We're excited to introduce a new series for the 2024 season in the hopes of providing actionable advice to our points-league audience. Once we get some games in the books, we'll shift to a traditional advice article that highlights adds and drops as well players to trade for and trade away, all while incorporating some general points leagues lessons we've learned during the season. With minimal game action in the books so far, we'll focus on some evergreen topics as well as a look ahead at some ways to try to exploit the Week 1 schedule.
Ways to Gain an Edge in Points Formats
The first difference between points and roto leagues is that points leagues vary significantly in their setup. This can be related to scoring, innings pitched or plate appearance limits, league standings and more. Despite those differences, which can make a lot of difference to your strategy, there are three overarching principles for being successful in points leagues.
1. Volume is Key
To a degree, this is true in all fantasy baseball formats, but it's particularly true for points leagues. The logic is straightforward: the more chances a player has to score points, the more likely they are to score points. Hitters that hit regularly in the top third of their team's lineups get a boost in this format, even if they don't have a standout roto skill. A few examples include Brandon Nimmo, Lane Thomas and Masataka Yoshida. On the pitching side, two-start
We're excited to introduce a new series for the 2024 season in the hopes of providing actionable advice to our points-league audience. Once we get some games in the books, we'll shift to a traditional advice article that highlights adds and drops as well players to trade for and trade away, all while incorporating some general points leagues lessons we've learned during the season. With minimal game action in the books so far, we'll focus on some evergreen topics as well as a look ahead at some ways to try to exploit the Week 1 schedule.
Ways to Gain an Edge in Points Formats
The first difference between points and roto leagues is that points leagues vary significantly in their setup. This can be related to scoring, innings pitched or plate appearance limits, league standings and more. Despite those differences, which can make a lot of difference to your strategy, there are three overarching principles for being successful in points leagues.
1. Volume is Key
To a degree, this is true in all fantasy baseball formats, but it's particularly true for points leagues. The logic is straightforward: the more chances a player has to score points, the more likely they are to score points. Hitters that hit regularly in the top third of their team's lineups get a boost in this format, even if they don't have a standout roto skill. A few examples include Brandon Nimmo, Lane Thomas and Masataka Yoshida. On the pitching side, two-start pitchers also take on added importance for the same reasons. This lesson is so important because most points formats are weekly head-to-head matchups, which means the ability to be patient is diminished relative to roto formats.
2. Understand Your Scoring Rules
This is another lesson that applies in all formats, but there is more variance in points leagues settings than would be seen in a roto format. As a result, strategy can't be as simple as "draft saves early" or "draft steals early." Understanding the way points are awarded for player performance is necessary to compete in points leagues. Some settings to take particular note of include:
- Saves: The values of saves varies from anywhere between two to five points in most leagues, but the real inquiry should be how much saves are worth relative to wins. That will help illustrate the relative value of closers compared to starters. Closers typically make more appearances in a week than starters, but they still throw fewer innings and potentially get fewer strikeouts. Can an increase in the value of a save increase offset that in your league?
- Are strikeouts penalized? If hitters lose a point for striking out, it makes pure volume slightly less important because it's possible for the player to accrue negative points. It also boosts the value of players such as Steven Kwan, Luis Arraez and Jeff McNeil, who rarely strike out but are passed by in roto formats.
- Are hits and walks penalized? If pitchers are penalized for every baserunner allowed, factors such as hard contact, park factors and team defense become important to consider. In particular, be careful of pitchers who have a consistently high WHIP. Arms like Blake Snell and Dylan Cease will have very different outlooks in different points leagues depending on league settings.
- Know volume limits: Most leagues limit volume in some way, whether it be an innings or games started cap. Make sure to maximize volume according to your league settings.
3. Understand Your Roster Settings
This is particularly important for pitching in points leagues. Are there dedicated RP slots or just generic pitcher slots? Getting as many starters as league rules allow is likely to be beneficial, so finding a starter with relief pitcher eligibility could be a key to success. A few examples of players with RP eligibility that are in their team's rotation include Sean Manaea, Reynaldo Lopez, Alex Wood, Martin Perez, Steven Matz and Ross Stripling.
