Points League Primer (Fantasy Baseball)

The value of stolen-base specialists, like Billy Hamilton, is marginalized in points leagues

I love fantasy baseball, but even I can admit that I’m exhausted by the time we reach the end of the season. The day-in, day-out work to try to make up a point in RBI or ERA just wears on you. Plus, there are always those random years where your team is just struggling, and by mid-season, it seems almost hopeless that you can pull off a comeback.

And that’s why the fantasy gods invented points leagues. If you’re looking for an easier way to play fantasy baseball or you’re thinking about dipping your toes into the fantasy baseball waters for the first time, you might want to consider starting with a head-to-head points league format.

For those of you who are relatively new to the game, rotisserie is the most common way to play fantasy baseball. Teams are ranked from first to last in each statistical category. It’s typically a “5×5” league, which means you’re ranked in five hitting categories – runs, home runs, RBI, steals and batting average – and five pitching categories – wins, saves, strikeouts, ERA and WHIP. Your total rankings are added up to determine the overall score. Easy-peasy.

In a head-to-head points league, however, you’re basically playing against another opponent each week. Each statistical category is assigned a point value (think DFS – a single = one point, home run = four points, etc.), and each scoring period’s winner is determined by which team accumulates the most fantasy points versus your opponent. So, as in fantasy football, your record after one week might be 1-0, 0-1 or 0-0-1.

As a general matter, this is a much easier format, and should provide for a lot more fun for beginners, particularly those that are familiar with fantasy football. And, for the most part, rankings aren’t all that dissimilar for points leagues and rotisserie formats.

However, certain key differences greatly affect player values in points leagues. Here are just a few that you should consider.

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Focus on K/BB rates for hitters

The basic difference between rotisserie and points league formats is that rotisserie really looks at how a hitter produces in old school statistical categories, like RBI or runs scored. With points leagues, a batter gets more points for a double than a single, more points for a triple than a double, etc.

Most importantly, they earn points for walks, and lose points for strikeouts. Guys like Joey Votto and Carlos Santana are far more valuable in points leagues than in rotisserie leagues because they walk a ridiculous amount.

Innings eaters are people too

One of the major differences in a points league is that you get points for every inning pitched. So those guys that seem to have a knack for throwing 200 innings each year need to get a bump (so long as those innings aren’t awful). Also, wins matter heavily in points leagues, and guys who throw deeper into games give themselves a better shot there. Strikeouts are huge for points leagues, too, and more innings = more strikeouts. #math

Closers aren’t sexy, but starting pitchers who qualify as relievers are

Closers are seriously devalued in weekly head-to-head formats. They don’t throw many innings and saves are incredibly fickle. A closer can legitimately not throw a single inning for you in a given week.

That’s why starting pitchers with relief pitcher eligibility are huge in points leagues – almost any decent starter will outscore all but the top relievers. Tanner Roark had a great season in 2016, but he was especially valuable in a head-to-head points league where had relief pitcher eligibility.

Balanced roster, schmalanced roster

When you’re doing a rotisserie draft, you need to be thinking about your projected standing in each category constantly. Do you have enough steals? How are your home runs looking?

But in points leagues, none of that matters. It’s seriously just about accumulating as many points as you possibly can.

So those steal specialists? You don’t have to worry about them here. Just draft production, wherever you can find it.

Consistency is key

With rotisserie, you don’t care much if hitters or pitchers go through lengthy slumps. All that matters is whether their numbers are where you expect them to be at the end of the season.

But in points leagues, that’s just not the case. A batter going hitless for an entire week or a pitcher getting destroyed in an outing will basically doom your entire matchup. Boring and steady is always more preferable to boom or bust.

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