I had a question about something I have noticed in a couple open leagues. Is there any strategic benefit to running out a crappy 200k pitcher in the first few games of the season (and presumably him getting shelled and throwing these games away)? Is it just because you can burn those innings and then drop em really early on for a comparable dud on the waiver wire with no fatigue effect? Has anyone seen or heard of this strategy? Thanks!

Yes this is quite common. It saves some early IP for your better pitchers to burn a $200k guy before dumping him on the WW for an upgrade.

Ah gotcha, thanks!

It helps avoid early season fatigue especially if you end up in an extra inning game in the first couple of series.

Also, you can technically gain some regular season value with the WW. If you throw a 27IP guy 9 innings, you've used 33% of his allotted playing time. The WW only charges a 10% penalty to exchange him for a different 27IP guy with no fatigue. Just keep in mind that this doesn't help you any once the playoffs start.

More valuable than buying the extra cheap WW innings (which are of terrible quality) is pushing back the usage of your higher quality pitchers. If you throw your 200k or AAA starters in your first few games, you’re playing with house’s money as far as your other pitchers’ stamina.

Very simply put, a SP allotted 324 IP can effectively be used an avg of no more than 2 IP per team game played. You start him game 1 and he goes 7 IP, he’s already behind the 8 ball by his next start in game 4. If his first start is that game 4, he’s ahead of the curve. So by throwing a scrub early, you can maximize your real starter’s usage, be it rate return your or not worrying as much about pitch counts.

I use a slightly different approach, where I stretch my pitch counts the first turn through the rotation, THEN throw the scrub. This helps keep my RELIEVERS ahead of the curve, which I find more difficult to manage than SP. SP, as a function of total IP, quickly get back to a usable 90%+ stamina, if they’re stretched an extra inning or two ahead of their allotted rate. Those extra innings are murder for a 40 ip reliever.