What round do you start drafting SP's?

[Kingctb27]

I grab them all through the draft depending on if they are the best option. I have no problem taking a Santana. I enjoy playing against the people who don't draft pitchers till the 6-7-8th rounds it's not the way to win. My only new draft/non redraft I wasn't in a position to get the top top guys so I took mine in starting in the 5th round.

Ask my staff of C r Young, CC, Haren, Billingsley, Bedard, and Fausto about how that turned out last year.

Take your Peavy in the 2nd round while I get B Phillips in a MI league. While you are taking Weeks in the 8th I'll be getting Cain this year.

[RedSoxNation04]

Just saw that it was a 10-team league so you have to really look at their draft number, not draft round.

[Ender]

I have never lost to anyone because they took a top 4 round SP, you can get more value in later rounds almost every single time. If a pitcher falls for a great value like Santana in the 2nd, Peavy in the 3rd, Webb in the 4th etc I'll take my shot but if you feel you NEED a top end ace to compete in roto you probably don't understand which up and coming pitchers to take.

[Y`s Guy]

I rarely take SPs in the top 4 rounds anymore. Been burned too many times. So now I simply put the asterisks at he rounds where I think my SPs should get picked.

This season in my 25-man roto redraft...round 6, 9, 11, 15, 17 and then react as the draft goes.

I see my top two SPs as being Aaron Harang and Brett Myers. I'm OK with this.

[RedSoxNation04]

So, for ha-ha's, I tried out a strategy of drafting pitchers in the 1st and 2nd rounds of a 12 teamer. I had the 8th pick overall. I've never taken a pitcher in the first two rounds as I like to get my hitting first but I think there is a lot of value in the 4th-10th rounds that could justify such an approach.



Here's how I made out. In my league, we do LF/CF/RF with two UT spots and we also do 4 SP with one RP so I've listed the positions I was drafting for accordingly. Obviously, my team will lack some things offensively, but I think overall it wasn't too bad. My weakest area is probably SB's. I also like that I was still able to grab Shields, Billingsley and Pedro as my remaining starters. In my league we have a 30 inning max per week. Comments, thoughts, criticisms...would an approach such as this allow you to contend knowing (or hoping, depending on injuries) that your team would likely dominate in pitching every week?

1. Santana SP
2. Peavy SP
3. Atkins 3B
4. D Lee 1B
5. Dunn LF
6. Pence RF
7. M Young SS
8. Bay UT
9. Victorino CF
10. Shields SP
11. Hamilton UT
12. Billingsley SP
13. Soria RP
14. P Martinez SP
15. Garko 1B
16. A Hill 2B
17. Butler LF/UT
18. H Bell RP
19. Varitek C
20. F Sanchez 2B/3B/ UT
21. C Jackson 1B

[ImTheScientist]

It really depends on how the draft is going. I don't think its a good idea to go into a draft saying "Im not going to draft a pitcher until round ___."

I do like to take early however in my draft CC Sabathia was there at pick #51 (round 5) and Lackey was there at pick #75 (round 7) so I pulled the trigger. Picking for value is the best thing you could do.

I ended up with (12 team league):

1. (3) José Reyes SS
2. (22) Mark Teixeira 1B
3. (27) Álex Ríos OF
4. (46) Adam Dunn OF
5. (51) C.C. Sabathia SP
6. (70) Nick Markakis OF
7. (75) John Lackey SP
8. (94) Howie Kendrick 2B
9. (99) Delmon Young OF
10. (118) Huston Street RP
11. (123) Adrián Béltre 3B
12. (142) Trevor Hoffman RP
13. (147) Carlos Mármol RP
14. (166) Matt Kemp OF
15. (171) Ian Snell SP
16. (190) Iván Rodríguez C
17. (195) Matt Garza SP
18. (214) Eric Gagne RP
19. (219) Jay Bruce OF
20. (238) Edwin Encarnación 3B
21. (243) Derrick Turnbow RP
22. (262) Aaron Hill 2B
23. (267) Jon Lester SP

[Matthias]

It depends on a # of things including the structure of the league. I've done a league where the max IP was 1250 and getting 2 ace starters lock you into being in the top 4 because they'll eat 40% of your total innings, providing good WHIP, K rates (and in a max IP league, it really comes down to K/9), and low ERA. Sure you can find someone to approximate their numbers by the end of the year, but you're just as likely to have blown up your ratios trying to find that shot-in-the-dark.

