Inning Maximums

rafi slapped me on the wrist when I confidently asserted that most leagues don't have maximum IP rules.

Lots of people play roto with inning maximums. It's the default league setting in Yahoo and I think maybe in ESPN as well.

I'm not sure if this is true or not, but rafi's correct that I shouldn't have sounded so certain without having all of the data in front of me. My apologies.

Anyway, rafi continued...

It changes the dynamics of the game somewhat because you end up trying to put together the best 1250 innings you can or whatever the max may be. Pacing yourself pitching-wise becomes an issue to keep track of. And knowing that your competitors who are way ahead of pace on innings will be dropping back during the stretch run as their illusory leads in k's and wins fades.

I'd probably worry less about pacing myself and more about trying to accumulate the best stats I could regardless of whether there was an IP requirement or not.

In the A.L. league I use to track my FAAB logs, only three teams finished above 1,250 IP...and barely at that. One of these teams was a non-contender who had already dumped, so losing stats because he hadn't cleared 1,250 IP would have been meaningless.

I think the same problem that I wrote about in my original post still would apply. In most leagues, a team with a lot of innings often has a mediocre or poor pitching staff. The owner is often trying to throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks because he's dug himself a hole and doesn't have much of a choice.

I suppose in a shallower one-league league or a mixed league, much of what rafi is talking about would or could apply. In that case, I'd suggest taking a closer look at ratios as well as raw numbers.

Scott Kazmir's 166 whiffs in 152 1/3 IP last year put him a "mere" 26th in the majors in 2008 (tied with Jake Peavy). But his 9.81 K/IP rate was third in the majors. In a league without inning limits, who cares? You're ticked off that Kazmir didn't get another 7-8 starts. But in a league where you could run out of innings, Kazmir's strikeout proficiency is good news.

Proficiency is one thing I'd look for, but efficiency is another. If your closer's manager throws him out there in a lot of non-save situations, that isn't doing you any favors. Nor is the manager who leaves your starter out there for an additional 20-30 pitches at the end of the game when the outcome is clearly in hand but your pitcher is also clearly out of gas. Even if you get a few more outs, you're losing valuable innings.

I would still emphasize that your goal is to get the best stats and trying to micromanage your innings cap should not be a detriment to your squad. Chances are good that if your #4 starter throws up a complete game gem, you're not going to be cursing his name because he put up too many good innings.