clarke, who is married and lives in Plymouth, CA. “I have to have good health and hope that when certain players cool off, other players can get hot.”