Sat May 11, 2013 8:37 am
The "don't relieve before" setting helps you keep your starter in longer if you want. Usually best with stud starters and a weak bullpen. You can set it from F8 down to F0. All pitchers start at F9. As they throw more innings and number of pitches they will begin to get tired. The F9 will start to drop down to F8, F7 and lower. As the F9 lowers, your pitcher becomes less effective. Many times a slightly tired stud starter is still a better pitcher than an average bullpen guy. That is where the guess work of using the "don't relieve before" setting comes in to play. I usually don't set a starter to anything lower than don't relieve before F8 but I normally play 200mil leagues. Having your starter stay in while he is F5 or so is looking for trouble. In general though, the lower the salary cap in your league, the lower you can go in setting the "don't relieve before" setting. For example, if you have Pete Alexander at F5 in a 200mil league, he will surely get hit hard. If he is at F5 in a 80 or 60mil league, he can still be an effective pitcher because the lineups he is facing are weaker.