Generally speaking, though, I would take Santana in the top half of the 1st round, and the next few top starters in the back end of the 3rd. After that it gets dicey and would depend upon who is available at what tiers and what I already had.

[GoCubsGo]

Its about getting value and maximizing your league setting. In H2H leagues I tend to wait until the end of Round 4 and then start looking. I like to lock up 2 studs and wait until late rounds to target relievers.

[Jackalope]

I tried to go for best avaliable for draft slot... in the draft here, I went for best available player. I was lucky enough to have both Berk and teix available for my back to back picks. Then CC and Verlander were to of the last tier 2 pitchers available at that point of the draft. I think my draft ended up being quite balanced with 4 SP's and going for an RP heavy low ERA/WHIP strategy ...what do you think?

1. (1) Álex Rodríguez 3B
2. (22) Mark Teixeira 1B
3. (23) Lance Berkman 1B,OF
4. (44) C.C. Sabathia SP
5. (45) Justin Verlander SP
6. (66) Carlos Guillén 1B,SS
7. (67) Brian McCann C
8. (88) Delmon Young OF
9. (89) Shane Victorino OF
10. (110) Carlos Peña 1B
11. (111) Francisco Cordero RP
12. (132) Rich Hill SP
13. (133) Chad Billingsley SP,RP
14. (154) Chad Cordero RP
15. (155) Jeremy Hermida OF
16. (176) Jason Isringhausen RP
17. (177) Kevin Gregg RP
18. (198) Kelly Johnson 2B
19. (199) Billy Butler 1B,OF
20. (220) Tony Peña RP
21. (221) Jay Bruce OF
22. (242) Chris Duncan 1B,OF
23. (243) Lastings Milledge OF
24. (264) Hideki Okajima RP
25. (265) Joel Zumaya RP
26. (286) Casey Blake 1B,3B,OF
27. (287) George Sherrill RP
28. (308) Mark Reynolds 3B
29. (309) Yuniesky Betancourt SS

[Yoda]

I tried to go for best avaliable for draft slot... in the draft here, I went for best available player. I was lucky enough to have both Berk and teix available for my back to back picks. Then CC and Verlander were to of the last tier 2 pitchers available at that point of the draft. I think my draft ended up being quite balanced with 4 SP's and going for an RP heavy low ERA/WHIP strategy ...what do you think?

1. (1) Álex Rodríguez 3B
2. (22) Mark Teixeira 1B
3. (23) Lance Berkman 1B,OF
4. (44) C.C. Sabathia SP
5. (45) Justin Verlander SP
6. (66) Carlos Guillén 1B,SS
7. (67) Brian McCann C
8. (88) Delmon Young OF
9. (89) Shane Victorino OF
10. (110) Carlos Peña 1B
11. (111) Francisco Cordero RP
12. (132) Rich Hill SP
13. (133) Chad Billingsley SP,RP
14. (154) Chad Cordero RP
15. (155) Jeremy Hermida OF
16. (176) Jason Isringhausen RP
17. (177) Kevin Gregg RP
18. (198) Kelly Johnson 2B
19. (199) Billy Butler 1B,OF
20. (220) Tony Peña RP
21. (221) Jay Bruce OF
22. (242) Chris Duncan 1B,OF
23. (243) Lastings Milledge OF
24. (264) Hideki Okajima RP
25. (265) Joel Zumaya RP
26. (286) Casey Blake 1B,3B,OF
27. (287) George Sherrill RP
28. (308) Mark Reynolds 3B
29. (309) Yuniesky Betancourt SS

You can never, ever go wrong with drafting the best value available.