Week 1 targets
With these factors and more in mind, it's time to turn our attention to some specific advantages that we can gain early in Week 1 matchups based on schedule quirks and matchups. This is particularly important for those that play on ESPN, where the first scoring matchup ends Sunday. This is another instance of understanding the rules of your league playing vital importance to the outcome of a matchup. For those on Yahoo!, the matchup extends to April 7. For those on Fantrax or CBS, the commissioner of your league should have more control over the league schedule.
Hitters to Watch
Add/Start
Jonathan India 
(17% ESPN, 76% Yahoo, 87% Fantrax)
The rise of India's fantasy value in the last few weeks of the offseason has been substantial, as he went from bench bat to projected everyday player and likely leadoff hitter. That's reflected in his roster rate on most sites, but on ESPN in particular, he should be rostered at a much higher rate. Adding to his appeal is the fact that the Reds open with nine home games in the first 14 days of the season. The other three contests are in Philly, which is a hitters' park.
Whit Merrifield 
(13% ESPN, 40% Yahoo, 63% Fantrax)
The Phillies open the season facing a projected schedule that includes six lefties in the first 12 games. Merrifield should benefit, as he's expected to be in a small-side platoon role to begin the new campaign. He's particularly appealing as a pickup Friday evening or Saturday morning, as Atlanta will start lefties Chris Sale and Max Fried for the final two games of the team's opening series. On ESPN, where he has the lowest roster rate, he's a decent streamer to try to win the first week matchup.
Brendan Donovan 
(3% ESPN, 23% Yahoo, 64% Fantrax)
Roughly half of MLB teams play at least 13 games in the next two weeks, and the Cardinals are one of them. Donovan is in a good position to take advantage of the schedule, as he's penciled in as the leadoff hitter in the absence of both Lars Nootbaar (ribs) and Tommy Edman (wrist). He may sit against lefties, but St. Louis is projected to face all righties until the third series of the season.
Sit
The Diamondbacks are projected to face eight left-handed pitchers in their first 13 games, which is very likely to leave Pederson on the bench regularly. Even if he plays, Pederson had just a .285 wOBA without the handedness advantage last season.
The Pirates' outfield got more crowded when Michael Taylor signed with the team, and Suwinski is now pushed into a more natural platoon. His partner looks to be Edward Olivares, who made the team out of spring training. Starting Suwinski after the opening weekend will be fine, but Miami will send out four lefties against Pittsburgh.
Colorado Rockies 
hitters
The Rockies play the entire first week of the season on the road, and they arguably don't have any hitters good enough to play away from Coors Field. Nolan Jones may be the exception, though his 30.3 percent strikeout rate in 518 career plate appearances is a concern for leagues that penalize strikeouts.
Pitchers to Watch
Michael Soroka 
(3% ESPN,11% Yahoo, 47% Fantrax)
Mike Soroka has built up his workload in his recent spring starts, and he posted a 17:5 K:BB across 13 spring innings. He lines up to face Detroit at home with the Royals and Guardians on the road in leagues that have matchups through next Sunday (April 7). He could be in demand on the waiver wire in short order, so he's worth monitoring now. Soroka's career to this point has been derailed by fluky injuries, but he has prospect pedigree and is healthy for now.
Jack Flaherty 
(9% ESPN, 34% Yahoo, 70% Fantrax)
Anyone who has played fantasy baseball in the last few seasons has probably rostered Flaherty at some point, and it likely hasn't gone particularly well. That could be the case once again, but he had a dominant spring by posting a 26:4 K:BB in 18.1 innings. His first two starts of the regular season come against the White Sox and Athletics, arguably the two worst lineups in the league. At a minimum, Flaherty could help fantasy managers win their first matchup. At best, he's on your roster for a significant portion of the season.
Martin Perez 
(2% ESPN, 16% Yahoo, 28% Fantrax)
Perez checks a lot of boxes of the first two pitchers, but he adds the RP eligibility factor mentioned above. In leagues that have dedicated RP slots, he's a name to consider. He's projected to make three starts by April 7, with manageable matchups at Miami and Washington while drawing the Tigers at home. Volume, solid matchups and eligibility are all on Perez's side this matchup period.
