Often, I get asked the best approach for someone who wants to start writing or podcasting about fantasy baseball. I tell them while it’s a crowded industry, there’s always room for new voices – especially those in marginalized groups.
One piece of advice I give is that they should find a niche and something that makes them stand out. For as crowded as this industry is, the lack of points league content shocks me, as more and more leagues are creeping up each year.
Mind you, it’s hard to cover all points leagues since it’s hard to find a true standard scoring system (CBS Fantasy default scoring does it the best), but still, it’s easy enough to discuss the format as a whole and allow the audience to adjust based on their own league.
I love points leagues, and they are a nice change of pace from the tried and true category and roto leagues. They are especially a good gateway for those new fantasy baseball players who are looking to branch into the marathon season.
Often, I get asked the best approach for someone who wants to start writing or podcasting about fantasy baseball. I tell them while it’s a crowded industry, there’s always room for new voices – especially those in marginalized groups.
One piece of advice I give is that they should find a niche and something that makes them stand out. For as crowded as this industry is, the lack of points league content shocks me, as more and more leagues are creeping up each year.
Mind you, it’s hard to cover all points leagues since it’s hard to find a true standard scoring system (CBS Fantasy default scoring does it the best), but still, it’s easy enough to discuss the format as a whole and allow the audience to adjust based on their own league.
I love points leagues, and they are a nice change of pace from the tried and true category and roto leagues. They are especially a good gateway for those new fantasy baseball players who are looking to branch into the marathon season.
2023 Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues Strategy & Advice
If you’re new to the format or just pass the time during your workday and pretend to do your actual job, here are some of my biggest takeaways for a strategy for points leagues.
Balance the Scoring
A knock against the format is that it rewards starting pitchers too much. And it’s true, as a starter can give up three runs and still score 20 points in points leagues. A 20-point week for a hitter is usually a pretty solid week.
If you’re the commish, or if your league allows actual input from its managers (it should), then you need to find a scoring setting that makes the scoring between hitters and pitchers closer.
Instead of making wins five points, make them three. Make strikeouts a half-point instead of a full point for pitchers and hitters.
It’ll help the balance of not only the roster pool but also the league. It’ll make hitters more valuable and allow trades where someone will trade a pitcher for a hitter.
Volume Matters
One of the most overlooked aspects in fantasy in general – especially for points leagues – is the value that opportunity and volume present. For offense, each spot in the batting order equals 15-18 plate appearances throughout the season. So the difference between the lead-off hitter and the No. 9 hitter is roughly 130 plate appearances. They add up, especially when a number of results can lead to positive points.
It’s a reason I look at projected lineups and what teams are doing in Spring Training so often because it’ll often be a tiebreaker for me between two players depending on if they are hitting higher in the lineup. More often than not, the higher a player hits in the lineup, the more on-base skills they have, which equates to fantasy points, too.
The same can be said with pitchers, and it’s a reason that the studs like Gerrit Cole and Corbin Burnes may go in the top five in drafts. The ability to post elite strikeout numbers and 200-plus innings makes them super valuable in drafts. However, targeting players like Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Marcus Stroman, and Charlie Morton also is a good strategy. These guys, while they lack the strikeouts and skill level of the pure aces, produce fantasy value in the format due to their ability to go deep into games. Old pitchers are some of my favorites to target in the format.
SPARP it Up
Back in the day, the CBS Fantasy Baseball Today podcast coined the phrase SPARP for a starting pitcher eligible for relief pitcher slots. It’s essentially a starter who gained reliever eligibility the prior season and has the SP/RP tag. And for points leagues, it’s insanely valuable.
In drafts, I will put the SP/RP players above certain pitchers who are higher in my overall rankings just to ensure that I can get them. It allows you to use these players who will score more on a game-by-game basis than closers will – even the elite-level ones.
This year, that list includes players like Spencer Strider, Cristian Javier, Nestor Cortes, Jesus Luzardo, Drew Rasmussen, Aaron Ashby, Andrew Heaney, Michael Kopech, and Ross Stripling, among others.
All of these players should be jumped a round or two in the draft, given the value they bring to the format.
It’s a H*ckin Arm’s Race
Your bench should be filled with pitchers and pitchers only. Full stop. The reason for this is that points leagues typically have smaller overall rosters, so the ability to find hitters on the waiver wire is a lot easier if you need to replace someone due to performance or injury.
But pitchers, even with a balanced scoring system, are gold in the format. Some of the reason makes sense, but some of it is just the perception around the format. They are harder to find on the wire, and some of it has to do with injury and performance, but a bigger part of the format has to do with streaming pitchers – especially two-start pitchers.
You’ll want to use two-start pitchers, and in almost all cases, two-start pitchers – even if they aren’t the best real-life pitcher – will outscore one-start pitchers or at least break even. It’s really, really hard not to come out ahead if you use a two-start pitcher.
But you don’t want to drop a good pitcher if you go the streaming route. It’s why it’s vital to use your four or five bench spots on arms so that you can mix and match week to week and play the matchups and two-start guys.
Points leagues are fun and a challenge in and of themselves. Could I write 10,000 words on them? Probably, yeah, but this is the overall blueprint for your approach. I’m always happy to chat about these types of leagues, so feel free to slide into my DMs, and I’ll help you with any and all fantasy (sports, sickos) needs.
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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.
