Apparently, if you have more experiences in life, you live longer and it’s more enjoyable. So if you only play in a rotisserie fantasy baseball league, consider adding a weekly head-to-head (H2H) league this year. It makes fantasy baseball like health food.
Some people avoid a new format because it feels like a whole new ball of wax. Let me set your mind at ease. There are many similarities. The elite players who you already target in Roto will also be valuable in H2H. However, there are slight strategic changes that can make you more successful.
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For Hitters: Opportunity Knocks
In Roto leagues, we can ignore cold streaks (to a degree), like Josh Bell‘s .140 average in May, as long as he ends the entire season with a .266 average and 27 home runs. That’s because we look at the aggregate in Roto, which means the entire body of work. In H2H, we’re playing week-to-week, so we need consistent production. Naturally, you want consistency in any format, but Roto is more forgiving when you hit a rough patch. You have the whole season instead of one week to collect counting stats. In H2H, we need consistency more–um–consistently. How can we do this?
My grandpa used to say, “Treat H2H leagues like OBP leagues, and you’ll do fine.” Grandpappy was onto something. First and foremost, you want players that maximize their opportunity to get you points, not only by hitting for power, but by being a regular contributor on the base paths. On-base percentage begins to show us a hitter’s plate discipline.
Here’s what you need to know about regular production from hitters. These guys have good fundamentals alongside their power. They make a lot of contact, get on base (hence grandpa’s advice), run fast, and more. That means most of your elite top-60 hitters are still perfect options. Juan Soto does everything that I just mentioned, but let me show you a couple players that stood out in Yahoo H2H points leagues last year.
Mike Zunino was the third-best catcher after Perez and Realmuto, and Joey Gallo was the 7th hitter overall.
In Roto, Gallo will strangle your team’s batting average, but his value changes in a weekly format. In the first half of 2021, his OBP was .394. He was already halfway to a combined 100 Runs/RBI, with 20 long balls. This means he’s “in the mix” and creating opportunities, collecting mad points for your team by driving runners in and giving his teammates an opportunity to drive him in as well.
How do we explain Mike Zunino? One major difference in 2021 was his ability to hit lefties. It will most likely regress in 2022, but here’s another feature of a well-rounded and consistent hitter. He should be able to hit both lefties and righties, wouldn’t you think? That creates more what? Now you’re getting it! Opportunities. What if you own someone who is facing three lefties this week and he bats .123 against southpaws? Do you know what might happen? Bupkis.
Shouldn’t we love playing H2H for forcing us to focus on the fundamentals? We want healthy lefty/righty splits, a high OBP, power (lots of it), and speed (if we can get it). Speed is good not only for stolen bases. Mitch Haniger was a top outfielder in H2H last year, and he stole one base. But he’s fast enough to leg out singles, push for a double, or score from first on a ball in the alley. Speed means more opportunity.
For Pitchers: No Free Passes
Jacob deGrom is a great pitcher. Period. But it’s not just the strikeouts and the low ERA and WHIP. From 2017-2019, he pitched 622.1 innings. You know what else he did? Limited walks. Greg Maddux used to say that you could tell how well a pitcher was doing by how many innings he pitched in a season. Who leaves a bad pitcher in the game?
Okay, a few managers. Let it go.
You want pitchers to give you an opportunity to win by limiting damage. No surprise there. DeGrom doesn’t give out free passes. Robbie Ray‘s walk rate last year was similar to DeGrom’s career walk rate, and he won the Cy Young. He was also one of the top point-earners in H2H. Buy the top guys, as you normally would. If it helps in mid or late-round drafting, get pitchers with low walk rates, high K%, and a lot of innings pitched.
Here are a few pitchers that should collect lots of points outside of the early rounds based on limiting walks and dominating opponents: Nathan Eovaldi, Jose Berrios, Charlie Morton, Tyler Mahle, Dylan Cease, and Lance McCullers Jr. However, you should still target the usual suspects.
Many leagues limit the number of waiver adds you can make. Still, many of your opponents will try to gain points with volume. They stream like an octogenarian after a pot of coffee. Listen, streaming isn’t bad, but it can hurt more than help. Do it methodically. Play the matchups. Use guys that you trust to a degree.
Consider this. Most of the pitchers on waivers will get fewer than 350 points in a season. Walker Buehler got 701 points. Top relievers will also give you more points than an average waiver-wire starting pitcher. In CBS leagues, Liam Hendriks accumulated 512 points last year, which was more than Max Fried‘s 508. It is still valuable to lean on elite pitching in your rotation and in your bullpen. It’s also easier on your weekly sanity.
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Whether you’re new to fantasy baseball or a seasoned pro, our Fantasy Baseball 101: Strategy Tips & Advice page is for you. You can get started with our Sabermetrics Glossary or head to a more advanced strategy – like How to Make Custom Fantasy Baseball Rankings with Microsoft Excel – to learn more.