Crunchtime

The Do’s and Dont's of Fantasy Baseball

Crunchtime’s unwritten laws of fantasy baseball:

1. Be Active!

Not to confuse this with being impatient, this means evaluating the match-ups and taking note of how your players have been performing over the last couple of weeks. Tracking your pitch count will benefit your decision whether you should place your starters on the mound or let them ride the pine. While many teams in the Majors have young talented arms, they tend to lack a quality bullpen, forcing starters to make over 100 tosses nearly every night out. This came into play for Philly’s up and coming young stud, Brandon Duckworth back on April 21. In his previous three starts, Duckworth was brilliant, striking out 10, 9, and 11 batters, and looked to mop up perennial bottom-feeder Pittsburgh. However, in nearly all of those outings, Duckworth tossed an excess of 110 pitches and finally paid for it when he got lit up for seven runs in 1.2 innings of work against the usually docile Pirates.

If your pitchers don’t go by the name of Randy or Curt, then I would strongly advise you to keep this little statistic in mind. Aside from having an impact on whether your starter is successful, it will also partially determine your starter’s chance of injury. We all know that good starting pitching is hard to come by, and unless you plan on pulling the next Roy Oswalt out of a hat, it would be wise not to overload your staff with the Duckworth’s and AJ Burnett’s of the league. If the injury bug has already bitten your pitching staff, the Cubbies might currently be cooking up a remedy to solve your pitching woes. Yes, I’m talking about none other than the highly touted prospect Mark Prior. Prior went 7 2/3 innings, 0 ER, 3 hits, 2 walks, 10 k's in his triple A debut, and went yard twice! While he may be one or two weeks anyway from his Major League debut, Prior is certainly worth keeping tabs on, so that when his number is finally called up, you can be the first to grab him.

While batters don’t have a pitch count to help predict their next excursion, they do have track records and you can learn a lot about anyone by checking out their history. How they perform against the opposing pitcher, whether they are playing at home or on the road, and even if the game is day or night can all be factors in your batter’s performance. If you own a player like Mike Cameron, it would be insightful to always start him on the road, but be hesitant if he’s facing a tough foe on the mound at the confines of Safeco Field. Cameron torched opposing hurlers by batting .307-40-138 with 27 stolen bases in his past 169 games on the road, which includes his huge 4-homer night at Comiskey earlier this year. Aside from the world-renowned Coors field effect (Denver’s thin air favors batters), there are many other favorable match-ups just waiting to be unearthed, each specific to the players on your team.

2. Don’t Offer Ridiculous Trades to Your Fellow Owners.

This will merely alienate you from the rest of the league and make owners feel insulted. In a trade, you always want to get the best you can for your player, but keep in mind that the guy on the other end is thinking the same thing. It’s important to look at where the other owner’s team is in the standings, and offer him a player that will aid him while receiving one that will aid you. Trading is all about mutual consent, and if you can achieve that, then the trade will almost always occur.

3. Don’t Overrate the Fast Start.

One of the most overrated batters in fantasy baseball throughout the young 2002 season has been Jacque Jones. With a monster opening day, Jones has finally become a reliable player, but still is nowhere near the ranks of the elite fantasy studs. Jones has been offered and in some cases even accepted for top fantasy players such as Barry Zito, Richie Sexson, and even Rafael Palmerio. Whoever dealt Jones for these elite players made out like bandits, while their greedy counterparts will be sitting in 8th place come season’s end. Track records are almost everything in fantasy baseball, and you will have to lean on the proven players, once the flavors of the week cool off in June.

4. Never Give Up!

Even if this means playing the role of spoiler in September, it is important not to abandon your team. If not for your sake, then for the other owners, just to maintain the integrity of your league. Don’t go and create trade collusions. Just because you have written your team off, doesn’t mean that you have to ruin the season for other owners who are still competing. Accept the fact that you got out-played, and let the other owners have their fun. There is nothing worse that you could do than release your whole team. If you do this in a league that charges a fee, this could result in banishment from the site and resentment from your fellow owners for many weeks to come.

5. Have Fun.

After all, isn’t this the reason why we all play fantasy baseball? Ride the season out and if you make the right moves, you’ll finish at or near the top.

6. Don’t Completely Rely on Fantasy Writers.

We are here to help, but it will ultimately be YOU who determine whether or not your team is a success.

In the next couple of weeks, this column will focus on the stocks of players, match-ups and tips. I am starting a Q&A section. Feel free to drop me a line at skins_4_ever@hotmail.com (underscores between skins_4_ever) and I will be glad to answer some of your questions in the next column.