Did a little fishing. Here’s what I hooked. Arrayed all 576 RCL teams from last year, sorted by each pitching category, assigned a rank, 1 to 576 (just like your RCL league, 1 to 12) then totaled the ranks for the five cats. The result was a ranking from top to bottom for the best pitching managers.
The #1 ranked manager produced (followed by the average for each cat):
Please, blog, may I have some more?Just to clear my head the other day, I threw on some bicycle shorts, jumped in my El Dorado and went for a spin. Cause that’s how guys with a ‘stache roll. If you didn’t know, now you do. Consider yourself informed. As I was rocking out to some Don Henley, I was thinking back on some guys that helped me win leagues last year. Ryan Madson – Thanks, Mad-Man! Morse, you dot-dot-dashing hunk! All She Wants To Do Is Dance DANCE!
Please, blog, may I have some more?I’m going to talk about seemingly the most derisive topic since we had to choose a side on ‘great taste’ or ‘less filling’ for Miller Lite. I’m gonna speak about average, or ‘how many hits a player gets divided by their true at-bats which excludes their walks, sac flies, sac bunts, and HBP’ for all of you who need things spelled out. So let’s get one thing clear: your entire team does not need to hit .300 unless you’re playing in a 1 team league. Looking over at this Razzball link, we can see that your team needs to hit anywhere between .265 and .270 to be successful for the year. For all you guys and 4 girl readers out there, that equates to about 26.5/27 hits per 100 ABs. We’re not talking large numbers here, but if you want to, we could by adding a couple of zeros on the end. It doesn’t really change the topic, but feel free to. For a little experiment on how this works, I’m going to review my deep league thoughts columns (search Razzball for them by ‘Deep League Thoughts’ if you’d like to read them. Yeah, I just whored myself a bit) and my perfect team in which I have to start 2 at every position. When I’m non-specific about a target – such as in the 1B post – I’ll take the lowest average estimated player to further prove my point. Don’t hate me if I’m right and all you see is the inside of my nose as I look down on you; it’s only because I’m quite tall. Now since I have to pick one source for my numbers, I’ll be using Bill James’ 2012 projections. Though my league also includes two UTIL slots, I didn’t include it in my series seeing as it can be filled with any position so I won’t include them in the stats. If I had, I might’ve filled them with guys who hit for high average just to make you happy. I’m just that giving! See you in about 18 cell rows:
Deep League Thoughts Roster
Position
Player
At-Bats
Hits
Average
C
Yadier Molina
497
140
.282
C
Russel Martin
457
117
.256
1B
Prince Fielder
562
160
.285
1B
Paul Goldschmidt
545
145
.266
2B
Dan Uggla
601
151
.251
2B
Danny Espinosa
568
141
.248
SS
Starlin Castro
631
197
.312
SS
JJ Hardy
503
132
.262
3B
Mark Reynolds
542
126
.232
3B
Kevin Youkilis
499
140
.281
OF
Giancarlo Stanton
532
145
.273
OF
BJ Upton
561
141
.251
OF
Logan Morrison
442
117
.265
OF
Vernon Wells
507
132
.260
OF
Jayson Werth
506
131
.259
GRAND TOTALS
7953
2115
.266
The best team in a standard 12 team ESPN league – which is about as close to the league I’m describing is going to come – is hitting one point higher than me. Or at least I thought they were until I noticed the part where Grey says ‘These are all for one catcher leagues. If you have two catcher leagues, the counting stats go up a little bit and down a little on average.’ And that’s me quoting Grey, mimicking his ‘that’s me quoting me’ quoting style with bold italics for emphasis! To keep with the Q theme, it looks like our average met our quota. In fact, when you consider this team essentially rosters 2 more hitters than a standard ESPN league, this team might be ahead of the curve at this point. If you’re wondering about the counting stats and how they line up because you REALLY don’t like that this crazy idea just might work, I’ll save you the math trouble. Based on projections, this team is going to be at or above league average in runs (1191 vs 1045), RBIs (1195 vs 1008) and HRs (360 vs 261). The only category we’re lacking in is stolen bases as we estimate to get about 145 vs the need for 186. Considering the leg up we have on the other categories, we get to trade from strength or be ready for when SAGNOF is coming to town.
