Setting your fantasy lineup is one of the toughest decisions to make on a daily or weekly basis. I recently released a suite of start/sit tools to help with deciding one of two players to start or sit. These tools are available for the MLB, NHL, NBA, and NFL. Each start/sit decision is broken down into different categories such as Own/Sit percentage analysis, performance analysis, FantasySP player rating, expert consensus, and more.
The tools are good, but I want them to be great. The next evolutionary step with the start/sit tool is to include scheduled match-ups for the fantasy week.
For the NFL, it showcases the defensive match-up for the week and shows where the defense ranks for points per game and how well they do against the run or pass. This way if you were on the fence between two players, the one with the easier defensive match-up might be the deciding factor.
But what about hockey, basketball, and baseball match-ups? All of these start/sit decisions involve playing multiple opponents each week. A lot of thought went into how match-ups work for these sports and I wanted to share how it works.
Overview
The scheduled match-up section shows you the current fantasy week’s schedule, along with any final scores for games that have been completed.
Underneath the schedule are 4 buttons: Week, Today, Home, and Away. By clicking on “Week” it is showing you his stats based on all games played this season against these specific opponents. The same is true for Today, Home, or Away.
It is critical to understand various match-up scenarios before setting your lineup. This tool finally allows you to see that match-up data in real-time without having to do the research. This tool is great for both weekly fantasy leagues or a daily leagues.
A Real World Example
For this particular example we will be looking at a weekly match-up between Roy Hibbert and Nikola Pekovic. (If you would like to follow along with up to the minute data, then sign up for the site to get a free weekly trial. You will have full access to ALL of the tools during the trial).
According to this week’s schedule, Nikola Pekovic has played against the Sixers, Thunder, and Warriors a total of 5 times and has posted slightly above average numbers compared to his season totals. Right off the bat we can expect Pekovic to post average or possibly better numbers this week based on his opponents.
On the other hand, Roy Hibbert has played 4 times with terrible numbers this season against the Knicks and Pistons. Right away we can see that starting Hibbert is a very risky play by just looking at the match-ups.
Let’s take this a step further and look at home away breakdown. Pekovic is the better play regardless of whether he is on the road or at home. His tends to post similar stats whether he is on the road or at home. Bottom line? He’s a safe start across the board.
However, what’s interesting is that Hibbert tends to play slightly better at home, so if you were to start him, your best bet would be for home games. This particular week he is on the road for two of those games. There are no games scheduled for today, but you can get a feel for why this tool can be extremely useful.
The start/sit tool rates Pekovic as a Start with 80% certainty. Sounds about right to me?
The Future
There are more enhancements coming for scheduled match-ups. With baseball quickly approaching expect to see VERY useful match-up analysis. Baseball, more than any other sport, is all about stats.
Let’s say you are deciding between two different hitters. Wouldn’t it be great if you could see this week’s probable starters right inside the tool? Even better, how about the combined ERA, WHIP, and W-L record of this week’s probable starters? All of these stats, which are hard to research, will be presented to you without any effort on your end.
I am extremely excited to release this new addition to the start/sit tools and hope that you guys find it useful. Expect to see these features and more down the road for the entire suite of Start Sit Tools. These tools will also be available in the CBSSports Fantasy App store for easy access. For everyone else, use them right here on FantasySP.
As always, any comments or questions be sure and let me know. After all, this tool was developed because you wanted it.
