Are You Ready For Fantasy Baseball - 2009?

Walks and hits per inning pitched.

Hi fbaezer. We haven't heard from you for a spell. My dog is fattening herself up, working out some. Getting ready for our 1st matchup.
There are 2 pitching categories I don't fully understand. One is called Saves (SV) and the other Holds (Hld). Both involve Relief Pitchers and how they perform. I don't understand the distinction between them but I can tell you this bit of baseball lore, which I am probably not making up.
Years ago there was a pitcher, a RP, who would typically make an appearance in, say, the 6th or 7th inning. If his team was ahead and they won he did well but got little recognition in the stats, But suppose his team was ahead by only 1-0 in the 6th. He could deliberately give up a run (1-1) and then it would be his game to win if he pitched well and his teammates racked up a run or 2. The SP was out of the picture. He apparently did this on a regular basis and ended the season with 20 some wins.
A sports writer came up with the notion of a lesser stat, the save vs a win.
Something like that. Someone who has a partial knowledge of baseball would have to explain it.

A hold (abbreviated HLD or H) is awarded to a relief pitcher who:

1. enters the game in a save situation; that is, one of the following three conditions applies:
* his team has a lead of no more than three runs, and there are at least three outs remaining
* the potential tying run is either on base, at bat, or on deck
* there are at least three innings remaining in the game
2. records at least one out;
3. leaves the game without his team having relinquished the lead at any point.

A save is a statistic credited to a relief pitcher, as set forth in Rule 10.19 of the Rules of Baseball. That rule states the official scorer shall credit a pitcher with a save when such pitcher meets all three of the following conditions[2]:

1. He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team
2. He is not the winning pitcher
3. He satisfies one of the following conditions:
1. He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning.
2. He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck
3. He pitches for at least three innings

If the pitcher surrenders the lead at any point, he cannot get a save, but he may be credited as the winning pitcher if his team comes back to win. No more than one save may be credited in each game.

If a relief pitcher satisfies all of the criteria for a save, except he does not finish the game, he will often be credited with a hold (not an officially recognized statistic by Major League Baseball).

Interesting. So if a team has a 50 run lead, and a pitcher comes in and pitches the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings, regardless of the final score, as long as his team wins, he gets a save.

That I did not know.

I thought the pitcher gets the win if his team comes back from behind. He gets the save if he secures a win already in hand, no?

I'm sure (or think I'm sure) yahoo credits pitchers with save who've only pitched one inning..

Ptichers get the save, as opposed to a hold, provided they get the last out in the 9th.

Right...
but then this wouldn't be true -

jpinMilwaukee wrote:

A save is a statistic credited to a relief pitcher, as set forth in Rule 10.19 of the Rules of Baseball. That rule states the official scorer shall credit a pitcher with a save when such pitcher meets all three of the following conditions[2]:

1. He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team
2. He is not the winning pitcher
3. He satisfies one of the following conditions:
1. He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning.
2. He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck
3. He pitches for at least three innings

Yes, but "normally" that's if the lead is not more than 3 runs. However, under the rule, if a pitcher is not in line for the win and pitches the last 3 innings and his team wins, he gets the Save regardless of his team's lead. His team could have a humongous lead when he entered the game (a 50 run lead, in my example), and he would still get the Save.

No, the pitcher getting the Save need only satisfy ONE of those final three conditions. So, he could get the save if he pitches at least one inning and has a lead of no more than 3 runs, OR if he pitches for at least three innings, regardless of his team's lead when he entered the game.

Thanks, I misread..

Okay next dumb question.

I know what a starting pitcher is.
I know what a relief pitcher is.
So what's a plain "P" - pitcher?
And how does that differ from a SP or RP?
And does it make any difference in whether I show him as a "P" rather than SP or RP?

You can plug either a starter or a reliever into a "P" slot.

Okay I have 2 starting pitchers and 2 relieving ptichers and 3 just plain old pitchers. None are on the bench. So they all count if they happen to be scheduled on any given day and whatever I designate them doesn't matter?

That's right.

okie dokie. danke

I reckon the logic of 2SP slots, 2RPslots and 3P slots is to prevent you from loading up your roster with all SP or all RP. Allthough you will see a guy sometime who is listed as being eligible as both a SP and a RP.
By the way, if you look on the your team page you will see the scores of games in progress for your guys. Click on the score and up pops a boxscore and a play by play update every 30 or 60 seconds. Nice layout of the data.

Has any of you noticed that Adam Jones has opened his eyes (in the Yahoo! photo)?

You mean on his profile page?

I don't think I'd looked at that before.

Do you think he will play better now that he can see?