Relevence of Spring Training to Fantasy Baseball

In this era of algebraic statistical analysis, where we pour over volumes of data trying to find even the slightest edge over our opponents, one might wonder how much stock he should put into spring training stats and performances.  In my humble opinion, very little, especially in the first couple of weeks.  At this time, we should just be overjoyed that there is baseball again and be happy to follow our favorite teams and players.  With all the other preparation we do for our upcoming drafts, do we really need to spend time delving into the significance of Matt Garza's 3 innings of scoreless dominance, or Carl Crawford's 2-2 day?  My answer is no.  In those three innings of work, how many AA batters did Garza face?  How many of his outs were recorded against players who will actually be playing every day in April?  What pitcher(s) did Crawford face?  Was there  any stress or meaning in his plate appearances?  This is a time for batters and pitchers to get their timing down and to build up the strength and stamina and really has no significance to fantasy baseball.

Now, when the spring rosters are winnowed , and pitchers start to stretch their pitch counts a little, and batters start playing more innings, then we can show a little more specific attention.  Even then, if Albert Pujols hits .200 in the spring, are you going to pay any less for him?  The only spring stats I pay attention to are the bad stats for pitchers.  If A.J. Burnett is getting consistently kicked around in the spring, then his recent downward trends are probably going to continue.  All this does is convince me I should look elsewhere for pitching.  You might want to monitor the performances of players, especially pitchers, that are dealing with injuries.  Is Brandon Webb getting anyone out?  How is is velocity?  This information could be useful on draft day but it not worth more than a casual glance at the box score or game notes.

Spring training should be a time of enjoyment and anticipation, as a back drop for your preparations for your upcoming draft.  Be excited for your first glimpse of that heralded prospect that could be up in June.  Don't get overly excited about the awesome play or depressed about the poor performances of the stars you intend to protect as keepers.  Don't put too much into the displays of power and offense of batters playing spring ball in Arizona and don't abandon ship if a pitcher gets shellacked while throwing 75% curve balls in an outing as he tries to work off the rust.

As fantasy owners, we have enough data to devour without adding too much more, especially if it is rather insignificant in the long run.  Enjoy the fact baseball is back and it is only a short wait until we do need to pay attention to the stats and performances.

I will be attending Ron Shandler's First Pitch in Chicago this weekend.  I will post something early next week.