n00b question about fielding a full team day to day

[EvanVanVan]

Hey same as a lot of stories on here, I'm a long time FF player, first time playing FB (with a $50 league entry fee to boot)...

I'm having a little trouble understanding what i should be striving for with FB as far as a day to day team combined with Roto scoring..With FF I basically had my team of starters that I kept in on a week to week basis and then occasionally substituted a couple players based on bye weeks and specific match ups...

Should I be doing the same with FB? Don't get me wrong, i'll be checking my team on a daily basis (and probably more like 3-4 times a day), but should i be keeping my same starters in several days in a row? I understand Pitchers, we've got a 180 start limit for SPs so thats an average of lets say 35 starts per 5 pitchers, so leaving them in and only getting 1 start every 5 days is actually a good thing....

But my question comes into play with my Hitters (by which I mean every field position minus pitcher plus 2 utility players)..do i keep the same players in on a day to day basis even when their team has an off day? or when their team has an off day should i try and bench them and replace them with a player whose playing on that day? What's going to increase my scoring in a ROTO system the most? Do i want every single position to have a player every day? or is it not the end in the world if one night a week my SS has a day off and that position is empty that night..?


Thanks

[MTUCache]

It's an interesting question that can be addressed in a couple of different ways, depending on your league setup.

First, with positional players, the "standard" league is generally going to have a number of games-allowed per position (generally 162). This means that as long as the guy you have in that position is an "everyday player", by the end of the season he'll have used all your games up exactly. It's pretty rare that a player is in the lineup everyday like that without some routine days off or a stint on the DL. So, most leagues will have a tracker somewhere on your roster page that will tell you how many games you are ahead or behind where you should be to reach that target. As long as you don't get too far behind or ahead (say, five games either way), you're doing just fine.

The only spot where this really becomes an issue is your catcher spot, where they get off many more days than other players, and will generally finish a season with only 120-130 games played. This can give you a significant advantage if you pay attention to this and have two viable catchers to swap in and out on their scheduled days off. It takes quite a bit more work to make sure you get all those days you can, but it could mean a difference of quite a few runs, RBIs, and HRs by the end of the season. Unfortunately, it could also cost you a fair few points of average as well if neither of your catchers has a .280+ BA.

Pitching is where this gets a bit more tricky. Some leagues use an inning cap, others us a "games started". The definition of "games started" isn't even really a known quantity either. Does a closer's appearance cost you one of those "starts"? Or is it literally only when a pitcher starts a game. You should pay attention the first week or so to how your moves impact that number to see what the optimal strategy is.

If your league is truly only counting games "started" by your SP, then there's really no reason not to get as many non-start innings as you can out of relievers, even if they're not closers. There are lots of middle-relievers out there you could plug into as many spots as possible (whenever they're not being used by a scheduled SP) and rack up a ton of extra W, SV, and Ks, all while generally helping your ERA/WHIP (if you pick the right relievers).

This information alone, just knowing your league settings and how to exploit them, is generally enough to win you a casual roto-league, almost regardless of how poor of a team you drafted. As long as you have a competent offense, somewhere near the middle-third of the league, you can generally move up a handful of spots just by paying attention during the season. More competitive leagues may be a little tougher, but it's still a fundamental practice that you should pay attention to.

[EvanVanVan]

That was a very comprehensive answer, thank you.. I'm in an ESPN Roto league which, I see in my league settings, has no minimums for batter's games started and 180 games for pitcher's games started. So going by your post, I guess i could benefit by benching batters on their days off/DL stints and replacing them with active players, I just as you said, run the risk of hurting my averages on a day to day basis if i keep changing them up..cool thanks

[Dugout Diamonds]

EVV--good question and one to really know the answer to before starting play. MTUcache gave a good thorough answer. I play in a Yahoo lg that doesn't have a batter minimum, but does have a 162 game max, along with a 1500 IP max for the entire pitching staff. I remember a couple yrs back, I was trying to catch up with my wins and K's by streaming pitchers who had good matchups. I forgot to keep track of my IP, and ended up reaching the max with about 2 weeks to go in the season. It was really frustrating (my own fault), checking my team each day and seeing my pitchers not being able to contribute anything. I won't make that mistake again.