How To Play Fantasy Baseball (Roto) Rotisserie Leagues (Overview)

February 19, 2023

Mark Kieffer gives an overview on how to play Fantasy Baseball (Roto) Rotisserie Leagues.

With the NFL blowing the season's final whistle this weekend with Super Bowl Sunday, the fantasy world is going to turn its attention to fantasy baseball.

Have you ever wondered what a roto league is and how to play in it? If you've never played before, it can be very intimidating to just jump in. Below is an overview of how to play the most challenging but also most rewarding fantasy game there is: Rotisserie Fantasy Baseball.

This will be part of our ongoing series for fantasy baseball draft strategies, overviews and how-to guides. Good luck RotoBallers!

5 x 5 Format

If you are looking around at public online leagues such as those on the NFBC, most of the roto formats are 5 x 5. What this means is that there are five hitting categories that are tracked and five pitching categories that are tracked.

The most common categories in a 5 x 5 league are: Batting Average (AVG), Runs (R), RBI, Home Runs (HR), Stolen Bases (SB), Wins (W), ERA, WHIP, Strikeouts (K), and Saves (SV).

Some sites have variations on the 5 x 5 format by replacing AVG with On-Base Percentage (OBP) and SV with Saves + Holds (SHOLDS).

As with any fantasy game, it's always essential to check the rules and settings before drafting. There would be nothing worse than assuming your 5 x 5 league had Saves and it was actually SHOLDS because you would be taking relief pitchers too early most likely.

Some home leagues will do a 6 x 6 format adding in various sabermetric stats and taking out some traditional ones. All it means is there are six hitting categories and six pitching categories but those specific categories are going to depend on whatever the league setup is.

Scoring

Now that we know the categories, it's important to know how to score and what determines a winner.

In a points league, if your player hits an HR, you get a certain number of points. If they steal a base, you get a certain number of points. Whoever has the most points wins.

In roto leagues, the points are based on how you are ranked in each category. For example, if you lead your league in home runs in a 12-team league, you'd get 12 points for that category. The second-most would get 11, the third-most 10, the fourth-most nine, etc, all the way to last in the league would get one point.

In theory, in a 12-team 5 x 5 league, if a team won every category (which is rare), they would have 120 points (12 x 10 categories = 120). On the flip side, if a team was last in every category, they would have 10 points (1 x 10 categories = 10).

Every team is going to have between 10 and 120 points, and whoever has the most points on the last day of the season wins the league.

A Jack Of All Trades A.K.A. A Balanced Mindset

In order to have a good roto team, you have to have a very balanced team. Although it is possible to win your roto league by finishing last in a single category, it's extremely difficult. Going into the season, I typically aim to be in the top three in each of the 10 categories. On draft day, I never want to completely blow off a category.

For example, in a points league, a slugger that bats .230 and hits 40 home runs is going to be pretty valuable. In a roto league, the batter that hits .270 with 20 home runs and 15 stolen bases is going to be more valuable because they are average or above average in every batting category (assume both hitters score 80+ runs and drive in 80+ runs for the sake of this example).

Generally, to win an NFBC format league with 14 hitters, you want your average batter to hit .260 with 25 home runs, 80 R, 80 RBI, and 10 SB or so. If you could draft 14 batters that did that, you'd be very competitive in your league.

The problem is roto puts you in conundrums because the players that average the thresholds you are looking for across all categories get drafted in the first couple of rounds.

For example, ATC has 96 players projected for 10 or more stolen bases, 49 players projected for 25 or more home runs, and just 18 guys projected for both 25 or more home runs and 10 or more steals. Most of those 18 guys are gone in the first two or three rounds. If you incorporate the list with 25+ HR, 10+SB, and .260+ average, that is just 11 batters.

According to ATC, there are only nine players that are projected for .260 with 25 HR, 80 R, 80 RBI, and 10 SB or more.

In short, you can't draft 14 guys that hit all those thresholds, so what do you do?

It's that conundrum which is how people get deep into various draft strategies and approaches. There is no one answer to solve it. In short, the more balanced you can be throughout the draft, the better position you are in to scoop up value and have a competitive team.

The same conundrums go with pitching. There are starting pitchers that strike out a lot of batters but are volatile with their ratios. There are pitchers that have elite ratios but do not strike out many batters.

Knowing where categories are aplenty and when they become scarce is important. Looking at ADPs can give a sense of where those category pockets are so you can know where to target after getting a stud or two early on.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, you have a better sense of how roto leagues work and how they are different from points leagues. The key to winning a roto league is to place as high as possible across all categories. You do not have to win any specific category but being competitive in every category is the goal.

The fun part is you could take 10 different fantasy baseball players who are successful and they will all have a different approach as to how they build teams. There is no set formula to build a team. Experienced roto players understand the need for balance while beginner roto players often get fixated on top 300 lists or overall rankings. Often taking the "lower ranked' player that actually fits your roster better because they contribute to the stats you need makes the most sense.

If you build your roto team as balanced as possible, you will give yourself the best chance to win.

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