Standings, Goals, and Luck

[DOUGHBOYS]

I am one of those guys. One of those guys who tries not to look at the Standings for at least the first month of the season.
Longer if I can stand it.
I started doing it a few years ago. There were two reasons for this.
First, the volatility of the Standings drove me crazy. Second place one day, 10th place the next, ugh.
Why put myself through that?
Second and more importantly, it was a way to remind myself that there is absolutely no strategy in April.
If looking at the Standings and seeing that I have fallen behind early in steals or W's, I may over/react and let that effect my faab shopping.

April is simply an accumulation month. Period.
And so is May, really.
We don't know if our team is going to be a contender or pretender. Same with other teams. We can't even hope for the worst in our opponents because the rbi they get today, may be the rbi needed to pass your closest rival in September.
We haven't even had a barrage of injuries as in past seasons.
Pollock for early drafters and Schwarber have been the worst. Inciarte, Revere, and Blackmon have hurt, but not been doomsdayers.
There will be lots more.

In his blog, Wayne likes to have weekly goals and try to hit them.
Since the week the NFBC has begun, I have only had offensive goals. I feel that pitching is not goalworthy on a weekly or even monthly status.
Pitching comes in waves. Some weeks or months, the Closers see a lot more action than other weeks or months. Performance/wise, Starters fluctuate too much for me to set standard goals to obtain.
So, I throw who I feel will be the best nine pitchers in my lineup and hope for the best.

Offense is different. They do not fluctuate as much on a team basis. Individually, sure, each player will go through highs and lows, but as a team, it is easy to set goals.
I have had the same goals since starting in the NFBC.
Mine are daily goals. These are easier in that I can just look at what my team did during the day to see if they matched my goals.
I want a .280 batting average, eight runs, seven rbi, two homers, and one stolen base.
Some days, this is an unreasonable request from my players.
There may be only five games that day.
I'll take that into consideration and 'settle' for less.
Having these goals allows me to see at a glace, how my team did for the day.

Last week, I had a team go four straight days without a homer. Then, BOOM! 10 Homers in two days.
It looked and felt good, but I knew for the last six days that I was still two homers short of what I wanted.
I don't get myself too high or low in meeting or not meeting goals.
To me, this is pitching season. Usually, pitchers start out a little ahead of hitters. I believe it is because of the colder weather, balls not carrying as much, and hitters still working on timing.
Mostly, I hope for good luck to tell the truth.
Last night, Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard got zero help from their bullpens, while W.Y. Chen got a lot of help.
That, is outside of our control.
To me, the W is the hardest stat in our game.
Every other statistic is fluid. The W is based on situations in a game.
Sure, sometimes our pitchers earn a Win, but mostly, timing of game situations, the bullpen, Managerial decisions, all come into play.
Or,'luck'.
We bet on our pitchers to beat theirs. Once he leaves the game with a lead, our job is done. We put him and our fantasy team in the best position possible.
Now, we can only hope for luck.