Anyone else think pitching is key to victorie in fantasy baseball?

Question

thats why im my league i got the first pick and will take santana over pujols

think of it this way, their are more great hitters then pitchers

How many hitters can get 45 homers this seosen? About 6-8 probably if their are no major injuerys

How many pitchers can get 20 victories this seosen? About 2-4 if no major pitchers get hurt

Pitching is key in fantasy baseball like, golie is in fantasy hockey, or running back in fantasy football

Answer 1

Thats what i based my team on last year. I ended up having Santana, Halladay, Conteras, and Zito. Conteras was a cy young candidate at the beginning of the season and faltered. And you are right about bats. I drafted Howard and ended up getting Morneau off waivers. Solid hitting is always easier to find then pitching. Especially with all these one year wonders these days.

Answer 2

One more time..... A great pitcher will win 20 games in 34 starts. Johan will get killed in 5 of those. Good pitchers will win 15-17 out of 32. A decent pitcher will win 12-14 games, if you know which ones, you will win everytime. And while everyone else is focusing on W's i'll sit back and watch a couple of good setup men rackup innings with low ERA, WHIP and high K's per inning pitched (3 out of 5 in a 5x5 league). See Linebrink and Soriano (it's like having a starter throw 7 shutout innings per week). And it didn't cost me a pick before the 15th round.
Hitters play 162 games and contribute everyday. In a 12 to 14 team league, the pitching first strategy will leave you trying to guess when Olmedo Saenz will hit his next HR.

In the the first 75 picks there are only about 20 pitchers worthy of taking the chance, only two in the first 25 picks and of the 20 pitchers, 7 are closers.
You are right about how many hitters can hit 45 HR"s - to go along with that they also have 120+ RBI's, 100 Runs and usually around .300 Avg.. and to match that you are going to need 2 guys that hit 25 HR's each and you won't get them by taking pitchers too early.

Answer 3

The major difference is, you can't work the waiver wire to assemble a above average hitting core. I garuntee you I could cobble together a pitching staff which would at least be above average if not very good off the waiver wire. This year I will be able to draft solid pitchers in the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th rounds. You can't find a solid outfielder or first basemen in the 12th round of a 12 team league.

Also, pitchers get hurt far more often than hitters do, it is about a 1-2 ratio I believe. Finally, lets say you have Johan Santana and he is on a hot streak pitching, that will give you that 1 win 8 ks and 3.00 ERA twice every week at best. If Pujols is clubbing homeruns like he did at the beginning of the year he will be contributing 1 home run, 3 or 4 RBIs and about a .400 batting average to me every single day.

Answer 4

Yes, I do agree with you, pitching is the absolute key to winning fantasy baseball.

But I would still draft a great hitter first. The talent drops off hugely after the top guys are gone and you'll want a very good consistent hitter bringing up your offensive stats. I always take a hitter first and make sure I grab 2 other good hitters in the first 6 or so rounds just to have a good core. Then I know I can fill in with sleepers, rookies and the waiver wire. Hitting will always be easier to find and you can afford to play around when you have a good couple core guys. That and usually the first round pitchers are overrated and can have problems. The poor guy who took Mark Prior can tell you. If you take a pitcher first you are taking a 50/50 cap shoot that this guy will live up to the hype. Take Pujols, you know the man is going to perform.

But getting back to my orginal point, I would skew my draft to take good pitching and plenty of it. You need to absolutely load up to guard against injuries, demotions and just plain pitching crappy. Fantasy baseball isn't about 20 game winners, its about ERA, WHIP and strikeouts as well. Having a large pitching core will allow you to beat almost anyone in wins and strikeouts. You need good guys though. Position 1-2 or on each team's rotation. Fill in pitchers are easy to find but will kill your ERA and WHIP. Its best to load up on quality arms. If you have a good group of decent pitchers you are going be in the running for ERA and WHIP each week as well. I like to have absolutely no fewer than 3 established closers on my team and will tinker around with a 4th one. They will help eat your ERA lower and WHIP as well as give you the saves victory for the week as well. I do not bother with set up men, they are worthless to me. So if you can take 4 of the 5 pithcing catergories a week and get at least 2-3 hitting catergories a week you'll win consistently each week and win your league.

Answer 5

Disagree, just b/c you have Santana doesn't mean your other guy won't post a 44.55 era. Your bad pitchers will offset the good pitchers any week. Hitting will have it's slumps but drafting 5 sluggers rather than pitchers makes more sense to me.

Answer 6

i agree to some extent. i think pitcfhing can go like hitting though. throwing a baseball is about the worse thing you can do to your arm so at anytime a guy can get hurt and see ya later. just look at loriano. i think with the first pick you have to pick an impact player who is going to get points for you everyday, not every 5 days.