Even though major league teams have only played 3 or 4 games, RCL managers have been extremely active, averaging 50 moves per league. 10.6% of rostered players were picked up from the free agent pool. Factoring in players on the DL, you’re still left with the fact that 8% of drafted players have been dumped after only 3 full days of action.
Of course, many of those moves occurred before the season started, and in the week between the 2 games in Japan and the “real” start to the season. And 58% involved relief pitchers. Some of that is managers taking advantage of the RCL’s Game Started rather than Innings Pitched limit (more on that later), but the majority appear to be chasing saves, guessing who might be the next to get the opportunities as injuries and struggling pitchers abound in the relief corps. 19 pitchers have recorded 26 saves so far this season. 4 leagues have an almost perfect score with 25 saves; I don’t think anybody owned Brian Shaw, who picked up the save for Arizona yesterday as J.J. Putz was rested. Congratulations RCL 24, ECFBL, Robust Herd, and Schmohawk in Training. 41 other leagues have 22-24 saves, while the remaining 3 have 19, 20, and 21.
18 trades involving 54 players have already been made. The biggest names involved were in RCL 38, where Big Mess traded the 13th overall pick, Carlos Gonzalez, to Team Arnold for Hanley Ramirez, the 16th pick. Big Mess had not drafted a shortstop until the 20th round (Yunel Escobar), while Team Arnold had also taken Elvis Andrus in the 5th. In RCL 46, Team Stacy traded Andrew McCutchen to Hooka Man for Drew Stubbs and J.J. Putz. RPs were included in 8 deals, with Mariano Rivera and Heath Bell among those changing teams.
OK, as promised, some thoughts on our pitching limits. For those of you in your first season in the RCL, the 180-game started limit (approximately 1 start per day) is probably different than what you are used to. It makes management of your rotation more important to get the maximum numbers from your key starters. Middle relievers also become more valuable, as you can get ratio help and add Ks without eating into your 180 starts. And, it is important to remember, stats from relievers continue to count after you reach the games started limit. It is also possible to get a few extra starts, as all stats will count on the day you reach the 180-game limit. So, if you load up on starters for that day, you could actually finish with 188 starts. See 2011 results here.
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| TEAM OF THE WEEK – March 28 – April 8 | |
| snooki’s baby daddy (Balls and Razz) | |
| .304(49/161) 27 R/7 HR/28 RBI/11 SB |
40.2 IP 38 K/4 W/1.55/0.93/3 S |
| snooki’s baby daddy rode Matt Kemp (.412/6 R/2 HR/8 RBI/1 SB) and Carlos Pena (.500/2 HR/7 RBI) to 1st place in their league with 106.5 points. Their pitching was even more impressive, with Jeremy Hellickson, Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, and Johnny Cueto totaling 30.2 shutout innings. | |
Really enjoy these RCL roundups and league stat tracking. Thanks for all the work you do for the site!
@Adam, You’re welcome!
I am sure those Games Started rules were announced but I must have missed them. I am VERY VERY glad I heard about it now, only a couple of days into the season!
It is a good thing to know your league settings!
@VinWins, I don’t see how anybody would be playing in the RCL and not check the league settings…I might have over-estimated our competition…
@Wake Up,
it’s called having 7 leagues to pay attention to, all with different settings and drafts within 6 days of each other!
@Hawk, Wasn’t trying to call you out specifically.
Nice job as always Vin. I look forward to more of these RCL posts, last years were great.
Thanks!
@VinWins, for the past two years, all pitchers stats counted for the day that the 180 GS limit was hit. After that day, ZERO pitching stats counted. Has there been a CHANGE in the rules, or was that mis-stated?
@Simply Fred, from ESPN:
“Roto – games started maximums
Batters – Unlimited starts – No maximums
Pitchers – Limited starts – Maximum of 200 (180) games started
NOTE: If a team exceeds the 200 (180) games started max in the middle of a day, the team will continue to accumulate stats until the end of the day.”
Doesn’t say anything about relief pitching still counting…
@Simply Fred, I watched closely, and they definitely kept adding on RP stats last season in the RCL after the limit was reached.
@VinWins, Vin, unfortunately I have passed the age of the Valor of Youth and being able to trust my memory. I posed the question to ESPN. They validated that you were spot on!
“Relief pitchers’ statistics are not affected by the Games Started Limit. If a pitcher who is traditionally a starter appears in relief, it is considered a relief appearance, and is not restricted by the Games Started Limit.”
McCutchen for Stubbs and Putz??? Maybe I’m missing something, I dont care how badly you need saves, that seems like a terrible deal for the Dread Pirate owner.
great job,hail to the RCL
@AL KOHOLIC, Thanks!
*sings mcdonalds theme song*
I am dying laughing right now. I am the manager of snooki’s baby daddy, I never thought I would be recognized as team of the week, one of my buddies just instant messaged me letting me know!
Thanks!
And the one thing i hate about being in 1st the 1st week is the free fall back to mediocrity……….
Ha! I was in 1st after the 2 games in Japan, so I did a screen capture of the standings. I’ll always have that!