Fantasy Baseball Today - Daily Lineup League Strategy! Who Gains an Edge? (3/12 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Starting point is 00:00:03 Which players get a boost in daily lineup leagues? Find out next on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FBT and 5. As always, make sure to follow and stream us on Spotify. Today is Saturday, March 12th. I am Frank Stanful, joined by Chris Towers, and let's start all the way up at the top, Chris. Chohei Otani was amazing last year.

Starting point is 00:00:23 However, in this format, he may be worth the number one overall pick. What say you? Yeah, like there are concerns about injury with him is the biggest thing. I think as long as Shoha Tani's healthy in this format, he's absolutely at least a contender for the number one pick. And frankly, if he plays a whole season, he's going to be the number one player in this format, just by the sheer math of his contributions. I mean, you're getting 80% of his hitting production, which I think we would probably assume would be 30 homers, probably, maybe 10 stolen bases. And

Starting point is 00:01:02 80 runs, 80 RBI, something like that. And then you're getting 100% of his pitching. So you're getting, I don't know, 140 innings, 160 strikeouts, a low 3 ZRA, good whip, 10 wins. Like, it's just really hard to get away from this. This is just kind of highlights how valuable he is in fantasy and also in real life. Like the fact that you get all of that from one roster spot is just incredibly valuable. that it basically gives you an extra roster spot. That's so valuable that, yeah, I think the only argument against Shohay Otani is the number one pick in a daily lineups or daily transactions league is just the added risk of being a pitcher and a hitter or, you know, a base runner as well.

Starting point is 00:01:51 So that I think he has a higher baseline level of injury risk than any position player. But I think on the whole he's worth the number one pick. As somebody who had Shohei Otani in multiple weekly lineup leagues last year where I couldn't reap the benefits of both his hitting and his pitching, it was incredibly, incredibly frustrating, and I wish I could have. So if you play in a daily lineup league where you can get both of those, the hitting and the pitching stats from Otani, I think he's worth the number one overall pick.

Starting point is 00:02:19 How about Chris, some players with worrisome splits, I think they also see a boost in this format. Someone like a Jesse Winker or Jared Walsh, they struggle against lefties. You could bench them in this format when they're scheduled. to face a lefty and then just reap all the benefits of what they do against right-handed hitters, right-handed pitchers rather. And I think Colorado Rockies hitters. So, you know, you can play them when they're at home, you know, some of those fringe guys and then bench them when they're on the road. What do you think about that? Yeah, I think the, the platoon split guys

Starting point is 00:02:48 are the ones to focus on from just an individual standpoint. I mean, Jared Walsh had a very good season last year hit. Over 30 homers had a 98 RBI and 144 games. He was, sorry, 29 homers. He was the third worst player among qualifiers against left-handed pitching. I mean, that's pretty remarkable for a guy who, on the whole, had a 127 weighted runs created plus. Against lefties, it was 48. So he absolutely crushed right. He's an OPS right around 1,000.

Starting point is 00:03:21 And he was pretty much worthless against lefties. You got nine home runs, and that was basically it. And I'm not sure I would count on nine home runs. You've also got someone like Austin Meadows who potentially loses playing time against lefties. You've got Michael Conforto. It's mostly left-handed hitters. Brandon Lau's another one. You know, these are all guys who, Jesse Winker is a really good example as well,

Starting point is 00:03:46 of guys who you probably don't want in your lineup against lefties because they're just not going to help you very much. Low batting average, little power. And so, yeah, if you can have a Luis Arias or. a Jake Croninworth or a Thai France guys with multiple eligibility who can not just fill in for these guys because you don't want to just use one roster spot for a left-handed masher, but guys who can slide in wherever you need them, I think that's the way to go about it. And yeah, Jesse Winker, Jared Walsh, probably more valuable on a daily lineup format. The last group,

Starting point is 00:04:24 Chris, that I wanted to touch on here are these hybrid pitchers, pitchers who have a lot of upside, but we don't necessarily know whether or not they're going to be starters or relievers for their respective teams. But Michael Kopeck, Tanner Hauk, Aaron Ashby, those are all names that stand out to me. What do you think about maybe boosting them in daily lineup leagues? I think that makes sense because, you know, in a full week, you may not know whether they're going to be in the rotation because those decisions could be made after your lineups lock. But in a daily format where it doesn't really matter, whether they're starting or whether they're relieving, you're going to get their points because what you should be doing is with what all the relievers that you have on your

Starting point is 00:05:01 roster and I think you should have more middle relievers in a daily lineups format because you just throw them in there when you don't have starters going you're going to get all of their numbers and someone like Kopeck that could be 120 strikeouts a low three's high two ZRA and he could end up being a top 50 pitcher just in in that format just because you get all of his stats. You don't have to worry about when he's going to be starting and when not. So, I think middle relievers, closer, you set up men who occasionally close are more valuable. But yeah, those swing men as well are very valuable in this format. Garrett Whitlock, another name I would throw in that mix. He could, his range of possibilities is

Starting point is 00:05:44 the closer for the Red Sox to maybe even being one of their best starting pitchers. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Stitcher, your smart speakers, or anywhere else podcasts are found. And thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball today in five. We'll be back again on Monday morning. Bye-bye.

Fantasy Baseball Today - Daily Lineup League Strategy! Who Gains an Edge? (3/12 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

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