Clay Link’s Head to Head Season Recap

My second year in Tout Wars H2H was a big improvement on the first.

The move to a points-based scoring system (from categories), with every out recorded being worth a point, played into my strengths as a player. I’ve found that I am better at finding an edge on the pitching side, and in this format, I was rewarded greatly (more so than in standard 5×5 leagues) for my pitching finds. I finished second, and while it’s sometimes said that second place is “first loser,” I consider this a great accomplishment given the quality of the field.

I won six consecutive matchups to close out the season and felt like I really had the league down from a roster-construction standpoint late in the year. Unfortunately for me, by the time I had the pieces in place, it was too late to catch Jake Ciely. I emerged from the auction and reserve draft with a poorly constructed roster — four hitters on my bench. By the end of the season, I did not have a single hitter on my bench, and I think that’s the way you have to play this 12-team points format. With two lineup periods per week — Monday and Friday lineup submissions — it’s important to just have a slew of arms to rotate into your lineup to maximize points. I learned to treat the waiver wire as my bench for hitters, picking up hitters only when there was a need in my starting lineup.

My highest scorers:

• • Justin Verlander – 732 points
  • Aaron Nola – 665 points
  • Blake Snell – 639 points
  • Carlos Santana – 466.5 points
  • Xander Bogaerts – 461 points
  • Dallas Keuchel – 440 points
  • Jesus Aguilar – 439.5 points
  • Lorenzo Cain – 430 points
  • Stephen Piscotty – 423 points
  • George Springer – 420 points
  • Tyler Anderson – 387 points

Notable pickups:

• Steven Matz ($1)
• Tyler Skaggs ($61)
• Tyler Glasnow ($0)
• Hyun-Jin Ryu ($57)
• Willy Adames ($0)

Interestingly, James Shields, who I streamed for only one week, would have ranked 12th on my team in points had I left him in for all of his starts (384 points), highlighting the importance of innings.

Busts: Willson Contreras ($11), Nomar Mazara ($11) — not a terrible year for Mazara in standard roto leagues, but he finished with fewer points than Kyle Seager in this format — Luke Weaver ($10), Dinelson Lamet ($5), Scott Kingery ($5).

–Clay