Proper Use of SP Tool

[geddy1001]

Hi folks, first off, I didnt really know which thread I should put this under, so figured Id start here. Ive been using the SP Tool for a while and totally love it. I probably should have posed this question a while back but was never near my computer when I thought about it. ANyways, since I use the SP Tool alot, I wanted to make sure Im "properly" using it. Obviously the bolded green are the best Starts of the day and the negative ones/red not so much. All my leagues, both roto/Points are 12 team mixed, so I use the guide for that BUT I was wondering, is there a best practices of where the "cutoff" rating is for 12 team mixed? Anything below .50? .25? I just want to make sure Im being as correct/optimized as I can be when using the tool. Thank you!

[JonE]

Well, I wouldn't say that I know the "proper" way to use the tool, but I'll share how I use it.

I play in both a 10-team NL-only, with no bench, and a 15-team mixed, with a bench. In the mixed league I'm usually choosing five or six starters from among the seven or eight on my team, so I pick the best scores from those eight. But I won't bench my ace even with a poor matchup score. I might go with five starters if the sixth best score is below 0, but that's really a feel question. Sometimes I will use a pitcher with a -0.2 score if I think I'll still get strikeouts or something.

In the no-bench league I may not have a choice. In that league this week I'm starting someone with a -1.1 score because I don't want to cut him and I can't bench him. I'm just hoping for the best.

In both leagues, I usually have the ability to stream one pitcher from the free agent pool. I will look for the best scores among those pitchers. There are usually a few positive starts to be had.

So while I tend to prefer pitchers above 0, I don't have a hard cutoff. I'm looking for "best", even if the "best" is -0.7.

I hope that helps. I'd be interested to hear how others use it in their contexts.

[jjpzebra]

Here's how I use the SP tool: when I see one of my pitchers with a really high rating in my NL only no-bench league, I turn off the computer and pray a novena, because that tool has broken my heart too many times. For me, it seems a good rating results in a disaster maybe as often as not; although, a bad rating usually turns out to be true. Sadly, there's nothing I can do anyway because, short of injuries, demotions or trades, we are stuck with the players we draft in my league.