I do a lot of writing each year about sports. Particularly about baseball. And particularly, particularly (that phrase WILL catch on just like fetch did), about fantasy baseball. With that comes questions from people of all experience levels. But I get a lot of questions asking me which scoring format I recommend for new players and which scoring format is my favorite.
The former is points leagues since the people who come over to play fantasy baseball typically have experience playing fantasy football. It’s an easy format to learn as the person tests the waters on whether or not the marathon that is the 162-game season is for them.
But the answer to the latter is head-to-head category leagues. This, too, has an element of fantasy football, as you’re facing off head-to-head with someone else, but instead of accruing points and getting the most you can regardless of the position, you have to be a little bit more strategic in the players you are rolling out there depending on your scoring.
For the scoring, traditional 5×5 roto scoring is still the default (R, RBI, HR, SB, AVG, W, K, ERA, WHIP, SV). While I love playing in leagues with different scoring settings (SV+H, QS, IP, OPB, OPS, etc.), my hot take is that the traditional scoring settings are still the best settings to use.
Stay with me here, OK?
About a decade ago, when I was covering the Pittsburgh Pirates, I was on a podcast (yes, they had them back then) with a few people, including The Score’s Travis Sawchik. At the time, he was the Pirates beat writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and a question was posed about what the Triple-Crown stats should include. A few of us were tossing around WAR, OPS, and other “advanced” stats. But Sawchik said, “It should be HR, RBI, AVG because that attracts the casual viewer and gains new fans.
I do a lot of writing each year about sports. Particularly about baseball. And particularly, particularly (that phrase WILL catch on just like fetch did), about fantasy baseball. With that comes questions from people of all experience levels. But I get a lot of questions asking me which scoring format I recommend for new players and which scoring format is my favorite.
The former is points leagues since the people who come over to play fantasy baseball typically have experience playing fantasy football. It’s an easy format to learn as the person tests the waters on whether or not the marathon that is the 162-game season is for them.
But the answer to the latter is head-to-head category leagues. This, too, has an element of fantasy football, as you’re facing off head-to-head with someone else, but instead of accruing points and getting the most you can regardless of the position, you have to be a little bit more strategic in the players you are rolling out there depending on your scoring.
For the scoring, traditional 5×5 roto scoring is still the default (R, RBI, HR, SB, AVG, W, K, ERA, WHIP, SV). While I love playing in leagues with different scoring settings (SV+H, QS, IP, OPB, OPS, etc.), my hot take is that the traditional scoring settings are still the best settings to use.
Stay with me here, OK?
About a decade ago, when I was covering the Pittsburgh Pirates, I was on a podcast (yes, they had them back then) with a few people, including The Score’s Travis Sawchik. At the time, he was the Pirates beat writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and a question was posed about what the Triple-Crown stats should include. A few of us were tossing around WAR, OPS, and other “advanced” stats. But Sawchik said, “It should be HR, RBI, AVG because that attracts the casual viewer and gains new fans.
And that’s how I feel about category leagues, too. Keep it simple to start, and you can advance from there.
Fantasy Baseball Categories League Draft Strategy & Advice
Punting is a Fine Strategy
I typically don’t go into a draft with the plan of punting any categories, but one thing you need to do in a draft and during the season is pivot and evaluate where you are constantly. If you miss out on the closer runs or find out that you have to pay up for steals more than you feel comfortable doing, then punting that category is fine since it’s a week-to-week competition. Mind you, this is if you get a win, whether the score is 4-3-3 or 10-0, and not accumulating overall points, which makes it a little bit harder to punt. The easiest category that I find to punt is stolen bases or average. Of the two, batting average is my favorite.
Play to the Format
Obvious, right? Well, not always. Players’ values change depending on the scoring system. Someone like Brandon Nimmo shoots way up the draft board with his OBP skills if it’s an OBP league. But this also can be true when it comes to building a pitching staff, too.
Look, I’m the last person to advocate taking relievers early in drafts, but if you’re playing with the standard scoring settings, there’s something to be said for loading up on bats early and trying to win saves, WHIP, and ERA each week. You’re punting wins and strikeouts, but you’re essentially guaranteed to win at least three pitching categories more weeks than not.
Pay Attention to Changes
With the rule changes this year, you should reevaluate certain players based on the implementation of said rules. Players who are heavy-pull hitters should benefit more from the banning of the shift (we won’t go into the weeds here). Another big one is the expected increase in steals across the board with the larger bases. This will take the emphasis off of selling out for speed early, allowing you to take the better player, not just the one who will rack up the steals.
You could argue that it will just mean that the speed demons will just steal more, balancing out in the end, which is fair, but I highly recommend not going all-in on a speed-focused guy in the first five rounds.
Hitters > Pitchers
In every league, I like to find pockets of opportunity. In points leagues, which is what I write about at The Athletic, I always try to prioritize hitters over pitchers despite pitchers typically outsourcing hitters. I carry that strategy over to category leagues, too.
Why? Well, I would much rather have a dependable lineup up and down and stream pitchers on a week-to-week basis with the increased injury risk and the ability to find quality pitchers on the waiver wire. Having a player play each day and accumulate those stats while avoiding the big injury blow to a pitcher typically pays off (in many ways, if you catch my drift).
Prioritize Pitching on your Bench
That said, your bench should be comprised of 90 percent pitchers – starters or relievers. With the injuries that happen, you’ll want to be ready to have quality or potential quality options that you can turn to if needed.
You’ll also want to have the streaming options at the ready, in case you want to sub in someone with a juicy two-start week awaiting them or want to pull someone on the road in Colorado or against a high-level offense.
Weekly or Daily Lineups Impact your Rotation
One of the more overlooked aspects of building a rotation in a categories league is whether or not you have weekly or daily lineups. If you set your lineups weekly, you’ll want to invest in at least two top 20 starters to anchor you week in and week out. Surrounding them with SP3 or SP4-type pitchers and streamers and relievers who can carry you in ratios is a great strategy.
But if you set your lineups daily, you can really get away with one top-20 arm and play the streaming game throughout the week (even with limited pickups throughout the week). It’s much easier to play the matchups and change the arms you’re throwing when you know what you need throughout the week than setting it Monday with streamers and hoping for the best.
The No. 1 rule, regardless of format, is knowing your rules, which matters here more than people realize.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.