Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy

Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy: Streaming Starting Pitchers

Ray discusses the draft strategy of focusing on offense on draft day and streaming starting pitchers during the season.

By Ray Guilfoyle@faketeams Dec 31, 2013, 7:00am EST

Last season, I provided readers with starting pitcher streaming options on a daily basis during the regular season, but what I failed to do during the season was to provide with weekly or monthly results of how my streaming options performed over terms longer than a day.

That will change in 2014, as I will provide a weekly and monthly summary of how my streaming picks performed.

I didn't start tracking my streaming selections in a spreadsheet till some time in August, and it would take a lot of work and time to capture the results in a spreadsheet, so I won't go back and do that. With that said, here is a look at how my streaming picks performed in September 2014, including my picks for every day where I offered streaming selections. I limited my streaming picks to starting pitchers who were owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues.

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
1-Sep	Felix Doubront	CHW	3.67	7	4	1	4	9.81	2.18
	Joe Kelly	PIT	6	4	1	2	5	1.50	1.00
	Nathan Eovaldi	ATL	8	7	0	2	6	0.00	1.13
	Totals		17.67	18	5	5	15	2.55	1.30

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2-Sep	Jose Quintana	NYY	1	2	1	0	1	9.00	2.00
	Danny Duffy	SEA	3.67	5	1	4	4	2.45	2.45
	Charlie Morton	MIL	7	7	1	2	6	1.29	1.29
	Totals		11.67	14	3	6	11	2.31	1.71
Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
3-Sep	Jhoulys Chacin	LAD	7	9	4	2	3	5.14	1.57
	Martin Perez	OAK	7	8	1	0	5	1.29	1.14
	Ubaldo Jimenez	BAL	6	4	0	2	4	0.00	1.00
	Totals		20	21	5	4	12	2.25	1.25

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
4-Sep	Dillon Gee	ATL	7	4	1	1	5	1.29	0.71
	Roy Halladay	WAS	6	3	1	5	5	1.50	1.33
	Eric Stults	SFG	4.67	9	7	0	4	13.49	1.93
	Totals		17.67	16	9	6	14	4.58	1.25
Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
5-Sep	Ryan Vogelsong	ARI	4.67	8	4	3	3	7.71	2.36
	Sonny Gray	HOU	8	7	3	1	7	3.38	1.00
	Jeremy Guthrie	SEA	6	7	5	2	1	7.50	1.50
	Totals		18.67	22	12	6	11	5.78	1.50
Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
6-Sep
	Joe Kelly	PIT	6	8	1	3	4	1.50	1.83
	Juan Nicasio	SD	6	4	1	2	7	1.50	1.00
	Totals		12	12	2	5	11	1.50	1.42

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
7-Sep	Wei-Yin Chen	CHW	6	6	2	0	8	3.00	1.00
	Dan Straily	HOU	7	2	0	1	7	0.00	0.43
	Jake Arrieta	MIL	5	3	4	3	4	7.20	1.20
	Totals		18	11	6	4	19	3.00	0.83
Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
8-Sep	Danny Salazar	NYM	4	4	1	2	8	2.25	1.50
	Michael Wacha	PIT	7	2	0	2	2	0.00	0.57
	Jason Vargas	TEX	6	6	2	1	8	3.00	1.17
	Totals		17	12	3	5	18	1.59	1.00
Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
9-Sep	Ubaldo Jimenez	KC	7	7	0	0	10	0.00	1.00
	Carlos Torres	WAS	4	5	6	2	4	13.50	1.75
	Jhoulys Chacin	SFG	7	4	1	1	5	1.29	0.71
	Totals		18	16	7	3	19	3.50	1.06
Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
10-Sep	Ivan Nova	BAL	6	6	4	2	2	6.00	1.33
	Andrew Cashner	PHI	7.67	4	2	1	7	2.35	0.65
	Mark Buehrle	LAA	4	12	8	1	2	18.00	3.25
	Totals		17.67	22	14	4	11	7.13	1.47

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
11-Sep	Yusmeiro Petit	COL	5.67	6	3	2	7	4.76	1.41
	Scott Kazmir	KC	4	9	3	0	4	6.75	2.25
	Totals		9.67	15	6	2	11	5.58	1.76

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
12-Sep
	Roy Halladay	SD	4.33	4	4	5	6	8.31	2.08
	Joe Kelly	MIL	5	7	3	1	4	5.40	1.60
	Tanner Roark	NYM	6	6	2	1	3	3.00	1.17
	Totals		15.33	17	9	7	13	5.28	1.57

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
13-Sep	Hector Santiago	CLE	4	6	3	3	3	6.75	2.25
	Jon Niese	MIA	6.33	6	3	0	7	4.27	0.95
	Charlie Morton	CHC	5	4	3	2	5	5.40	1.20
	Dan Straily	TEX	5.67	2	2	4	4	3.17	1.06
	Totals		21	18	11	9	19	4.71	1.29
Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
14-Sep	Carlos Torres	MIA	6	3	2	2	8	3.00	0.83
	Brett Oberholtzer	LAA	6	6	4	2	4	6.00	1.33
	Michael Wacha	SEA	5	4	2	4	7	3.60	1.60
	Totals		17	13	8	8	19	4.24	1.24
Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
15-Sep	Dillon Gee	MIA	7.33	6	0	2	8	0.00	1.09
	Martin Perez	OAK	6.33	7	3	2	3	4.27	1.42
	Totals		13.66	13	3	4	11	1.98	1.24

