We have been talking a lot about how the different game types make a big difference in how you should rank players lately. In this article, we talked about which hitters (and types of hitters in general) perform better in points leagues vs. categories leagues. Now we will do the same for pitchers.

In a standard categories league, the pitching categories are usually wins, ERA, WHIP, saves and strikeouts. In a points league, you are given points for innings pitched, wins, strikeouts, and then you lose points for earned runs allowed, hits allowed, walks allowed, and losses (of course there are many variations of this).

Before we get into some data, let’s just talk broad strokes here. The nature of the difference between these two scoring types make a few things immediately apparent:

Complete a mock draft in minutes with our free Draft Simulator

You want as many starts as you can possibly get in points leagues.
Since the vast majority of starts result in positive points, you just want to cram as many of them as you can into your lineup every week. A five-inning, four-earned run, four-strikeout game will hurt you pretty badly in a categories league while it may result in positive points in some points leagues. That’s the big difference. This makes the starting pitcher that you can play in a relief pitcher spot very valuable. Utilizing these players lets you add a few starts a week to your team, which will result in a big boost in points most of the time. You should go check position eligibility for your given host site and see what guys have RP eligibility that will make starts this year.

Saves are more valuable in categories leagues.
Yes, you are given points for a save in points league (often the same amount of points as you get for a win), but the thing is that if you have no relief pitchers on your roster, you can still make up those missed points from saves with those RP-eligible starters we talked about above. In a categories league, if you don’t have any relief pitchers, you are going to lose the saves category every week. I am much more likely to prioritize high-cost closers in a categories league than in a points league.

Two-start pitchers are key in points leagues.
This doesn’t have anything to do with how you should draft, of course, but it is important to keep in mind when the season starts. In points leagues, you need to be the first guy to add a free agent pitcher that will make two starts the following week, as it does not take much at all for a pitcher to contribute positive points to your team when they have two starts.

Now we will use standard scoring and the Steamer projections to see which pitchers rank significantly different based on format. Here are your top “better in points leagues” pitchers:

This is all about innings pitched and strikeouts. Mike Minor is projected for 201 innings and 186 strikeouts this year, but he is not projected to throw up very good ratios (4.64 ERA, 1.33 WHIP). The bad ratios are also a killer in categories leagues but a smaller deal in points leagues, as he makes up for them with the high volume of innings and strikeouts. Of course, we can’t guarantee that Minor will actually throw 200 innings, but it highlights the distinction. The same is true with Eduardo Rodriguez, who should stick in the Red Sox rotation all year and is a high-strikeout pitcher despite usually giving you a bad WHIP and some really bad starts.

Now here are some pitchers that profile better in categories leagues than points:

The names at the top of this list are lighter workload pitchers by projection. For example, there’s a good chance that the Athletics will be careful with Luzardo this year, so Steamer has only given him a 149 innings projection. That really caps his potential in a points league, but if he gives you 149 innings with really great ratios, that is still pretty valuable in categories leagues.

It is a question of quantity vs. quality, with quantity being king in points league while quality is much more important in categories leagues.

Practice fast mock drafts with our fantasy baseball software

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | SoundCloud | Stitcher | TuneIn

Jon Anderson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jon, check out his archive and follow him@JonPgh.