coolhandlewke wrote:I've got a noob question I could really use an answer to. my 1st go round and it seems everybody is running a 4 man rotation except me. not too realistic for a game that relies on realism but that's besides the point. I can change my dance step and draft better next time around. my question is, is there any downside to the 4 man? any increased injury risk? any built up fatigue? you would hope a pitcher on 3 days would fatigue faster and perform worse. thanks
The very widely held view - which I also believe is correct - is that there is no disadvantage of the kinds that you are mentioning. In fact, pitchers with over 200 innings pitched appear to have their injuries limited to 3 games!
HOWEVER, there is one disadvantage to starters who can start every 4th game - their salaries are set somewhat higher than a similar starting pitcher who can only start every 5th game. This salary difference can be substantial.
Personally, I have used SP* starters (every 4th game), but I generally prefer to use non* SP's, and go with a 5 man rotation. I generally prefer the higher value per game from the lower salary cost (i.e. a better pitcher for the same $). Sometimes I even mix in one or two SP* starters with non-* SP's. This is normally frowned upon strategy-wise, due to the $ inefficiency of mixing the 2 types of SPs. But I like to do this sometimes when my divisional opponents have widely different batter preferences, because it helps me to get the best matchup of the right SP versus the right opponent (LHP or RHP, L balanced or R balanced).
Incidentally, if you go to the trouble of planning out your SP starts for the season (I do this sometimes), you'll find that you tend to have more opportunities for "loading" a pitcher versus certain opponents, or "avoiding" starts versus certain opponents, when you use a 5 man rotation. (This point varies each season depending on the particular schedule). With a 4 man rotation, you tend to face a more equal number of divisional opponents with each starting pitcher in the rotation. A 5 man rotation tends to have a more unbalanced pattern of starts versus each opponent, and thus more opportunities for rotation planning.
In ATG player sets, SP's who start every 4th game are far more common. (Historically, this was an accurate representation of reality, even into the early 70's - consider Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan, as examples). In MLB during the last 20-30 years, your comments on reality vs game are well made.
Tue Jul 16, 2013 1:34 am