Theory on SOM Baseball Pitching Rotations

By Thomas Fischer
August 1, 2006

From what I understand there are two theories on setting pitching rotations and pitching schedules in Strat-O-Matic Baseball. Both are equally valuable in their own way and neither is wrong per say. No matter which theory is followed, it should be kept in mind that regardless of how a pitching rotation is setup your league rules regarding usage should be a consideration. If your league requires pitchers to have a set number of days off between starts or whether or not the usage is based on games started or innings pitched all rules set forth in the league constitution/rule book should be of primary consideration.

The first theory, which I employ in my Strat Leagues, is to cover all innings needed for a season and to set up the strongest rotation possible given roster depth. Let us say for example you have Greg Maddux, Carl Pavano, Jason Marquis, Jarrod Washburn and Nate Robertson on your roster and they are the best most productive starting pitchers on the team. This theory dictates that they are setup according to their card performance in a rotation. Generally, I use as my guideline BR/9, innings, and ERA to determine who should occupy the rotation spots 1-5. Often leagues will allow pitchers rated with an asterisk to pitch on three days rest but this is not always wise to start a pitcher on three days rest for an entire season as it will use up innings and or starts, whichever is the usage guideline for your league.

Given the rotation of Pavano, Marquis, Maddux, Washburn, and Robertson, there should be enough innings between them to last an entire season. Each will start 32 games with Pavano and Marquis, the first two pitchers in the rotation, starting 33 games each in a 162 game schedule. It is quite rare, considering all of the pitchers in the game, that a pitcher should start more than 33 or 34 games in a season. In the past two Major League Baseball seasons, there have only been a handful of pitchers that started more than 34 games in a season and only a couple that has started as many as 36 games. It has been many years since a pitcher has started more than this in a given season.

By covering all of the innings in a season for starting pitchers, and by setting up the strongest rotation possible given the starting pitchers that you may have you stand a good chance of winning more games than you lose. It will of course depend upon the quality of the pitchers but if the rotation is consistent, they have adequate defense behind them, and good offensive support there should be no reason not to win more games than are lost.

The second theory is based on setting up a rotation on a match up basis. Trying to match up the pitchers against teams that they will fare better against is sometimes advantageous, as you would not want to have Jarrod Washburn face a lineup of all right-handed batters. By trying to match up Washburn with a team that has a mix between right and left-handed batters or is heavily burdened with left-handed batters, you have a better chance to beat that team. By matching up Carl Pavano against a team that has a mix of perhaps more right-handed batters than left handed batters you have a better chance to win that type of game as well.

This theory has its good points but more often than not, it creates a lot of confusion for the owner and can lead to overusing pitchers. By not having a consistent rotation, you are left to figure heavily on who is going to start what game against which team. You cannot rely on past performance in the league you are in because generally there are so many trades and other transactions and the rosters are usually so deep that a team you are facing can compensate for your pitching match up.

In the end it all depends upon your managing style and how you want to run your team. If you are a wheeler-dealer then you probably prefer the latter of these two theories. However, if you prefer consistency and order in your Strat-O-Matic franchise then you will probably prefer the former rather than the latter. There are occasions when the two theories can be intermixed but generally, each is separate from the other. Either you do it one-way or you do it the other. Neither is right nor wrong, simply a matter of choice.