NFBC Weekly Profile - Adam Kleeberg
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:30 am
In the Year of the Pitcher many fantasy owners believed the key to season-long success was targeting and acquiring top-line starting pitchers in the early rounds of their drafts.
Adam Kleeberg, though, decided to go a different route. And so far that decision has paid off handsomely.
Kleeberg waited before grabbing his top starters in his March 29 RotoWire Online Championship league. That move has proven to be golden as the season nears the end of June. Thanks in large part to the pitchers he snared a bit later, Kleeberg is leading his league and is second in the overall competition heading into play today.
“No question that my team’s success comes from drafting Yu Darvish and Max Scherzer in the fifth and sixth rounds,” Kleeberg said. “That combo has completely carried me and allowed me flexibility in my pitching. Also, my Top 4 hitters (Joey Votto, Justin Upton, Jay Bruce and Paul Goldschmidt) have been healthy and have been Top 50 players.”
Deciding to wait on starting pitching is one thing. Hitting on potential studs when you do is another and the key to making that plan work. Together, Darvish and Scherzer have combined 18 wins, 259 strikeouts and both have WHIPs under 1.00.
When you get that kind of production from your top two starters it’s not a surprise to see your name at the top of the standings.
“It is my pitching at approximately 5,200 points that is carrying me,” he said.
Another key for Kleeberg on Draft Day was not focusing too greatly on positions he needed to address. Instead, it was all about accumulating talent.
“For example, I drafted Votto in Round 1 – I actually really wanted Cargo but he went right in front of me – and then Goldschmidt was there in Round 4 and I had him as my best player on the board so I took him,” he said. “Freddie Freeman was sitting there for me in Round 8 and even though I knew I would have to lock up a utility spot early – which I hate doing – I thought he was too good not to get my third first baseman in the top eight rounds.”
That’s also put Kleeberg in the enviable position of often having too much talent to choose from when setting his lineup each week. In fact, one of this year’s biggest fantasy surprises has had a difficult time cracking the starting lineup for Kleeberg.
“Dominic Brown has been great for me but I barely play him,” Kleeberg said. “With Freeman at my Utility and my outfield consisting of Upton, Bruce, Desmond Jennings, Brett Gardner and Dexter Fowler it was hard to find a spot for Brown until he got crazy hot. Every week one of those six outfielders is on my bench.”
Many fantasy owners would kill to have that predicament to confront each week. That kind of depth has also meant Kleeberg has had to rely less heavily on the Waiver Wire thus far.
He has made a couple of big pickups, however. Most notably were his acquisitions of Edward Mujica and Justin Masterson.
Success in the Online Championship is nothing new for Kleeberg. He finished second in a pair of leagues and fourth in another last season. Interestingly, despite enjoying plenty of success in the NFBC actually making a commitment to watching baseball has proven to be a more tortuous decision.
“I still don’t like to watch baseball,” he said. “I have not been to a game this year and have not watched an entire game from start to finish. I’ve probably seen less than 40 innings in total on the season.”
Kleeberg may not be perched in front of the television every night of the week during the season but he’s experienced enough to know that while it’s great being in a top position at the end of June the dog days of the season have yet to begin. There is plenty of work left to do if he is going to win his league title and make a serious run at the event’s $70,000 grand prize.
“I need to get stolen bases and stay healthy,” he said. “The average, runs, home runs and RBIs should be there and my pitchers are decent. At the draft I thought Gardner and Jennings could get 70-plus stolen bases combined but they are at 20 now. I need them to pick it up but I am concerned about both of them going forward.”
Adam Kleeberg, though, decided to go a different route. And so far that decision has paid off handsomely.
Kleeberg waited before grabbing his top starters in his March 29 RotoWire Online Championship league. That move has proven to be golden as the season nears the end of June. Thanks in large part to the pitchers he snared a bit later, Kleeberg is leading his league and is second in the overall competition heading into play today.
“No question that my team’s success comes from drafting Yu Darvish and Max Scherzer in the fifth and sixth rounds,” Kleeberg said. “That combo has completely carried me and allowed me flexibility in my pitching. Also, my Top 4 hitters (Joey Votto, Justin Upton, Jay Bruce and Paul Goldschmidt) have been healthy and have been Top 50 players.”
Deciding to wait on starting pitching is one thing. Hitting on potential studs when you do is another and the key to making that plan work. Together, Darvish and Scherzer have combined 18 wins, 259 strikeouts and both have WHIPs under 1.00.
When you get that kind of production from your top two starters it’s not a surprise to see your name at the top of the standings.
“It is my pitching at approximately 5,200 points that is carrying me,” he said.
Another key for Kleeberg on Draft Day was not focusing too greatly on positions he needed to address. Instead, it was all about accumulating talent.
“For example, I drafted Votto in Round 1 – I actually really wanted Cargo but he went right in front of me – and then Goldschmidt was there in Round 4 and I had him as my best player on the board so I took him,” he said. “Freddie Freeman was sitting there for me in Round 8 and even though I knew I would have to lock up a utility spot early – which I hate doing – I thought he was too good not to get my third first baseman in the top eight rounds.”
That’s also put Kleeberg in the enviable position of often having too much talent to choose from when setting his lineup each week. In fact, one of this year’s biggest fantasy surprises has had a difficult time cracking the starting lineup for Kleeberg.
“Dominic Brown has been great for me but I barely play him,” Kleeberg said. “With Freeman at my Utility and my outfield consisting of Upton, Bruce, Desmond Jennings, Brett Gardner and Dexter Fowler it was hard to find a spot for Brown until he got crazy hot. Every week one of those six outfielders is on my bench.”
Many fantasy owners would kill to have that predicament to confront each week. That kind of depth has also meant Kleeberg has had to rely less heavily on the Waiver Wire thus far.
He has made a couple of big pickups, however. Most notably were his acquisitions of Edward Mujica and Justin Masterson.
Success in the Online Championship is nothing new for Kleeberg. He finished second in a pair of leagues and fourth in another last season. Interestingly, despite enjoying plenty of success in the NFBC actually making a commitment to watching baseball has proven to be a more tortuous decision.
“I still don’t like to watch baseball,” he said. “I have not been to a game this year and have not watched an entire game from start to finish. I’ve probably seen less than 40 innings in total on the season.”
Kleeberg may not be perched in front of the television every night of the week during the season but he’s experienced enough to know that while it’s great being in a top position at the end of June the dog days of the season have yet to begin. There is plenty of work left to do if he is going to win his league title and make a serious run at the event’s $70,000 grand prize.
“I need to get stolen bases and stay healthy,” he said. “The average, runs, home runs and RBIs should be there and my pitchers are decent. At the draft I thought Gardner and Jennings could get 70-plus stolen bases combined but they are at 20 now. I need them to pick it up but I am concerned about both of them going forward.”