Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy 2012: Justin Verlander Should Be Your No. 1 Pick

When it's time to select your first round pick in your fantasy baseball draft, don't be afraid to take a starting pitcher, especially if that pitcher is Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

Star hitters such as Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun will be very difficult to pass on, but having a stud pitcher you can depend on for an entire season is very important to your fantasy team's success.

You can't go wrong with Verlander, who won the AL Cy Young Award last season and also won the AL MVP, which was quite an accomplishment, since pitchers rarely win that award. 

The Tigers star was so dominant last season and there's no reason he won't be stellar in 2012. Verlander is good for at least 30 starts per season, and hasn't started less than that total in any of his six MLB seasons. He's a work horse and is very dependable.

The most impressive part of Verlander's improvement last year was his huge drop in ERA, which fell from 3.37 in 2010 to 2.40 last year. This was made possible by the fact that Verlander had a career high in strikeouts and allowed the fewest hits of his career.

Verlander's 24 wins were also an impressive mark, and with the Tigers ready to score even more runs for him this season with the addition of star slugger Prince Fielder, there's no reason why the star pitcher cannot reach 20 wins again.

Verlander will help your team in every pitching category your league uses, and not many pitchers will be able to do that as consistently as him.

Whether you play a points style of scoring, a rotisserie style or head-to-head, Verlander is a safe and wise choice as your first pick in fantasy baseball drafts.

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Nicholas Goss is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, follow him on Twitter.