Commercial Content 21+. Fantasy Alarm provides fantasy sports advice for the New York Post, which edits this content.For years, the majority leaned towards drafting hitters first and using the middle-to-late rounds to build a fantasy rotation. The tide began to turn about seven years ago and the “pocket aces” strategy of drafting elite starting pitching early took over.
The number of pitchers currently on the injured list is enormous. We’ve lost Spencer Strider, Gerrit Cole, Shane Bieber, Blake Snell and Framber Valdez, all considered top-20 pitchers coming into the season. Add in Bobby Miller, Justin Steele, Eury Perez and Merrill Kelly, and it’s more than just an epidemic.
It’s difficult for fantasy baseball managers to replace the production of Spencer Strider, who’s out for the season.But you still need a decent rotation to win your fantasy league, so identifying the issue and learning how to avoid it is paramount. The problem is that there is greater demand for pitchers to throw as hard as they can on every pitch and with as much spin as possible.
This isn’t to say you need to unload all your pitching for lesser talent. You are simply going to have to work the trade phones steadily, and gradually weave many of these pitchers on and off your roster. It takes some extra effort, but certainly less effort than trying to find any sort of talent on your waiver wire once the injuries pile up.and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.