Fantasy Baseball Season Terminus: Innings Maximization Management
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By Dan Rauer (http://dansotherworld.
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We have now entered the last throes of the baseball (andby extension, the fantasy baseball) season. At this point, the best you can hope for is to move up in those precious few categories that are tightly packed and have some leeway for your team to make its move. If your league is anything like my leagues, the most tightly packed categories (especially at the middle/top of the rankings) are wins, saves, and strikeouts.
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For most rotisserie leagues, there is an innings cap of usually 1000-1400 innings for your team for the entire season. Hopefully, you’ve been pacing yourself up to this point, so that you haven’t fallen too far ahead or too far behind “the projected pace”. Keep in mind that you want to reach the innings limit; this way you get the maximum opportunity of accumulating the counting stats. How do you manage it when you’re getting close to that point?
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If you’re far away from the limit, continue to stream starters. Using the recommendations from this website is a good starting point. Don’t overdo it though. You do not want to have a pitcher on your roster, for example, with a 6+ ERA or 1.5+ WHIP (It seems like Boston pitchers have been that way lately) that would harm your standing in the ratio categories while pursuing these other goals.
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If you’re creeping close to the limit, one method is to only play your aces and fill the rest of the team with middle relievers. Middle relievers are usually the forgotten and shunted aside piece of the baseball team. The key to using middle relievers correctly is two-fold. The desirable players are those that can possibly vulture save opportunities if the present closer is struggling and also have the potential to at least have a greater than 9 K/9 ratio. Listed below are some options that may be available in your league that fit at least one of these requirements.
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(Data presented are K/9, WHIP, save opportunity probability)
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1. Jonny Venters-Braves: 9.8, 1.07, little (he really shouldn’t be available)
2. David Hernandez-Diamondbacks: 9.6, 1.15, moderate (also offers starting pitcher slot eligibility)
3. Eric O’Flaherty-Braves: 8.3, 1.10, none
4. Jim Johnson-Orioles: 5.9, 1.11, high (has taken over the closer role from Kevin Gregg)
5. Sean Marshall-Cubs: 9.4, 1.11, moderate
6. Chris Sale-White Sox: 10.0, 1.08, moderate
7. Aroldis Chapman-Reds: 13.1, 1.34, little
8. Rafael Betancourt-Rockies: 10.2, 0.89, very high (has taken over the closer role from Huston Street)
9. Kenley Jansen-Dodgers: 15.7, 1.09, moderate
10. Manny Acosta-Mets: 9.1, 1.35, high (assuming the Mets win again)
11. Dave Robertson-Yankees: 13.5, 1.35, low
12. Sergio Romo-Giants: 12.4, 0.64, moderate (depending on Brian Wilson’s health)
13. Jason Motte-Cardinals: 8.1, 0.94, high (as long as LaRussa doesn’t throw a tantrum mid-inning)
14. Joel Peralta-Rays: 8.2, 0.94, high (the closer as long as Farnsworth is out)
15. Mike Adams-Rangers: 9.6, 0.92, low (stats since joining Texas at the trade deadline)
16. Casey Janssen-Blue Jays; 8.3, 1.08, low
17. Tyler Clippard-Nationals: 10.8, 0.82, low
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Snagging a couple of these guys depending on your need and managing your innings up to the last days of the season is only most of the puzzle for maximizing your innings. The final piece is to go over the cap on the last day of the season. Once you see that you’re within 10-15 innings of the cap heading into a particular day, start as many pitchers as you can in as many slots that you can fill. Most fantasy sports sites have a quirk in which all innings are counted on the day that the cap is exceeded. In other words, if your innings cap is 1250, you can actually be able to accumulate more innings than that for the year if you start the day with 1249.2 or less.
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Keep a steady eye on the waiver wire and fill up your roster with able arms to get the most out of your pitching staff up through the final day of the year.
