Unusual approach

I have always known that you wont face many Left handed starters so you have to build a team that leans to hitting righties. However, I started thinking, what if you were able to just obliterate lefties and hold your own against righties? Could you play .800 ball against lefties and .400 ball against righties while ending up around .550? I decided to try and find out.

I spent 31 mil on pitching and 49 mil on hitting. My starters were between 2.4 and 3.8 mil in price, with Erasmo Ramirez and Rafael Montero providing my bulk innings in relief. C Stallings/Jansen platoon 55% on base to lefties 1B Y Diaz/Belt platoon 58% on base to lefties 2B K Marte 53% ob , 3B Kiner-Falefa 55% ob, SS Adames 39% ob, LF Canha 62% ob, CF Hicks 43% ob, RF Arozarena 53% ob, DH Alberto/Y Diaz platoon 50% ob. Most of the guys have power and other than Canha and Arozarena who are 3's in the corner OF spots are 1's or 2's on defense.

My previous six autoleague teams faced 34.5% lefties, 41.9 % lefties, 36.3%, 34.5%, 43.6% and 41.3%. Unfortunately this league was offering up only 34.5% lefties for me.

Another benefit to this process was that I got all the players I wanted in the autodraft except for a reserve OF and two relief pitchers. All of my main cogs were available where I selected them as most people arent shooting for guys who hit lefties well and are only servicable to righties.

48 games in , I am 24-24 but have the second best run differential at +41. Time will tell how this pans out.

https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1667109

Let's just say...not a good match-up for my team!

https://365.strat-o-matic.com/league/458334

Here are the results: Made the playoffs (backed in going 1-11 in my final four series). Didnt quite go as planned because one team in my division playing in LAA stadium picked up three righthanded starters instead of the five lefthanders I had been seeing against him. So instead of 34.5% lefties it dropped down to 21% lefties which was far below any of my other leagues which had led me to try this strategy.

Record vs lefties 31-20 vs righties 59-52

hitting vs lefties 291/397/488 vs righties 223/328/407

So in hindsight, it kinda worked but in another league (one that threw more lefties closer to my previous auto league experiences) I think I would have done even better

It works ok over 162 games but is not very effective in a 5-7 game PO series

I don't know why I didn't do that early on. Devastating against a team with a lot of lefties (I was 2-13 before I picked up the cheap righties) and you won 90 games so it worked.

It's funny because this team actually played pretty well against righties. I was hoping to get a league with more lefty starters but it succeeded with the lowest amount 34.5% that I had seen in any of my autoleagues and survived even after the total dropped to 21%. Of course I will be seeing just one lefty in the first round and probably one lefty in the finals if I somehow get there.(You will have to throw a lefty against me no matter what:)

Regardless, it was fun trying something new. I really like to try and find a theme or something unique to try in my auto leagues. It can get same old same old just trying to draft the best value cards every league.

Regardless, it was fun trying something new. I really like to try and find a theme or something unique to try in my auto leagues. It can get same old same old just trying to draft the best value cards every league.

No doubt!

It's funny because this team actually played pretty well against righties. I was hoping to get a league with more lefty starters but it succeeded with the lowest amount 34.5% that I had seen in any of my autoleagues and survived even after the total dropped to 21%. Of course I will be seeing just one lefty in the first round and probably one lefty in the finals if I somehow get there.(You will have to throw a lefty against me no matter what:)

Regardless, it was fun trying something new. I really like to try and find a theme or something unique to try in my auto leagues. It can get same old same old just trying to draft the best value cards every league.

Thanks for sharing Eddie, pretty cool to see. I like to toil with unique strategies late in set years too. My biggest hurdle has always been building a successful dominant pitching team, I mean like 1 run lower ERA than second best team type of dominance.

I used to try that too but it keeps getting harder as the homerun cards keep multiplying.

Well, surprise, surprise! League Champs! May try it again in the 21 set at some point.