Winning a fantasy baseball championship requires hard work. It's a six-months-long grind, which doesn't even consider the bountiful hours of draft preparation. There is no letting up in September, where outhustling your leaguemates can be the difference between winning and having to "try again next year."
Streaming the right pitchers is essential. Often, the choice comes down to a better pitcher facing a better lineup, or a lesser pitcher matched up against a lesser lineup. There really isn't any reason to lean in one direction over the other. As such, having a feel for the associated lineups at that time helps drive the decision.
Playing matchups for hitters, especially in daily leagues, is the key to success. Using batters with the platoon edge on the starting pitcher is one of the most common means of optimizing a lineup. With bullpens covering more innings in today's landscape, choosing hitters facing a team with a suspect bullpen is a wise way of strengthening a fantasy lineup.
Meanwhile, in category-based leagues, selecting individuals with a better chance of stealing a base against that team's battery helps fortify the SB category early on in the matchup so that you can use that particular roster spot on a more complete player the rest of the week.
What follows is a series of observations, specific to different aspects of roster management. The focus will be on changes to a team's production relative to their season-long numbers. Trades, injuries and minor-league callups all contribute to current roster compositions. Researching how a team has fared against right-handed pitching this season may not be an accurate reflection of their present potential.
