Typically, when referring to managerial tendencies we are talking about the frequency in which he gives the steal sign or when he is most likely to reach into the bullpen. We are looking at the moves a manager makes during a game and how it impacts us in the fantasy industry. This week however, something very unique has been presented to us and we’re here to break it down for you.

The Tampa Bay Rays and their skipper Kevin Cash have decided to take an alternative approach to game planning in regards to starting pitching. Now we’ve all heard of the term “bullpen day” and that typically means that a team plans to start a relief pitcher and follow that up with several other relievers, each going an inning or two. Over the weekend the Rays made the announcement that they would be rolling out 11-year veteran relief pitcher Sergio Romo to start the game against the Angels on Saturday.

What makes this situation unique?

Initially, starting Sergio Romo isn’t all that crazy as relievers always get the start on bullpen days. What makes this time different is the plan of action announced before first pitch.  Kevin Cash said that Romo, who is a right handed pitcher, would come in and pitch to Zack Cozart , Mike Trout and Justin Upton , all right handed hitters. Cash wanted to then bring in “starter”, Ryan Yarbrough to take over from there. What this did was allow Yarbrough to come in and get into a rhythm early on without having to face those power righties until the fourth inning. The logic is old, bringing in a specialist to get certain batters out at crucial points of the game. Doing so in the first inning is completely new territory. See the box score for yourself here.  

Real life impact and result

The plan went exactly the way Cash and the Rays hoped it would. Romo started off the game by striking out all three batters faced on eighteen pitches. More runs have been scored in 2018 in the first inning than any other inning so shutting the door on the 1-2-3 hitters early on in a game goes a very long way in setting yourself up for a win. Yarborough then took over in the second inning where he went on to pitch 6 1/3 innings allowing four hits and one earned run while walking one and striking out four on 92 pitches.

Another benefit of this strategy afforded Yarborough the chance to face the top of the order only two times, a very underrated factor involving this situation. This is proven by the fact that in 2018, starting pitchers are giving up a .697 OPS the first time through the order, a .722 OPS the second time through and an .805 OPS the third time through. To recap, this strategy single handedly took away the risk of the lefty facing dangerous righties in the first inning and also allowing him to stay away from the notorious third go around through the lineup. What the Rays and Kevin Cash did was limit Yarbrough’s exposure to dangerous situations and put him in the best position to be successful. If used correctly, it works and makes a ton of sense. They may have just changed the pitching game as we know it.

Fantasy Impact

The meat and potatoes of this situation lies right here, the fantasy aspect. In regards to season long fantasy baseball there is one major impact and that is in leagues that have start limits. You would’ve had the ability to start a pitcher that went over six innings and got a win without being charged for a start. Also, since Romo only went one inning, Yarborough didn’t need to pitch the five innings required to qualify for a win. There is a negative to this whole thing however. Since Yarborough didn’t technically start he was not eligible for a quality start, if your league uses that as a category.

In terms of DFS, it gets even juicier. FanDuel and DraftKings list “probable” pitchers who are scheduled to start the game. In this situation, Sergio Romo was listed to start the game. Players who don’t know the situation may just take this minimum priced “starter” and think they are being sneaky. The flip side of this is that Ryan Yarborough wasn’t even listed and had to be searched for in order to be placed in lineups, likely reducing his ownership by a large margin. If this is a route you wanted to take you got him at $4900 on DK and $6200 on FD, near minimum for pitching on both sites. Ownership was around 1% on both sites and he put up 21.25 on DK and 34 on FD, exceeding value in every way possible.

Now obviously as this happens more frequently, players will become more aware of what is going on and ownership levels will become a little higher. There is also the possibility that DFS sites also adapt to this and raise salaries for players expected to take over after the starters listed. For now though, it’s on us to look into it and decide if it’s worth using players in these types of situations. Sunday for example, the Rays started Romo AGAIN! This time the expectation being that Anthony Banda would take over and give a starters workload. What actually happened was very different from Saturday. The box score can be found here. Romo went 1 1/3 innings followed by Matt Andriese who went two innings and Jose Alvarado who went 1 1/3 innings. Anthony Banda then entered the game in the fifth inning with two outs and pitched the final 3 1/3 innings. Those of you that hoped for a repeat of Saturday and rostered Banda were simply let down. Researching each days’ specific plan for a team using this strategy is integral and putting your trust in them sticking to that plan is even more important in order to roster them.

Final Thoughts

This is a situation that has a ton of implications moving forward if other teams implement it. It’s attracting a ton of attention in baseball circles, none more than MLB Networks’ own Brian Kenny who tweeted this, this and this.  He wrote a book two years ago called “Ahead of the Curve” where he references this strategy and calls it “The Opener”. While we shouldn’t jump right on this bandwagon and call it a screaming success after one weekend of usage, we need to strongly consider it as a future path to success.

The rationale behind it is intriguing and the potential rewards from it force us to wonder about the possibilities. It’s combination of real life and fantasy impact make it extremely important to examine as a whole. Is this a trendy fad that disappears relatively quickly or is this a turning point in the way Major League Baseball manages their pitching staffs going forward? Only time will tell. One thing we do know, Brian Kenny is on board.