I'm 2-7 but I still believe my team is good, am I crazy?

[MrHacktastic]

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/stratomatic/team/team_other.html?user_id=386173

I was psyched after waivers and the frenzy were completed thinking I built a competitive team. Maybe not a championship team but certainly a team I thought would hover a little over .500 and possibly make the playoffs. After a 2-7 start and getting smoked 6 times already by somebody in my division I'm wondering if I missed something.

I know I've had a little bad luck as Brooks is already hurt and missing 6 more games. My SP has been terrible and I expect Youmans to settle into his normal numbers over time. I am barely scoring 3 runs per game so far and I think that is also some bad luck as I just can't get a timely hit with two outs and runners on and I have some guys with solid clutch ratings.

I know it is a small sample size after only 9 games but as a Red Sox fan in real life I know the season can also get away from you in April if you aren't careful.

How bad is my team? I still believe it can be a contender but I might be crazy. Let me know what you think as it is fun to look back after and see the predictions.

My rotation:
Boyd/Fernandez/Youmans/Browning

My lineup vs LHP:
LF Raines
CF Pettis
DH Brooks
C Carter
3B Phillips
1B Horner
RF Brunansky
2B Thompson
SS Templeton

Lineup vs RHP:
LF Raines
CF Pettis
DH Brooks
RF Bryant
1B Horner
C Carter
3B Howell
2B Thompson
SS Templeton

[coyote303]

I am not going to address your team itself; I'm simply not familiar enough with that year.

However, I advise you not to panic after only nine games. If your team is as good as you think and hope, they will come around.

I had a team once that I totally believed in and they were mediocre for half a season before they finally started winning. (Admittedly, I've also had a team or two that never came around.)

Warning: If you start dumping players, your chance of having a bad year goes way, way up. In fact, dump enough salary, and I [i:9d6154f468]guarantee [/i:9d6154f468]you will have a bad year.

Good luck!

[MrHacktastic]

[quote:88a01a3fbc="coyote303"]I am not going to address your team itself; I'm simply not familiar enough with that year.

However, I advise you not to panic after only nine games. If your team is as good as you think and hope, they will come around.

I had a team once that I totally believed in and they were mediocre for half a season before they finally started winning. (Admittedly, I've also had a team or two that never came around.)

Warning: If you start dumping players, your chance of having a bad year goes way, way up. In fact, dump enough salary, and I [i:88a01a3fbc]guarantee [/i:88a01a3fbc]you will have a bad year.

Good luck![/quote:88a01a3fbc]

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. There is a 20% penalty right out of the gate and although I want to dump Howell and reallocate that money I won't.

[hallerose]

No major problems. I'd bat Pettis 9th (2nd lead off hitter). Pay a little more attention to slants in your lineups. Your pitching should be ok, it has just gotten lit up a couple times. I'd expect at least .500 out of this team.

[MrHacktastic]

[quote:e751dfddb9="hallerose"]No major problems. I'd bat Pettis 9th (2nd lead off hitter). Pay a little more attention to slants in your lineups. Your pitching should be ok, it has just gotten lit up a couple times. I'd expect at least .500 out of this team.[/quote:e751dfddb9]

I hesitate to bat Pettis 9th because he bunts well in the 2 hole as well as I have been playing Templeton at SS due to Brooks's D rating. I don't want Pettis and Templeton back to back in the order.

Thanks for the feedback. I am glad to hear you think it can go .500.

[hallerose]

Bunting the 2 hole is old fashioned thinking. Get you best hitters and best OBP up the most. 2 vs. 9 is an extra 125 abs over the course of a season. Give those abs to good hitters.

[Neil Toomey]

Nine games is waayyyyy to early to tell whether your team will do well (whether you're crazy is a separate question altogether). If you don't see signs of improvement by roughly the thirtieth game I may begin to show some concern.

[Risden]

It looks like you have most of the usual 1986 suspects that perform well. You should be OK with this team.

[quote:81cc2df829="hallerose"]Bunting the 2 hole is old fashioned thinking. Get you best hitters and best OBP up the most. 2 vs. 9 is an extra 125 abs over the course of a season. Give those abs to good hitters.[/quote:81cc2df829]

Agreed - who the hell bunts or wants to bunt at the beginning of a game anymore? It's not the dead ball era; swing away.

[quote:81cc2df829="Neil Toomey"]Nine games is waayyyyy to early to tell whether your team will do well (whether you're crazy is a separate question altogether). If you don't see signs of improvement by roughly the thirtieth game I may begin to show some concern.[/quote:81cc2df829]

Double agreed. Never dump anybody prior to the 30 or 40 game mark, especially with that penalty percentage. Look for a trade in any case. Dumping is an (almost) guaranteed way to insure an uphill battle all season long.

[coyote303]

A nice post by Risden. I think it could be made better, however, if a period is inserted after the word "anybody" in sentence two of the last paragraph!

I don't care how bad a slump a player might be in; his card is every bit as good as the day you drafted him. I always offer this one exception: If you are in the same league as I am, especially in the same division, please dump and dump often!

[MrHacktastic]

dammit,

I was back to 6-9 and had leads 6-2 late in two ballgames last night. Quisenberry was part of a 10 run inning that killed one game. Ended up getting swept.

Can't make any roster changes so all I can do is mess with settings. Bullpen seems like the best place to start. Quisenberry can't go more than 1 inning without blowing up so I am moving him to closer. This will hopefully allocate a lot more innings to Clear and possibly help me win more games even if Quisenberry blows a few. My starters don't go deep enough into games.

I thought my SP would be much better.