Why is my team losing all of the sudden?

[dkoulomzin]

All,

My team started with an amazing 30-12 record, and since then has been 8-16 (with my main division rival, Jablowmi, delivering the sweep last night). The only moves I made were dropping Marty Barrett to start Phillips (who is in his best year), letting Thompson bat vs. LHP, and dropping Bill Campbell (who was sort of underperforming) in favor of Nunez who is absolutely rotting. Oh yeah, I also *just* dropped the "good" Murphy for Lemon. Murphy was batting .208 or so with 8HR after 210 or so ABs, which highly suggested his bad year. BTW, in the 4 times I've had Murphy, he's always looked like this. Has ANYONE had success with him?

Clearly, my offense has been good, with lots of guys in good years. Durham and Phillips are both underperforming, considering that injuries put them in good years. Everyone else is predictably solid, with Brett and Murray being bright spots.

But the pitching! I know I'm in Fenway, but the relief has been awful. I have $2 mil in the bank, so I can make some upgrades. Suggestions?

http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/baseball/stratomatic/80s/team/team_other.html?user_id=73726

[honestiago1]

Your team should be fine. Relief pitching is iffy. Make Howe the closer (if you haven't already), and keep switching out the bullpen 'til you find guys that work (maybe drop Reed and Moore for someone else). The team has plenty of hitting, and your SP's aren't bad. Might drop Zahn for a cheaper option (again, swapping out 'til something works). Teams go on good and bad streaks. The only obvious sore point I see is bullpen (but you have a good closer).

[bjs73]

I think your team looks pretty good really. My career record at Fenway is .500 and I find it very challenging for me to contend there.

Zahn has some crazy home/away splits. Might be interesting to hold him for now in my opinion. However, give a quick glance of your schedule for the next 7 days and see if your opponents have weaknesses against lefties. If not, it may be time to trade him in for a righty. What are your waiver wire options at that price range?

I think that playing Thompson against lefties isn't a good thing but that idea isn't costing you an 8-16 record. However, if I was playing you I would try to throw a lefty at your team every chance I get. Even though your splits look o.k. your slugging is down considerably.

The price of one average lefty starter dampens the guys that I would be afraid of most in your lineup. Don't get me wrong, Trammell and Murray look nice against lefties but I'd rather face them than Murray, Brett, Thompson, Durham, and Hayes with a righty on the mound.

Another thing you could try for a while is to slow hook Forsch, Candy, and Swan and quick hook Zahn and Perez. Then have Howe setup in both roles on a slow hook and have Moore close against lefties avoid before the 9th and Crim close against righties avoid before the 8th.

Just an idea. But really, don't panic, ride the storm and take your lumps. Stats do rebound.

I think that when you're ready to make other moves, you'll have to decide on which catcher you want and settle for a cheapie compliment and use the money elsewhere.

[dkoulomzin]

As far as replacing Zahn, I checked the schedule, and it looks like out of the five opponents remaining this week, 2 have weaknesses against L, 1 will clobber L, and 2 are about even. So I guess I'll hold on to him and see what happens. The FA pitchers for less than 3 mil that seem reasonable for the price: Haas, C. Lea (though he has a pretty rough 4 IP on the season), Ed Whitson, and A. Hawkins. Of course, I know next to nothing about the relative efficiency of pitchers at this price range.

I take your point about a potential weakness with slugging vs. L. The interesting thing is that my two starting switch hitters (Phillips, Murray) are pounding LH pitching, so that means my lefties are really sucking vs. LH pitchers. In fact, its probably all about Thompson. However, I couldn't seem to find a reasonable platoon mate for him. If I can trade for a starting 2b with quality defense, I might move Phillips back into a platoon role with Thompson. But mainly, I think the pitching is the big concern. Every loss seems to come down to pitching, usually middle relief or shakey start from Perez.

I've set Howe as closer and set up guy in effort to get him as many innings as possible, and I'm playing other relievers based on their splits. I'm hoping Crim has continued success... it would really be nice to have 2 solid relievers.