NFBC Weekly Profile - Mark Bendar

[Tom Kessenich]

The early rounds of fantasy drafts are the glamour rounds. That’s where the big stars come out and all the flashy toys fantasy owners hope to utilize all season are accumulated.

The later rounds of the draft are where the meat and potatoes can be found. The picks aren’t as glamorous but the production mined there is often the difference between a champion and an also-ran. With two weeks of the NFBC season in the books, Mark Bendar is hoping the work done late in his Main Event draft will pay big dividends as the year goes along.

So far, the results have been impressive. Bendar entered Week 3 atop the overall standings in the Main Event. His New York team dipped a bit on Monday but will begin action on Tuesday in second place in the overall competition.

“The keys to the strong start have really been the second half of my draft,” he said. “Josh Willingham and Denard Span have been great and Edwin Jackson and Jake Westbrook gave me four great starts last week.”

That type of production has been critical with two of the stars of his team (Albert Pujols and Dan Haren) off to slow starts.

“When Pujols and Haren are your worst hitter and pitcher, that’s a good spot to be in,” Bendar said.

The early production being generated by Willingham and Span in particular has been critical since Bendar left Draft Day concerned he hadn’t done enough to address the outfield position.

“I try not to lock into taking a player in a given round and take the best available and that worked great my first seven picks,” he said. “I waited very long on outfield and that potential weakness is off to a great start. I wanted to back up my strong three starting pitchers (Jered Weaver, Haren and Ian Kennedy) with a solid back end and so far so good there also.”

Pitching has definitely been Bendar’s strong suit so far with his Main Event team. Of his 126 points in his New York league, 66.5 has been generated on the mound. He ranks first or second in his league in Wins, Strikeouts, ERA and WHIP entering play today.

The 35-year-old Bendar has been playing fantasy baseball for 15 years and has played in the NFBC for the past three. He knows the season has just begun and there will be plenty of peaks and valleys to come before the $100,000 champion is crowned at season’s end. So while he’s excited by his team’s impressive start to the season he isn’t getting carried away by the early season results.

One thing Bendar is trying not to do in his league is focus too much on the competition. That’s a lesson he said he learned after a difficult finish to his auction season a year ago.

“I’m going to try and just make the best decisions I can each week,” he said. “Last year I might have cost myself an auction title by paying attention to the other top teams and overthinking every move I made in September. Easier said than done.
“I feel the team has good depth right now and I want to keep that as a strength to react to any injuries or poor performances that will happen over the course of the year.”

[Glenneration X]

Mark's real good people, obviously a helluva fantasy player, and most importantly a fellow Mets fan.
Good luck the rest of the way Bud, keep kickin' a$$.

[mbendar16]

Thanks Glenn for the kind words and the best wishes - same to you for your teams and our Mets