The Daily Game and BvP

[DOUGHBOYS]

I do not play the daily game. My personality includes addictive behavior. I'm an idiot when I drink booze. Knowing what it does to me, I swore off the stuff when our children came into the world.
For a year, I was a bookie and made 1,000 mile round trips to Las Vegas over a weekend, just for the action.
I was a horrible bookie. I lacked the toughness required to 'make people pay'. So much so, that I never collected from large losers, while making sure I paid from my end.
I was probably the only bookie who ever lost money.

Then came fantasy baseball. It was something that I can throw myself into without splitting my family.
The NFBC simply stepped up that commitment in that Sundays and other times of the week, the family knows that I need 'my own time'. As you can see by these message boards, I am 100% vested in the NFBC. I think I have 25 teams or something like that and will probably have four or five football teams too, just to have some 'irons in the fire'.

Now comes the daily game. I know what will happen to me if I enter the daily game. In a sense, it'll have the same effect on me as alcohol. I'd become an idiot. The 'my time' that my family now allows me, would turn into a daily ritual in that I put the ANAL in analysis.
What has happened to me is that I get calls from friends wanting 'help' with their daily lineups. Helping friends keeps me in touch with a game avoided. Off the bat, I'll explain that I am not being as thorough as I would like to be. That any advice from me could easily come up a cropper.

The largest change from the season long game to the daily game is condensation. The season long game will have many matchups. A batter may be 5-40 against Clayton Kershaw, but 7-10 with 2 homers against Zack Greinke to even out his chances of doing well. In the daily game, the focus is only on the Kershaw matchup or Greinke matchup.

In the daily game, there is a strong reliance on these matchups or BvP.
Some believe completely in past matchups and stats against a batter or pitcher. Some put little stock in it at all.
'Ownage' does exist. When I was in College, I couldn't wait to hit against a fella named Rusty. Rusty could never fool me. I saw everything right out of his hand and picked up if it was a fastball or breaking ball earlier than other pitchers.
I clobbered Rusty. If I didn't hit the ball hard against Rusty, it was on me.
There was also another pitcher named Manny. He would constantly throw sinkers. I hated his sinkers. I could never hit him hard and when I did, it would just kill worms in the ground.
I owned Rusty. Manny owned me.
And you know what?
Rusty had better overall pitching stats than Manny.
So overall, I had better stats against a 'better' pitcher over the 'worse' pitcher.

'Ownage' does exist.
At the same time, I tell friends not to completely buy into ownage.
I tell them to do their due dilligence. That ownage may have come five years ago when the pitcher or hitter were different players.
In the past, a pitcher may have gotten away with nickel curves against Bryce Harper. Harper is not that hitter now.
A pitcher may have faced JD Martinez while at Houston for 10 at bats. JD Martinez is not that same guy now.
Or, the circumstances may be different for a hitter or pitcher now.
A pitcher may have had a lot of trouble against Freddie Freeman in the past. That pitcher KNOWS he has had trouble with Freeman. In the past, he took his medicine in facing Freeman. Now, with a depleted Braves lineup, it allows a pitcher to go around Freeman, if healthy.
BvP is the first thing I hear from callers in validating a player. It is a good source. It can also be fools gold. A lot of homework must be done to see if each BvP is valid or not.

When getting calls from daily players, I try not to recommend players. Instead, I'll ask them why they are interested in certain players. That tells me not only who they're interested in, but why. Sometimes, I'll be able to cipher just how much homework they have done.
At most, I will bring up players in a broader sense. For instance, the adjustment to the American League is difficult for pitchers used to the National League.Pitchers like Mike Fiers or even Cole Hamels could have a tough time with the transition and if a batter has a good BvP against those hurlers, it may be gold.

See? I just wrote an article on the Daily Gme and BvP and have never played the damn game.
My addictions knows no bounds.

[headhunters]

also- confidence. you were confident against one. relaxed. you knew you could hit him. he knew it too. I think people that discount this have never played golf- or at least have never played it for money that "hurt" if they lost it. confidence- it matters a lot.