Starting Pitching

[STEVEPONEDAL]

Hi all,

As you can see I am one of the rookies this year. I am the one you see carrying the pink Powder Puff Girls backpack filled with candy out to the bullpen. You have also seen me walking through the airport, dressed in women's clothing all for a good laugh for the vets.

So I am hoping one of you gnarly veterans will help me out with some advice on starting pitching. I let go of Josh Beckett today. He was 1 and 3 with an ERA over 9. This is nearly 3x higher than his ERA during the '04 season. I also have Brad Penny whose ERA is over 6. Dodger Stadium, a pitcher's park is my home field.

Is this poor performance the result of the random nature of the dice rolls or am I missing the boat on strategy.

Thanks for any help

Steve

[bkoron]

Bad random variation in a small sample.

The #1 quality you need to succeed in this game is PATIENCE.

Q: How's your defense?

8)

[STEVEPONEDAL]

I guess okay. Slightly better than the average for the league that I am in.

[CHARLESBELL]

It would help if you posted a link to your team and let us know what the other ballparks are in your division. This is standard information you'll usually be asked for when seeking advice about your team.

You can get the link by going to the stats page and clicking on your team, then copy the URL and paste it here.

[STEVEPONEDAL]

Is this the link you are lookin for:

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/2005/team/team_other.html?user_id=26881

[PAULMINICUCCI]

I made the same rookie mistake. In my judgement if there are two pitchers who do not perform to their real life records it is Beckett and Penny. Beckett is hard RH so he can work in a place where that's good but in most parks he stinks. Penny i just can't figure, his card isn't that bad, but if you look around other leagues by the end of the year Penny is a free agent in every one. Burnett is another one who looks pretty good but I have seen bad results.

The other comment I had was that I have never seen Biggio work anywhere. I used him twice and in over 100 ABs he was hitting under .200 both times, albeit in Petco and Fenway.

Hang in there. I have bad patience and it can kill you. I would also suggest combing the message board because the vets in this game can really be helpful. I have six teams which is an advantage in that I learn more about who plays well where. If someone does give you a link, like in the message board use it to your advantage like see how the LH/RH balance is working with certain players.

If you would like me to check out any propsective players I would be happy to research how they are doing in various leagues. I'm getting better but I still am way behind. There are a lot of good vets who know the game inside out. Like Mabry is awesome in most places, Munson will hit 30 HRs but bat .200. Hafner is overpriced and is hardly used, etc.

[bkoron]

The good news: Yes, that's the right way to post your team on the message board.

The bad news: IMHO that defense is distinctly average, which is not gonna be good in this game.

What kind of defense did Josh Beckett have in Florida? He had Castillo, a 1, at 2B, Alex Gonzalez, a 2, at SS, and Juan Pierre, a 2, in CF. What do you have at those key defensive positions?

So all those balls the Marlins turned into outs are falling for hits against your team.

Re the above post: That in a nutshell is why 2004 Marlins pitchers usually stink in "SOM 2005." If they don't have the same defense, they won't seem to be as good.

Probably 70% of what we think of as "pitching" is actually "defense."

Expect higher ERAs than real life.

8)

[STEVEPONEDAL]

Thanks,

I replaced Beckett with Jason Marquis. In real life I think he lacks focus. He seems to pitch at his worst when staked to a big league, which with the Cards offense happens all the time. Hopefully his stats will lead to some wins in SOM.

I was thinking Bartolo Colon or Mike Hampton as possible replacements for Penny.

[hechojazz]

When you decide to start guys with 3 ranges at SS and 2B, and also don't have a 2 or 1 range guy in CF, your pitching will take a hit. So you should expect higher than average numbers in the ERA and ratio departments. So that in part may explain your experience so far.

[STEVEPONEDAL]

I hadn't even thought of that. Thanks