Fantasy Baseball drafting advice

[pitchleague]

Today I filled in for an owner in an auction league who was traveling back from Hawaii.  Holy cow, it kind of takes the fun out of things when half the league is taking the stars & scrubs approach!  Every player in the first two hours was way overpriced.

the guy I filled in for asked if I want to go halfsies with him for the season.  I’m contemplating it but, if I do, ill be more prepared for next season and adjust accordingly, knowing ahead of time that I won’t be getting any of the big guns unless I want to do stars and scrubs, too.

[homer]

4 hours ago, zurch1818 said:

You buried the lead with not posting the scoring system.

For pitching...Wow...3 points for a strikeout, yes please. Facing 3 batters and striking out the side is basically worth a win. A reliever won't even come near that performance on average. A pitcher that gets 10 Ks in a matchup can carry you in a matchup  Load up on Ohtani, Skenes, and Wheeler and any strikeout pitcher possible.

For batting, I agree with the above. I find it interesting that a hit is worth a point. You could just increase the point count by one for all the others and make it less confusing.

yeah 3 points for a K is kind of crazy  That would move a guy like Strider way up my rankings even if you think he won't pitch all of April.

[zurch1818]

12 hours ago, pitchleague said:

Today I filled in for an owner in an auction league who was traveling back from Hawaii.  Holy cow, it kind of takes the fun out of things when half the league is taking the stars & scrubs approach!  Every player in the first two hours was way overpriced.

the guy I filled in for asked if I want to go halfsies with him for the season.  I’m contemplating it but, if I do, ill be more prepared for next season and adjust accordingly, knowing ahead of time that I won’t be getting any of the big guns unless I want to do stars and scrubs, too.

Wow. That draft sounds brutal. It kind of makes me appreciate the snake draft. Our whole 22 round draft this year took 45 minutes. I just wish our league had a free agent budget like our hockey league does.

[patrickgpe]

I drafted tonight, took strider way earlier than projected. It seems like most used average draft position as a barometer, I used projected points so I took a lot of guys earlier than normal. Since it’s my first year I’ll see how my strategy went. Don’t have a team name so went with W.A.R. Raiders to honor the wwe tag team. 

[SeaBass]

10 hours ago, patrickgpe said:

I drafted tonight, took strider way earlier than projected. It seems like most used average draft position as a barometer, I used projected points so I took a lot of guys earlier than normal. Since it’s my first year I’ll see how my strategy went. Don’t have a team name so went with W.A.R. Raiders to honor the wwe tag team. 

ADP is a good blueprint but it's totally fair to pick guys "earlier" if you like them. The trick is to try to hold off as long as you dare so that you aren't taking them too early lol.

[patrickgpe]

Is this normal for fantasy baseball?

I drafted Sean Murphy (waited too long to get a catcher and nobody was left), who is on the IL. Put him on a IL spot and made a claim for Amaya from the cubs, was awarded him yesterday, but can't use him until Monday 4/1, so I am catcherless until then. I know the roster locks on Mondays, but week 1 is today - next Sunday.

[SeaBass]

33 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

Is this normal for fantasy baseball?

I drafted Sean Murphy (waited too long to get a catcher and nobody was left), who is on the IL. Put him on a IL spot and made a claim for Amaya from the cubs, was awarded him yesterday, but can't use him until Monday 4/1, so I am catcherless until then. I know the roster locks on Mondays, but week 1 is today - next Sunday.

Yeah partial weeks at the beginning (or end) of the year and before & after the all star break typically get tacked on during the fantasy schedule. The roster lock thing beginning on Monday feels like a rule specific to your league. My league allows waiver adds at any time but we only get 5 roster moves per week.

EDIT: Rereading this I would assume this past Monday is also counting as a locked roster date. Again, feels like a league specific thing. Maybe the system is counting Monday the 31st as the transaction day so you wouldn't have access until the next day?

[patrickgpe]

I normally don’t want to ask for help but I’m stuck. I only have room for one catcher. Murphy was doing fine for me until Baldwin came on. Nl only. Murphy, Baldwin or Francisco Alverez. 

[zurch1818]

1 hour ago, patrickgpe said:

I normally don’t want to ask for help but I’m stuck. I only have room for one catcher. Murphy was doing fine for me until Baldwin came on. Nl only. Murphy, Baldwin or Francisco Alverez. 

Baseball Savant -Alverez

I usually like to look at baseball savant when trying to make a decision...and Alvarez is not very desirable catcher. It can be a lot to look at...but very useful. I think the most useful thing for batters is the rolling xwoba average. It shows above/below league average.

Baldwin definitely has been performing the best out of all of them...but his sample is small and he doesn't have the MLB track record of Murphy. It really comes down to playing time. With that said, I'd probably stick with Murphy. Are there any other options out there?

[patrickgpe]

On 5/30/2025 at 10:41 PM, zurch1818 said:

Baseball Savant -Alverez

I usually like to look at baseball savant when trying to make a decision...and Alvarez is not very desirable catcher. It can be a lot to look at...but very useful. I think the most useful thing for batters is the rolling xwoba average. It shows above/below league average.

Baldwin definitely has been performing the best out of all of them...but his sample is small and he doesn't have the MLB track record of Murphy. It really comes down to playing time. With that said, I'd probably stick with Murphy. Are there any other options out there?

Not really, it’s nl only. Patrick Bailey is the top free agent 

I decided to have Murphy as my utility player and Baldwin catching until there is more clarity or another better option appears on waivers