Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Points Draft Review: Dodgers on Discount

This article is part of our Baseball Draft Kit series.

Last weekend, I drafted at the Hotel Belleclaire in New York City for perhaps my toughest annual league: the Tout Wars Head-to-Head (H2H) Points league.

I can hear the fantasy snobs now. "A 12-team head-to-head points league is your toughest league?"

While it's not the deepest league in terms of the player pool — it's not an AL-only league or a 15-team mixed league for example — it is nonetheless quite the challenge trying to max out your 23 active spots every series while sustaining the best team into September and throughout the fantasy playoffs.

The field in this league is stacked:

• Sky Dombroskie, Fantasy Insider Baseball (2024 champ)
• Lauren Auerbach, Fantrax
• Nick Pollack, Pitcher List
• Chris Towers, CBS Sports
• Ryan Hallam, Fighting Chance Fantasy
• JB Branson, RotoBaller
• Frank Ammirante, RotoBaller, Fantasy Pros
• Joe Gallina, Fantasy Alarm
• Ariel Cohen, Fangraphs, CBS Sports, RotoBaller
• Michael Govier, FTN Fantasy
• Chris Torres, Pitcher List

Head-to-Head Points Format Overview

The head-to-head points format is difficult for me in part because it strays from almost every other league I play in. Rotisserie scoring is and has always been my favorite way to play the game of fantasy baseball. However, I recognize head-to-head is growing in popularity and I have fun with it, even if it might not always reward the "best" or highest-scoring full-season team at the end of the year.

Category balance is not a concern in a head-to-head points league, but the scoring in this league still puts some incentive on stolen bases. Meanwhile, there are two designated relief pitcher slots on the pitching side, plus seven points awarded per save, keeping closers in high demand.

Like with any points format, it's probably best to start by plugging the numbers into the RotoWire calculator or a similar tool. Jeff Erickson points out that there is no universal scoring format for head-to-head fantasy baseball, which is a shame. Hopefully one will emerge in time. This league has gone with the CBS points format for several years running now:

Hitting

Single: 1
Double: 2
Triple: 3
Home Run: 4
RBI: 1
Run: 1
Base on Balls: 1
Strikeouts: -.5
Stolen base: 2
Caught stealing: -1

Pitching

Win: 7
Loss: -5
Save: 7
Quality Start: 3
Strikeout: .5
Base on balls: -1
Inning pitched: 3
Hits allowed: -1
Earned Runs: -1
Hit batsman: -1

My Tout Wars Head-to-Head Points Team

Starting pitching gets a boost in this format, and I ended up with three Dodgers starters early on in the auction draft, with the bidding stopping short of what I expected for all three ($260 budget).

Talking with my leaguemates during one of the breaks, I got the sense that there is real trepidation toward Dodgers players — their arms in particular — in the head-to-head format. I understand somewhat given that only two of their pitchers exceeded 90 innings during the regular season last year, but I don't believe it should weigh down pitchers of this caliber to a significant extent. My thinking is: you have to get there, first and foremost. Their other pitchers were reasonably priced as well: Tyler Glasnow ($12), Tanner Scott ($3), Shohei Ohtani THE PITCHER ($3), Dustin May ($2).

My full pitching staff:

Reserves: Justin Martinez, Carlos Estevez, Tomoyuki Sugano, Alexis Diaz.

Cristopher Sanchez is perhaps the biggest riser in recent drafts. ESPN's Jeff Passan started the Cy Young buzz — at least on a national level — earlier this spring. More recently, Jeff Zimmerman, author of The Process, made a bold prediction over at FanGraphs that Sanchez will be a top-three starting pitcher. There may still be a buying opportunity here, but your mileage may vary at this stage.

Shane McClanahan injured his arm during Saturday's Grapefruit League game, and just by the look of it, I assumed he was done for the season. However, there was an encouraging report Sunday afternoon. Hopefully for McClanahan's sake, it's a brief absence, but it's still a lesson against optimism for a pitcher returning from their second Tommy John surgery.

On the hitting side, I ended up building around Wyatt Langford, which was not the plan — it just played out that way. I was in on the bidding on Juan Soto at $40-plus and Vladimir Guerrero close to that number.

I think Matt McLain will end the year as a top-three second baseman, and while I didn't "need steals," I was happy to add other well-rounded players in Michael Harris and Christian Yelich. Christian Walker looks to be in the clear for Opening Day, and there appears to still be a buy-low window on Austin Riley. I was happy with the offense in the end and I think the final product justified not spending at the top of the pool.

Full results for all Tout Wars drafts can be found here.

How did I do? Do you play head-to-head fantasy baseball? Do you play head-to-head points specifically, and if so, what scoring system do you use? I'd love to hear from you.