One of the key things to look for when joining a league is the transaction limit. You need to know if you can play with your team on a daily basis, micromanaging it to a large degree. Without limits to transactions and starts, the best way I can think to do that comes from manipulating your rotation.

I have never believed in drafting pitching early. It’s a crap shoot. Sure, there are guys that take the hill every five days that have been impressive for the last several years. Guys like Roy Halladay, Johan Santana, and Brandon Webb immediately come to mind. Yet, for every one of those guys, there comes along an Erik Bedard. Bedard was one player last season that was drafted highly based on his potential and fizzled out almost before the season started.

The other end of the spectrum brings us guys like Cliff Lee, pitchers who weren’t drafted at all but end up carrying a roster to glory. You win pitching categories through depth and a lot of luck. Owners need a star or two to anchor the staff, but it’s the work you do in the later rounds and on the waivers that win weeks and leagues.

How important is it? Half the pitchers ranked in the final top-20 in 2007 weren’t there in 2008. When you have that under your belt, you see just how hard determining pitching success can be.

Spot starts can help. Guys that are owned in less than 50 percent of leagues can bring you some luck, and managing your roster with some flexibility at the end allows you to take advantage.

The most important piece to leveraging these players is not to be too attached to pitchers. As an owner, you should always know who will be the first to go, and who you can use to take advantage of a favorable start.

The second piece is to research your matchups. The Twins pitching staff is solid at home, but nearly lost on the road. Petco Park is a great place to use a fringe starter because of the size of the field. Coors Field is not, neither is Rangers Ballpark. Young pitchers can usually find success once around the league because no one has a book on them.

Jamie Moyer was abysmal at home in 2008, but had an ERA nearly one-and-a-half runs lower on the road. Dave Bush’s home splits are far better than the league average. The Red Sox struggle against lefties, especially ones that they have never seen before.

Who can generate specific category help? Strikeouts can be found in Jordan Zimmermann and Bronson Arroyo. Paul Maholm and Zach Duke both have low ERAs this season, and can help there even without getting you a win. WHIP isn’t always easy to locate, but look for pitchers that have a higher rate of groundballs and low walk rates.

It’s knowing a little information like this that can help you find a starter to grab a win late in the week, help your ERA, grab some strikeouts, or lower your WHIP. Especially for head-to-head leagues, if you fall behind too far in one category by the middle of the week, you can use spot starts over the latter half to boost another category without losing ground in another.

Like what Collin has to say? Check out his Daily Notes column at The Elmhurst Pub blog or find him on Twitter @TheRoundtable.

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WOW, Great Article
written by JT, May 21, 2009

Hey Collin,

Never thought of that way. Great article. Two in a row!!! One more for the tri-fecta???

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