Step-by-Step Guide to Putting Together a Winning MLB Lineup: Part 1 Pitching

When it comes to fantasy baseball, I play almost exclusively on Draftstreet. And while I don’t consider myself the cream of the crop of fantasy players like big hitters Hixvillehunk, Fredotz, Sprizouse, and Frogman, I do feel like I put up a competitive team day in and day out. I am slowly climbing the Rotogrinders rankings as well as the Draftstreet Leaderboard. Now don’t worry, the point of this article is not to brag about my lame fantasy stats, this article is for the beginner or average player that is looking for a better approach to making a solid team every day.

My approach may not be the same as a lot of players, but so far it has worked pretty well for me. If you are tired of playing top-notch competition that seem to be able to put together a high scoring team every night, then this article should be able to help you even the playing field a bit. As always, you have to keep in mind that you will have your fair share of off days. Baseball is very unpredictable and even the best players have off nights.

Due to the length of this article, I am going to break it up into two sections: Pitching and Hitting. Today I will give you my step by step approach to picking pitchers when putting together my team on Draftstreet:

Pitching

Starting Pitcher

I always like to choose my pitchers first and then fill in the rest of my team with the remaining salary. If you choose your hitters first then you will end up having to pick a pitcher with your remaining salary. More often than not, the pitchers you want you won’t be able to afford. My approach to picking starting pitchers is three-fold:

1. Matchup – The first step you have to take is to go through the list of pitchers, their salary, and their opponents. Many times you will be able to pick a pitcher just by looking at his salary and his opponent.

2. Pitcher vs. Batter – Next I like to look a little deeper into the matchup each pitcher has. I do this by looking at Pitcher vs. Batter statistics as well as looking at how well the pitcher has done against that particular team as a whole. My favorite place to look at whole team Pitcher vs. Batter statistics is DailyBaseballData.

3. Home vs. Away – Finally, it is crucial to look at pitcher’s home vs. away statistics. When it comes to hitters, this stat usually doesn’t mean a whole lot, but pitching is a different story. Many pitchers pitch great at home and terrible on the road. Other pitchers such as Colby Lewis pitch in hitters parks so they have better numbers on the road. ALWAYS check these numbers because they should be a huge factor in your decision. To check these numbers all you have to do is click on the player’s profile in the draft screen of your Draftstreet League.

These three easy steps should be able to drastically improve your ability to pick pitchers consistently. I would recommend weighing all three factors equally when making your decision. The three factors being matchup, home vs. away statistics, and past performance against that team. Using these steps last night I picked Mark Buehrle (8.75 points), Wandy Rodriguez (12.25 points), and Daniel Hudson (11.25 points).

Relief Pitcher

Now on to the relief pitcher. The most important rule that I try to stick to is to not overpay for your closer. Even the best closers in the league only get in once every three or four games so there is no reason to waste a lot of salary on a closer. My salary limit on a closer is usually about $2,500. Most days I like to get the closers in the $2,000 range because there are always good options in that price range. Also, try to take closers that are playing in games that should be close. Since saves can only be made in games that are within 3 runs, there is no point in taking of a team that is in a blowout. My favorite is to take a closer from a game where two elite pitchers are starting.

That does it for the pitching strategy, check back tomorrow for Part 2 and be sure to leave a comment if you like the read.

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About the Writer: Derek ‘Notorious’ Farnsworth has been playing fantasy sports ever since he could walk. He loves sports so much he swears his first words were “Michael Jordan.” He recently graduated with a Master’s degree from the University of Utah and is excited for their entrance into the PAC-12. He was introduced to daily fantasy sports last year by clicking on one of Draftstreet’s famous referee ads, and quickly climbed the RotoGrinders Rankings into the Top 25. He also loves betting on sports and the occasional craps table.