Strategy behind spot starting?

[swyck]

I've seen some talk about spot starting pitchers (or roster churning in general) but I haven't seen a discussion of the strategy behind it.

Obviously its an attempt to get the most stats out of each position, but isn't it just as likely that a FA pitcher will drag down your ERA\WHIP instead of giving you the extra K's or W's you're looking for?

I'd also think this is only viable for H2H, leagues with no max IP or transaction limits, or that count negative stats that can work against you, e.g. BB, L, or HR's for pitchers.

Is this really a viable strategy?

[TheYanks04]

It Roto it is usually a bad idea imo, though sometimes it can work for you when you get something like a medicore pitcher vs the As or some other light hitting team. Generally though it wil bite you in the a** if you try it too much in Roto.

In H2h, it is more resonable as all it is really risking is your score for the week and maybe your staff might not be good enough to compete ratio wise withyour opponent, so you try to knock Ks and Ws away from him.

[zergeR]

well, a decent WW pitcher against a bad team can net you stats like a non WW pitcher.

[TheYanks04]

Or they can do what Halsey did against KC recently...blow up in your face.

[Titanic Grizzlie]

It can be really good in h2h particularly later in the week. If you are already losing ERA and WHIP then what does it hurt to throw a guy out there that will get you some K's and a possible W. I always look for a good spot starts on Sundays so that way if I am tied or 1 behind in W's I can give it a go.

[reznorsboy]

Yeah it's good for H2H with daily transactions, and not in ones with weekly transactions like mine

[great gretzky]

I think in roto, it really only has its place nearing the end of the season. Then you have to take risks, but you also have a bigger sample size.

I agree that in roto it is bad. it can be hard to erase a truly bad blowup. a lot more damage is done with aa bad start usually than good is done with a good start.

[JustAnotherYanksFan]

I only play Roto, and while I try not to make a habit of spot-starting, it still makes sense to play your matchups, and if there's a favorable matchup of a pitcher on the WW, then I'll definitely pick him up. However, the only pitchers I'll generally spot-start are ones that:

1. are facing a lineup that is both bad and cold.

(I love starting pitchers against Colorado away from Coors, for example, but since they're hitting pretty well tonight, I'm not quite as confident to do that for tomorrow. And when the Royals are hitting poorly, I like using them also, but I've noticed that they can get hot every so often.)

2. have a relatively low walk rate.

(I figure that a pitcher who doesn't walk too many guys has less of a chance of blowing up.)

[RAmst23]

I also only play roto as I dislike the H2H format.. Anyway, this would be fairly difficult in roto, as you are effectively doing a high risk gamble on the WW pitcher you pick-up. If you want low ratios and some spot wins, then go with middle relievers in roto.

I agree though, that this really only helps near the middle/end of the season or if you waited to draft pitching and have nothing better than a #3 fantasy starter.

[djack909]

Some of my teams with weak benchs were used in roster churning and spot starting. Ohka did allright for me last night (CG-SO) on 2 teams. Redman sat tonight and is handling NY. Last week he beat TB for me. In one of my leagues I dumped a weak bench and picked up players going against TB pitching. In one week I moved up about 20 pts to one point out of first place, from 8th place.