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
16-Sep	Andrew Cashner	PIT	9	1	0	0	7	0.00	0.11
	Rick Porcello	SEA	6	5	1	2	10	1.50	1.17
	Wily Peralta	CHC	6	5	0	2	7	0.00	1.17
	Totals		21	11	1	4	24	0.43	0.71

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
17-Sep	Yusmeiro Petit	NYM	6	7	4	3	1	6.00	1.67
	Jose Quintana	MIN	6	8	1	2	5	1.50	1.67
	Tanner Roark	ATL	7	2		1	5	0.00	0.43
	Totals		19	17	5	6	11	2.37	1.21

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
18-Sep	Tyson Ross	PIT	7	3	2	0	7	2.57	0.43
	Bruce Chen	CLE	5	4	2	1	1	3.60	1.00
	Chris Rusin	MIL	4	4	6	2	3	13.50	1.50
	Totals		16	11	10	3	11	5.63	0.88

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
19-Sep	Dan Straily	MIN	5.67	3	2	3	6	3.17	1.06
	Jon Niese	SFG	7	7	2	2	4	2.57	1.29
	Totals		12.67	10	4	5	10	2.84	1.18

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
20-Sep	Scott Baker	ATL	4	4	5	3	1	11.25	1.75
	Martin Perez	KC	5.67	7	1	4	3	1.59	1.94
	Edinson Volquez	SD	6.33	5	1	4	6	1.42	1.42
	Totals		16	16	7	11	10	3.94	1.69
Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
21-Sep	Dillon Gee	PHI	6	7	4	0	3	6.00	1.17
	Burch Smith	LAD	6	3	2	5	6	3.00	1.33
	Rick Porcello	CHW	6.67	6	2	0	9	2.70	0.90
	Totals		18.67	16	8	5	18	3.86	1.12

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
22-Sep	Andrew Cashner	LAD	7	4	0	0	7	0.00	0.57
	Dan Haren	MIA	6	8	3	1	5	4.50	1.50
	Totals		13	12	3	1	12	2.08	1.00

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
23-Sep	Nathan Eovaldi	PHI	7.67	3	0	2	5	0.00	0.65
	Jose Quintana	TOR	7.33	5	2	1	6	2.46	0.82
	Eric Stults	ARI	6.33	7	1	2	5	1.42	1.42
	Totals		21.33	15	3	5	16	1.27	0.94

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
24-Sep	Tyson Ross	ARI	8	3	1	3	6	1.13	0.75
	Henderson Alvarez	PHI	7	5	2	3	5	2.57	1.14
	Chris Rusin	PIT	2.33	6	4	1	1	15.45	3.00
	Totals		17.33	14	7	7	12	3.64	1.21

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
25-Sep	Martin Perez	HOU	7	6	3	1	8	3.86	1.00
	Jake Arrieta	PIT	6	4	1	2	1	1.50	1.00
	Danny Salazar	CHW	5.33	6	2	1	8	3.38	1.31
	Totals		18.33	16	6	4	17	2.95	1.09

Date	Name	Opp.	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
26-Sep	Robbie Erlin	ARI	7	3	2	1	7	2.57	0.57
	Ivan Nova	TB	7	8	2	1	5	2.57	1.29
	Totals		14	11	4	2	12	2.57	0.93

	TOTALS		432.34	389	161	131	367	3.35	1.20

A few stats from the above table:

I made 73 starting pitcher selections in September, where they produced an overall ERA of 3.35 and a 1.20 WHIP. That's close to ace level production over a one month period.
I made selections on 26 days in September, with 14 of those days producing an ERA of 3.00 or lower.
These streaming selections put up a 1.30 WHIP in 19 of the 26 days in September, and a WHIP of 1.20 or lower 11 times.
The 73 starting pitcher selections collectively put up a strikeouts per nine of 7.63, a walks per nine of 2.73 and a K/BB of 2.79.

As you can see, streaming starting pitchers is a viable strategy in fantasy leagues that allow unlimited number of transactions. In my home leagues, three of which are keeper leagues, we are restricted to six to ten optional moves for the season, so this strategy is not an option. But, in most fantasy leagues on Yahoo and ESPN, one can use this strategy to replace injured or ineffective pitchers, or as a strategy to use your bench more effectively. One can add a starting pitcher on the day one of their aces is pitching, activate that pitcher and bench your ace the day after his start and keep him on your bench until his next start. This strategy works if your league has a favorable innings cap.

One can use the streaming starting pitcher strategy as s draft day strategy as well. One can focus their early round picks to build a solid offense, then focus on starting pitchers later in the draft. Then during the season, one can pick up starting pitchers on a daily basis to build up your wins and strikeout totals, and possibly lowering your team ERA and WHIP.

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Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy: Streaming Starting Pitchers

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