Week 1: Running a Fantasy League in the Middle of a Pandemic

Michael finally ventured out of Atlanta for the first time since quarantine started. He, Amina, George, and Buddy went to St. Simons island in southeast George for a beach week right after July 4^th. Vacationing with a toddler is…something.

The blog is coming out a day late today. After the news on Monday morning that the Marlins had a COVID breakout in their clubhouse, it felt like the MLB season was on the brink. Who else was sick? How widespread was the infection? If a couple of games had to be cancelled, would there be enough competitive balance to pause the league somewhere but keep playing elsewhere? Would MLB be handling this in the same manner if it was the Yankees or Dodgers that had the outbreak? These were just a few of the questions running through my head.

COVID has hit home for me. I have had family members get very sick from it, thankfully pulling through, but the long term affects linger. Also I have other friends and contacts that were also COVID positive, but were basically unscathed. I mentally struggle with trying to enjoy this game of ours in the middle of the scary world in which we live.

I had so much fun with baseball this weekend. I was up late every night this weekend watching games from the east coast to the west. Cheering on the Braves and my fantasy team and just enjoying a sense of normalcy. The idea of this being taken away from us again was too much for me to write about yesterday. But today, a day removed, we continue on.

All this to say, I am cognizant of the circumstances by which I watch games and appreciative of the players’ willingness to risk their health in the face of uncertainty. We don’t deserve them. If asked to do the same: face COVID to support my family to the extent that they are, I’m not sure what I would do.

But you’re here for more than a personal soliloquy. So let’s talk fantasy.

We’re four days into the 66 day season (6.06% complete). Michael has jumped out to an early lead on the back of Nelson Cruz and strong starting pitching. It looks like my tracking excel sheet will need to be reworked for this season with the way Yahoo is publishing league stats and ranks, but hopefully I’ll have that by next week. In the meantime I’ve pasted the version Yahoo has in their system.

Dave is also off to a good start. Though he only has 17 innings pitched so far, his ERA and WHIP are in the top two of the league, keeping him near the top of the standings. He is able to get away with this for now while league totals of Wins and Quality Starts are on the order of 2 and 3. He is getting enough Rotisserie Points with his 2 wins and 0 quality starts to keep up with the league.

While we’re on the topic of Innings Pitched: 6.06% of 675 IP is approximately 41 innings that a team would need to be pacing with to hit the limit. Michael and Dean are the only teams on this pace right now, with most of the league between 25 and 35 and Dave lagging at 17. It is too early for everyone’s strategy to be showing in the standings because a few stellar innings or starts is going to be outperforming a bunch of mediocre starts right now. Volume will start to matter in a week or three, I’d guess.

Ryan is off to a good start, sitting in third. Anthony Rizzo is defying his Summer Camp injury concerns and Michael Brantley is defying father time to lead the way for Ryan. He has a well rounded team showing well in all the stat categories.

Cory and Dean sit side by side in 4^th and 5^th by performing well in different attributes. Cory’s offense is off to a good start while Dean’s starting pitching volume is working so far to push up his W, K, and QS.

Max and Paul sit in 6^th and 7^th. Max so far has survived the Sam “draft.” Max made a number of moves before opening day to try to save the situation and be competitive for the season. His pitching is propping him with with Not Justin Bieber, Lance Lynn, and Lance McCullers. Time will tell if Max can keep the patchwork going. Paul has also had his pitching keeping him afloat while a number of his early drafted hitters are scuffling at the start.

BJ, Keith, and Arthur have fallen behind to start the year, but each team is getting at least 8 Rotisserie Points in at least one category so they are performing well in one area. There are plenty of disappointing starts to go around, most notably Ronald Acuna for BJ off to a dismal start, but there of course plenty of time for this to turn around.