STARTERS: Sixth starters, 2018

One of the biggest draft day mistakes that owners make is to overvalue Opening Day roles.

It might seem natural to target Opening Day starting rotations when filling out your pitching staffs. After all, they include the guys who already have starting jobs, and we all want to get out of the gates quickly in our fantasy leagues.

But early-season roles on pitching staffs are fluid, especially when it comes to starting pitchers. Injuries will create openings. So too will poor performance, or strong performance from guys outside of their team's initial starting rotation.

There is a consistent trend over the last five seasons which shows that 25-30% of the IP thrown by starters of MLB teams will come from guys who do not start the season in...

Almost!

You’re just a few clicks away from accessing this feature and hundreds more throughout the year that have a singular goal in mind: Winning your league. Subscribe to BaseballHQ.com here!

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

More From Starting Pitchers

Brandon Pfaadt's huge underlying gains in 2024 make him a premium breakout target heading into 2025.
Sep 7 2024 3:09am
Emerging rookie Spencer Schwellenbach was the game's most skilled starting pitcher during August behind a combination of groundballs and whiffs.
Aug 31 2024 3:09am
Brayan Bello's crumbling command against lefty bats is preventing him from taking a sustained step forward.
Aug 24 2024 3:09am
The recent struggles of Cristopher Sánchez can be traced back to his road starts, where both his stats and skills go from great to bad.
Aug 17 2024 3:09am
Brayan Bello's concurrent improvement in swinging strikes and ball percentage in the second half suggests he could deliver improved results down the stretch.
Aug 10 2024 3:09am

Tools