Author: Michael Waterloo, Staff Writer
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can find in Chapter 3 of Benny Ricciardi’s Definitive Guide to Fantasy Baseball, is to not get married to a draft strategy, but instead taking what the draft gives you and adjusting as you go along.
The format you’re drafting in will dictate your strategy a lot of the times, especially with Roto and points leagues. But what about the ever-popular head-to-head category leagues? It’s a growing format, and really, it’s the one that’s easiest to test out different draft strategies as Fantasy players can punt categories and not be hopeless.
Heading into draft season, there were three head-to-head category league strategies that especially stood out, so we decided, why not try them out and see what works and what doesn’t?
Carlos Martinez is a perfect No. 1 pitcher if you implement the zero SP strategy in head-to-head category leagues.Photo by Jimmy Simmons/Icon Sportswire
Before we get into them, let’s include some pertinent information.
First, these drafts were done on Yahoo! in their public mock draft rooms. That being said, if anyone has ever participated in a general mock draft, you know that by the end, typically fewer than half – on a good day – of the participants stay until the end.
Also, there isn’t the option to change the format of the league, so it’s the traditional 5×5 league with one catcher, three outfielders, two utility, two SP spots, two RP spots and the rest general pitcher spots.
These are also an extremely small sample, but it can show what the draft can look like if you take these approaches.
Focus on Relievers, Punt Starters
This format really seemed to pick up steam last season, as teams looked to exploit the P spots in their lineup and punt wins and strikeouts. With the reliever-heavy approach, you are able to lock up saves, ERA and WHIP each week, while building an extremely strong offense in the process. You’ll never win the wins category with this approach, but you can take strikeouts a handful of times on a good week.
The best part about this is that you can pick seven straight hitters to start your draft and really get the leg-up on your competition. The bummer is that Yahoo! makes you have two starting pitchers, but ideally, you’d want to just have only relief pitchers to protect your ratios each week.
A common myth with this strategy is that you need to get one of the top two or three closers. Well, you don’t; you just need a lot of steady, reliable relievers that won’t just give you saves, but will help with strikeouts, ERA and WHIP. Guys like Jeanmar Gomez and Neftali Feliz really don’t help with this strategy.
As you can see, on the offensive side, the team is loaded, even if Billy Hamilton was probably a bad pick in hindsight. It has a nice balance of speed and power and the batting average will be OK.
Edwin Diaz, Robert Osuna, Kelvin Herrera and Ken Giles are all second-tier closers who have the ability to all finish in the Top 5 at the position. Francisco Rodriguez and Tony Watson will contribute saves, but aren’t as safe, but Hector Neris and Koji Uehara will help with ERA and WHIP. Ideally, you’d want to grab an Andrew Miller and Nate Jones, but someone else in the room took them right before I planned on grabbing them.
If you’re forced to take starters, take ones that will help in WHIP and ERA. You don’t care about wins. You want safety here, so Tanner Roark and Zach Davies are both boring but will give you good ratios.
Ultimately, I’m a fan of this team. WHIP, ERA, saves are guaranteed most weeks, so this team would go 3-2 in the pitching categories. Offensively, there is a nice base of speed and power, and the team should win three hitting categories more weeks than not. If done right, albeit risky, the strategy can work.
Zero Starting Pitcher
Just like the strategy in football with zero RB, you don’t actually take zero starting pitchers – you just wait. The thinking here is that pitchers are more inherently risky than hitters are, so it makes more sense to take hitters early on to maximize your early-round picks. With pitchers, there are a lot in the middle and late rounds that have ace upside.
It’s good, not great. The issue here was that you’ll want to ideally take seven straight hitters, whereas I only took six. If I could do it over, I’d take another bat over Carlos Martinez and take Cole Hamels in the following round.
The offense, again, is pretty solid, with a nice combination of speed and power to contribute across the board. I won’t win steals each week, but Jonathan Villar, Jose Ramirez and Keon Broxton should at least give me a shot at the category consistently.
The pitchers on the team have a lot of upside, as Martinez could evolve into an ace, and Jose Quintana is as consistent as they come each year. This strategy, however, means that you have to be able to go after closers, too, so you have to be able to find that balance.
James Paxton, Vince Velasquez, Carlos Rodon and Jon Gray are all prime targets if you use this strategy. You’re banking that one of them turns into a Top 15 starter, and the others returns value on their draft position.
The reliever-heavy approach produced the better team overall, but going zero SP shows that there are plenty of values to be had in the middle of drafts.
Going Starter Heavy
The other two approaches are more common than going starter heavy, but I saw it in one draft and was intrigued.
Basically, it’s taking on all the inherited risk and drafting at least four straight starting pitchers to start your draft. Of course, injuries are more likely with starters since they are throwing 100 miles per hour, but if your starters stay healthy, you’re going to win strikeouts, wins, ERA and WHIP, being that you’re throwing out elite arms all the time.
The issue with this strategy, as you’ll see, is that you fall way behind in offensive categories. It happened in the draft example, so what I tried is dominated one offensive category that can trickle into two categories
I decided to focus on guys who will get me stolen bases and runs, and will give me around a .275 average, while totally punting power and RBIs.
The strategy worked out well, but starters were flying off the board in the first three rounds, so I was really expecting this to backfire. The meaningless Yahoo! draft grades graded this the best draft of the three, but I would disagree.
The team has five aces – depending on what you consider Chris Archer to be – and the RP spot allowed me to use Danny Duffy as my seventh (!) starter, giving me seven in my first eight picks. Even with Hamilton in the sixth round, the focus going forward was on speed to guarantee that I lock it up while improving my batting average.
Jose Peraza, Jarrod Dyson and Rajai Davis could each steal 40 bags, while Keon Broxton, Kevin Kiermaier, Keon Broxton, Eduardo Nunez, Odubel Herrera, Lorenzo Cain and Elvis Andrus should all reach at least 20 steals.
Luke Gregerson and Nate Jones both have good ratios, so it will help keep those low while punting saves.
This strategy – like the other two – can work if done right, but it’s the one that I’d caution against the most. Not only are you banking on pitchers early with their risks, but you’re making yourself one dimensional on the offensive side of things. You have to, however, as you just can’t catch up if you try to build a well-rounded offense. With closers, the allure of it is that you’re able to build a solid offense with your first six to seven picks and wait on arms. With this strategy, it’s the polar opposite.
If you’re going to go with any of these strategies in your league, approach it with caution and most of all, make sure you’re the only person in your draft doing it. If two people are doing any of these, you’re both in for a long, long season.
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