Important Differences Between Roto and H2H

[Honus]

I have played in a bunch of roto leagues the last couple of years. This year I am planning on playing in a head-to-head league for the first time. For those of you who have played in both or who have had success in H2H:

Are there any key differences I should know about?

Are there different drafting strategies?

Are there certain kinds of players who are good for roto but bad for H2H and vice versa?

Are there "tricks" in H2H that my opponents will use that I should be mindful of?

Thanks in advance!

[reelbiggecko]

The best advice I can give you is to keep track of what your opponent is doing. Is he starting all of his pitchers? What does his rotation look like at the end of the week?

Keep this in mind. There's a lot more incentive to not pitch guys in H2H if they have a bad matchup (splits can become your best friend). Also, midweek, take a look at the categories you're winning and losing. If you have steals locked up, bench Juan Pierre. Or vice versa. Most importantly, always know which categories you're still capable of winning when it gets toward the end of the week. If there's two days left and you're down by 12 HR, don't woryr about it. You'd be better off benching your high power/low average guy in hopes of winning other categories.

[JRM4833]

I agree with what Reel said. Make sure you play the guys that will give you the stats you need just to win that week. Also, all you need to to is make playoffs. Dont be afraid to hold onto guys that go down with injuries as long as you can make it to the playoffs. A lot of teams seem to trade guys when the get injured just to get someone who will give them any stats. Then the playoffs come around and the injured player is back putting up big stats.

[jbuk]

Depends whether its a points or 5x5 H2H league - for points, picking 2 start pitchers with decent matchups to get a lot of points, especially for wins, is a tactis a lot of people will use.

In daily 5x5 leagues, if their is no Max IP per week set, some people will try and start as many pitchers as possible to try and win W, K, and some will use relievers almost exclusively to win saves and the ratio cats.

For hitting, you want consistent players:

2 Years ago, I had Shawn Green in a CBS pts H2H league, he had been slightly disappointing up to then, and I read that he had been playing with an injured hand, which explained why, so I benched him for the next week...

Unfortunately, that was the week he hit 4 HR's in one game at Milwaukee and seven, I think, in the week, and put up some ridiculous number of points.

After looking like an idiot for benching him, I kept him in my lineup for the rest of the season, even though he didn't put up very good numbers.

Bernie Williams used to be the ultimate consistent H2H player, but his knees are falling off now - you just have to avoid streaky players as much as possible.

[TheRock]

Depends on the format. You can have H2H points, or H2H with cats like 5x5. Also important is lineup changes. Is it daily changes or weekly? If it's daily, look for people to steam in as many pitchers as they can to win W's, K's, and saves. But there are ways around this (waiver limits, larger leagues/rosters). Weekly makes 2-start pitchers what it's all about. You can do very well with a strong hitting attack and keepng a roster full of pitchers to ensure you've got several guys going twice in any given week.

[Honus]

Thanks for the tips. BTW it is a 5x5 league with daily transactions.