Shallow league under-IP-limit strategy

[Kelly Gruber]

I have a bit of a dilemna:

I'm in a points pool where wins and strikeouts (and CG SHO) count for points and losses count against but ER and H+BB don't matter. I drafted enough pitchers to stay right around the pace necessary, but due to Prior's prior absence, I am about 55 innings under.

I'm in a 7-person league, so there are good players on FA, and I recently picked up Freddy Garcia and Jake Peavy to round out my rotation.

My dilemna is this: Do I pick up more pitchers now (Oliver Perez, Contreras, etc) and use my extra innings, or come August, do I look to spot start favourable matchups? (I did that last year and ended up getting a CG SHO - a lot of points in my league - from R.A. Dickey against Detroit!)

[biju]

I'd certainly pick up Oliver Perez if strikeouts count, but in a 7 person league I'm amazed that your next best option would be Contreras.

I suppose if he's truly ready to turn it around he might be a good option but I'd wait a few more decisions before picking him up still, unless you have the roster room.

[Broncmet724]

Yes it seems a bit wierd that those are the best options in a 7 team league unless guys are carrying 35 people or so. Oliver Perez to me is a solid pickup, but watch those Central matchups later in the year

[thetongueofire]

whats the exact scoring system and your complete pitching staff?

Contreras would be a very solid pickup with what i know of your setup cos of his high K rate and the Yankees offense.

[Kelly Gruber]

Point system for pitchers:

W= 17
L= -4
K= 2
SV= 10
CG= 10
SHO= 20


My rotation right now:

Randy Johnson
Jason Schmidt
Mark Prior
Freddy Garcia
Jake Peavy

The for 4 starters and 3 closers. If I play Peavy and Garcia for every start then it should eat up some innings...

[thetongueofire]

forget whatever i said 'bout Contreras. i just saw the highlights on ESPN. it wasnt pretty.

i dunno know how many pitchers youre allowed to play each day and how the pitcher slots are distributed. sayin this cos i think closers would give you tremendous points/IP value compared to SP if you wanna save the innings for favorable matchups. if you have the standard 1250 IP limit, (just doing in my head) then you prolly got around 700 left. your gonna need some more picthing help to catch up with the pace even if you start every single one of your SP for every single start (something i think you should cos the risk involved is very low) anyways, from the guys you listed, i think i'd pick up O. Perez. and then scour the WW and FA and pick up a closer or two if you got the roster spots.if you have yahoo type neutral "P" itd be an awesome strategy to put the extra closer in there when you dont have any of the starters going. not kidding. they'd give you some real good value. just hope that your leaguemates havent caught on to this too strong.

[Kelly Gruber]

Thanx for the help. I've done everything I can to maximize the closers I can play (there are 4 SP slots and 3 RP slots). At one point I had Graves, Chacon, Affeldt and Jimenez, who all qualify for SP, plus my three other regular closers in RP! Now I only have Graves, but I also picked up Lidge and dropped Rhodes, which should be a great turnaround.

I'll pick up Perez because he's sick, but I'll go by matchups because the Pittsburg offence is not to be counted on against good pitching!

[KULCAT]

Since youre league doesnt count ER getting closers would be a good strategy and just my opinion but unless you can get studs or very good upside starters id play the waiver

[thetongueofire]

if you still have Chacon available and you can spare the roster spot i think it'd still be worth his SP eligibility. put him in place of a starter whos not going. you have nothing to lose at all since his 7-8 era doesnt count against you and he only uses minimal innings. yup, i agree with starting all those guys almost every single time and playing kinda matchups with Perez whenever he has a chance for a win.

[Kelly Gruber]

Thanx for the advice...hopefully I'll win, but it'll be tough because these 2 guys made a superteam while everybody is gone for the summer (therefore not enough vetoes)...