Head to Head strategy vs. roto strategy

[Absolutely Adequate]

I've been playing fantasy baseball since the late 80's. I started with points league and moved to roto. Now I'm in a head to head league and I'm not sure what the differences in strategy are. Does anyone have any tips or ideas? Is pitching more important here, and if so starting or relief? Thanks for any input
Hank
By the way, I'm getting sick of seeing all these "rate my team" posts. I know the moderators do a lot of work to keep this free site running smoothly, but could you guys stick those questions in the roster move forum? Am I out of line here? It seems that since the baseball season has been approaching that there is a lot less useful baseball talk in here.

[B.O.S. Owner]

in h2h you will need to keep an eye on your opponet and see how many two start pitchers he has coming at you. it may effect what you counter with in your rotation. last year was my first overall, i really enjoyed the h2h format....play against mostly guys that i know. good luck!

[dnelms]

First, I agree that the "rate my team" junk needs to move to the roster section

Strategy.... last year was the first year I played in a H2H league, always played points, roto or combination type games. The biggest difference I found depends on whether you get weekly or daily roster changes. If it's daily, and I'm going into the last night with a big lead in saves, ERA, K's etc.... I'll look and see who my opponent has pitching... then I usually will bench all my pitchers to avoid any surprise blowups. If it's weekly changes, you really need to look ahead and use those pitching twice in a week if possible.... but as with any team, you have to look at the overall picture, league rules and how best to suit your team to them.

[Absolutely Adequate]

This is exactly what I'm looking for. Anyone else?

[BGbootha]

this is actually my first year in a roto league all i have done is H2H, thank you all this information has been helpful. But do you see any drafting differences as far as league format???

[Trojan Pony]

I have a lot more experience and have been much more successful with roto but I have done H2H once or twice and now I'm doing another one with friends from school. I think the draft strategy should be more or less the same in terms of player rankings and such. However, people like to seem to try more risky strategies in H2H leagues because these strategies are more successful than they would be in a roto league, like punting a category. For example, last year a friend of mine did two leagues with the same strategy - stockpile relievers, guys like Dotel and Mendoza for the K's and then first-tier closers for the saves and with such a good staff your ERA and WHIP should be better than the average starting pitcher squad. However, you will probably lose the Wins category every week and strikeouts most weeks. Like I said, these strategies are risky as he did very well in one of his leagues but poorly in the other. I personally strive for balance in both my draft and my roster. But perhaps this is why I do better at roto... So basically, I would say if you're going to use an unconventional strategy you're better off using it in head-to-head.

[Bennyy22]

yes agreed with those "rate my team" stuff. move em out. thats not for this part of the forum, move to roster quetions.

[Arlo]

Good comments on the differing strategies. You could probably also add that since there are so many h2h variants (especially in pure points scoring), it's absolutely vital to figure out how your league's rules will affect player values, especially as far as hitter/pitcher balance is concerned.

As to 'rate my team' questions, you might want to join uns here where we're looking at ways to streamline the forums. Thanks!

[TheRock]

I played a H2H league on CBS last year and did very well (made championship game) by drafting hitters early. CBS is weekly so 2-start pitchers make a huge difference. My strategy was to make sure I had solid position players that I could set and not have to think about. My 6 reserve spots were used almost exclusively for pitchers. I had my studs I played every week (Freddy, Mulder, and last year Burnett and Glavine) and then I had the flexibility to pickup any good 2-start pitchers I saw upcoming. Worked then, probably do more or less the same thing this year.

[beartrap76]

It's easier to "dump" categories in h2h. I was dominant in the offensive categories last year, but i had weak pitching. I simply conceded ERA and WHIP last year. I drafted offensive players that had multiple position eligibility (Pujols, Lo Duca, Alfonso), and therefore needed less offensive bench players. It allowed me to draft more pitchers, which allowed me to get more wins, saves, and K's. I won my league in the playoffs by average scores of 6-4. Also, I didn't draft a pitcher until round 5. It may not work for you, but it worked for me.