What is up party people? It’s your friendly neighborhood Butters here help you get ready for the draft. I’ll be here all season to guide you to a points league title. Points leagues are a whole different ball game from your standard 5×5 league. I advise you you check out all of the draft content here on Razzball. But just keep in mind that most of it is aimed at roto. With that in mind, let’s go through some tips for how to approach your draft.
Know Your Scoring
The most important rule is to know the rules. Does your league subtract points for guys who strike out? Do pitchers get points for wins or just quality starts? Is your league daily or weekly lineups? FAAB or waivers?
Take a look at the points scored last season. You should be able to see points alongside player rankings. Of course last season was wild so take it all with a grain of salt. However, it will show you some players that may get a scoring boost based on your format. Knowing how your league’s points work gives you a leg up.
Speed Kills…Power is King
Do I have an undying obsession with a player like Adalberto Mondesi and his 50+ steals? Yes. But most points leagues don’t reward steals they reward bombs. It’s great to have a guy swipe 50 bags but if you only get 2 points each that’s only 100 over the season. If a homerun is worth 6 you could get that same 100 points with only 17 bombs. Which one do you think is easier to find? Speedsters like Mondesi are worth top picks in category leagues because steals are a precious commodity. However with power being so much more valuable there’s simply no reason to pay a premium for steals. Treat them like a nice bonus and instead focus on cheap sources of power. Power really is the most important stat because you get points for the bomb, the run and the RBI. One swing of the bat and you’re sitting pretty.
Eat Those Innings
This one will definitely be league dependent but in general the most valuable arms are the ones that log a lot of innings. I’ve been in leagues that awarded a point an inning and leagues that gave a point an out. Obviously pitchers lose points for giving up runs, hits and walks but from my experience a guy who throws 6+ innings will be scoring points and have the opportunity for that sweet win bonus. We don’t have to worry about a guy having a bad ERA or WHIP because they can still put up points and you don’t have ratios to tank.
Stream Your Ace
In one of my leagues an ace can give you 30 points a week. For now we’ll just assume you only get one start. If you’re in a league with daily lineups you can get more than 30 points a week by streaming everyday. It requires more effort to grab a new starting pitcher everyday but the payoff is worth it because you don’t need a true ace, leaving you free to scoop up the big bats while the rest of your league is taking the top arms. Yes the top pitchers will score the most points over the course of the season but pitching can be volatile and they are unfortunately more prone to injury. Rudy’s tools are great for finding a non rostered guy who’s primed for a strong outing.
Don’t Chase Saves
Simply put, they just aren’t worth enough to make up for the innings a starter will give you. Unless your league has set RP spots you’re better off just skipping them. The top closers will be tempting but won’t be worth the price of admission because you can easily replace those points with streaming. A caveat to this is that relievers do become more valuable if you can’t stream on the daily.
So there you have some of my thoughts on what makes points leagues different. Next we’ll start going over some breakouts and busts or guys that I think should be bumped up or down in Grey’s rankings.
Drop your questions below or hit me up on Twitter @deltaxi1842
