Too much #want

The challenges of streaming

There are many advantages for streaming pitchers in fantasy baseball. It allows you to draft better position players, you avoid the risk of your top draft picks getting hurt (pitchers are more prone to injuries) and lost for the season. You can get daily production instead of only once every five days. Most importantly, you get more consistent production from hitters.  

But how do you make sure you pick the right players? How you avoid the pitfalls on the way?

First of all you have to check your innings (or starts) limit. Many leagues have some kind of limit on using pitchers may it be by innings pitched or by number of starts. You want to manage your starts wisely and don’t over use it.

The worst thing is to reach your limit too early. You’ll find yourself with useless pitchers which you can’t even trade because the other players in your league realize you can’t use anymore and they won’t be willing to pay anything.

If you reach your limit too soon you’re also setting a clear target to other players in the league who are chasing you in the different pitching categories, knowing you won’t be able to change anything.

Another mistake is trying to compensate for a bad outing. Let’s say one of your pitchers had a bad outing, it happens. You shouldn’t try to pick someone the next day just to compensate for that bad outing. Keep your emotions away and look for the right opportunity. Don’t try to force it.

How do you find the right pitcher to stream?

Take a look at the probable starters. Not today’s because if you are playing in a competitive league most chances they’re already gone. Check their last couple of starts; look at their k’s to ip and k’s to bb ratios. Remember, it’s hard to predict wins as they depend on many factors not in the pitcher’s control. You want a pitcher that will give you something regardless of the win.

Two other factors to consider are the opponent and the location of the game. Check the offensive stats for the rival team. If the team is ranked low in scoring you can feel better. Same is true if the opponent is going to play without key players due to injury or a day off.

Most times you want to avoid pitchers in Coors. Wrigley can be hitters friendly on a hot day or if the wind is blowing out, but it can be more pitchers friendly on a night game. Texas is another place to avoid in the summer. On the other hand, any start at Petco, Safeco, Oakland Coliseum or Citi Field is favorable to the pitchers. In most cases you’d like a pitcher pitching at home, especially if  home is a pitcher’s friendly park.

The  Previous week

Not the best week. Lost some points on my pitching due to bad streaming. Will have to do better next week.

The Young Ones

The Draft

The Rule 4 draft aka the amateur draft took place last week.  Unlike the NBA or the NFL the MLB draft doesn't get much attention. There are two connected reasons that explain that: College baseball isn't as popular as college football or even basketball and of course unlike the two other sports the players in the baseball draft don’t have immediate impact on the game. In both Basketball and football you can expect players fresh from the draft to take a role in the pro level. In baseball college players can wait two-three years in the minors and players drafted out of high school can wait even longer before they are ready to the show.

The relatively long time between the draft and the promotion to the majors bring a large measure of uncertainty to rookies’ level of performance in both real and fantasy baseball. For each Mike Trout or Bryce Harper there are many rookies who arrive with a lot of hype which turn out to be a disappointment. For this reason we have to be careful while dealing with rookies in fantasy baseball. We all want to find the next big bat or the next ace before they get pricey just like we all like to brag how smart we were to pick up someone when nobody else thought he was worth picking.

I picked up two highly touted rookies this season. One was Texas’ SS Jurickson Profar who was Baseball Prospectus no. 1 prospect in the pre season. The other, was Seattle’s middle infielder Nick Franklin (no. 72 on list). Baseball is a game of adjustments. New players may come up and have success for a while, but then the league adjusts to them and they have to adjust. 

The previous week

The Lilings gained 5 points last week. mainly thanks to improved pitching. Baltimore's Miguel Gonzalez got us 6 ip, 7 k's,  5 hits and one BB in a win at Houston. Colorado's Jorge De La Rosa was less successful at home against the Padres but he got 5 k's in 5 ip while allowing 4 runs.I needed the k's, but I'm not sure the price in era and whip was worth it.

I also picked couple of middle relievers: Pittsburgh’s Justin Wilson and Colorado’s Adam Ottavino. Wilson had a disaster appearance in which he gave 3 earned runs in 1.1 ip with only one k. Ottavino pitched 2 innings, allowed no runs on 3 hits and one k. I think I can do better on my middle relievers.

I had 2 position players going on the DL last week. Losing catcher Erik Kratz was a big blow in a two catchers league where my catchers aren’t top notch. I ended up picking the White Sox Tyler Flowers, but I’m ready to play the waiver wire and pick up the hot hand. Replacing Texas Mitch Moreland was easier as Corner Infield is deep position this season. This brings me to another 411 lesson: Maximize your playing time. Just like baseball is a game of inches, fantasy baseball is a game of numbers and sometimes a league can be won or lost on one hit, strikeout or RBI. Mondays and Thursdays usually have light schedule during the season which means not all of your positions are manned. That’s where the waiver wire comes through. You can drop a fifth outfielder or a middle reliever and pick a position player who can get you some production. If he’s on a hot streak you can keep him until he gets cold. Sometimes you don’t need Mr. Right, but Mr. right now!

Another kind of fantasy

Is it a fantasy when your "real" baseball team wins a game? Or a series? I guess it is if you are a Mets fan and just witnessed the team sweep a four games series from the Evil Empire from the Bronx. Of course the Mets went on to get swept by the powerhouse which is the Miami Marlins. #ycpb
There is no fantasy without some sort of base in reality so I'll allow myself a few thoughts on baseball, fantasy baseball and the relations between the two.
 I don't know why people play fantasy baseball but I know why I do. For me it's the challenge: to prove to myself how well I know this game. I can’t play the game, not even in a movie and I can’t manage so playing fantasy baseball is my last chance to connect with the game.
 At the same time, for me fantasy baseball is also a tool to deepen my knowledge and understanding of the game. There’s no way a casual fan know who’s the 2b of the Royals if he’s not a Royal’s fan. Fantasy players will know who’s the current player on that position AND the replacement player, especially if he’s a highly touted  prospect J. You can also be certain that no fantasy player think a home run is a “rally killer”.

 The New York DailyNews

The previous week
Like I said, I love to be active with my roster, dropping and adding players whenever it seems to improve my team.

I picked Dan Straily for a home game against the White Sox. Straily play in Oakland which is a pitchers park and the Sox are the worst offense in the AL and second to last in all of baseball. The results? No win, but 6 innings, 8 k’s, no walks, 6 hits and one run allowed. Like one of the 411 tenets say “You can’t chase wins”.

One of the Lilings weaknesses is saves so when the Padres closer, Huston Street, went on the DL I Jumped on the opportunity and picked Luke Gregerson who’s going to replace Street.   

Another DL move gave me another chance to improve: The Dodgers A.J. Ellis went on the DL so I dropped him and picked the Phillies Erik Kratz who in the last week went 7 for 21 with 2 HR’s and 5 rbi’s. Not bad production in a 2 catchers league.

Picking the Mariners middle infielder Nick Franklin allowed me to drop Darwin Barney who was mostly on my bench and pick the Marlins Outfielder Marcell Ozuna. He went 11 for 26 with 7 runs,  6 rbi’s and a SB last week.

On June 4^th here’s how the Lilings doing:

The Lilings gained 1.5 points and now share first place. Not a bad week :)