Please, blog, may I have some more?First off, you can thank Keanu Reeves for the idea of this post. I somehow watched the entirety of Little Buddha a long time ago and one line truly comes back to me from that movie over and over again when I begin ranking players for myself or trying to find value in drafts or in trade targets: The path is in the middle way. The line can be seen at about the 3:00 mark here in all it’s hairy, emaciated Keanu glory. It’s a reminder that baseball, much like life, takes a long time to play out. A player isn’t proven bad or good by a week, a month, or even a year of play. Underlying skill sets can be reached or breached to the over or under but it still does not change the underlying player themselves. Now snatch these pebbles from my hand, young grasshopper and we’ll begin the article…no I said from my hand, grasshopper. Unless of course I’ve somehow stumbled into the doctor’s office and need to turn my head and cough. If so, my insurance better cover this. Cue abrupt and awkward segue!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Sure, you can draft Paul Konerko, A-Rod and C.J. Wilson with your 4th through 6th picks in your fantasy baseball draft. Nothing wrong with that. Don’t furrow your brow. There’s no reason to, concerned Razzball reader. We’re friends, you don’t have to hide the last of the milk because you don’t want me to finish it. I will save you some. You can even draft Michael Cuddyer. It’s all good in the ‘hood. I won’t even mock you for making a Sh*t People Somewhere Say video. You’re a Youtuber, which is not related to a potato. That’s cool. Or s’cool, if you’re in a rush. What I’m here to tell you is there’s nothing wrong with reaching for a sexy name. It’s an often accidental draft strategy that I haven’t seen verbalized on virtual paper before. Who do I mean by a sexy name? You know them. Everyone knows them. Everyone wants one. A Desmond Jennings, Brett Lawrie, Starlin Castro or Strasburg, for instance. Or 4 instance, if you’re a 14-year-old girl texting. These players are the earth’s answer to pollution. Congress recently passed a bill calling for every household that earned less than $50,000 to get their very own Brett Lawrie. Why is this a fantasy baseball strategy at all? What an excellent question to clumsily move into the 2nd paragraph!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Yes, that’s a fantastic neck curtain I’m rockin’. Besides the point. Don’t stare. What this IS is (who you callin’ stutterer?) an attempt to translate some nerd speak into some useful fantasy baseball draft strategy.
More statistically-inclined minds than my own (mainly a guy with the handle “matthan” at DRaysBay) have figured out a pretty reliable way to calculate expected Ks from pitchers.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Is there anything more fulfilling than grabbing a hitter on a short schedule day and he gives you a home run, steal or just an overall quality day? It’s the fantasy baseball equivalent to taking a girl out, she pays and has sex with you (assuming you’re not a paid escort, though I’m pretty sure there’s not that many paid escorts reading a fantasy baseball blog).
Please, blog, may I have some more?Just to clear my head the other day, I threw on some bicycle shorts, jumped in my El Dorado and went for a spin. Cause that’s how guys with a ‘stache roll. If you didn’t know, know you do. Consider yourself informed. As I was rocking out to some Don Henley, I was thinking back on some guys that helped me win leagues last year. John Axford – Thanks, Ax-Man! CarGo, you DaMan! All She Wants To Do Is Dance DANCE!
Please, blog, may I have some more?ADD is Attention Deficit Drops and you have no idea how this sentence will end because you’re already reading the comments. You drafted Jay Bruce and traded him for Shaun Marcum. You’re glad Ryan Raburn has 2nd base eligibility so you can trade away Kinsler. If Greinke doesn’t return within a week, you’re dropping him for Freddy Garcia. You’re trigger finger is itching and only Willie Bloomquist can scratch it. You’re also potentially losing your league in April.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The other day I went over my fantasy baseball strategy for snake drafts. Lots of you know my auction tips already, but some of you just joining us — hey, close the door behind you! — may not. Lots of the strategy for my snake drafts also applies here. If you ask me — and you kinda did ask me by reading this shizz — auction drafts are where it’s at, yo! You get in a room with your best fantasy baseball buddies. The guys you haven’t seen since last year’s draft. The guys you don’t want to see until next year’s draft. A few guys you actively despise. One guy, and there’s always one, has his phone on vibrate just in case the missus calls about Petey, their sick Schnauzer. Then you have the guy who will go the extra dollar for (fill-in favorite player from his favorite team). You know he’s his favorite player because he’s wearing his jersey. You have the guy who brings only Cheetos and turns everything he touches orange, and, if he touches something that was already orange, he makes it oranger. Finally, you have the guy who made plans at 5PM and begins to yell at everyone at 4PM that they’re taking too long. And, it always turns out, this day is the best day of the year. Auction draft day is better than your wedding day. As for online auction drafts, they’re just a’ight. Anyway, here’s some tried and true tips to help you through your auction fantasy baseball draft:
1.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
