2024 Fantasy Baseball: Tips on How to Handle the Last Week

We’ve reached the final days of the 2024 fantasy baseball season. It’s a six-month marathon that’s now turned into a sprint. So, it’s safe to say managing during the final week will be much different than at any point during the year. With that said, here are some tips to keep in mind over the last week of 2024,

For H2H Players

All the work is done for head-to-head players with a weekly lineup set. We hope you checked which pitchers are going twice this week and can bring a title home. However, for H2H leagues with a daily lineup set, the goal is simple: outscore the opposition.

Take a day-by-day approach look for potential weaknesses, and make sure you’re aware of teams that could rest their regulars for the MLB Playoffs. The Brewers, who have already clinched the NL Central and have begun that process by sitting Jackson Chourio and Willy Adames in recent days, are one example of that. Thus, the need for reliable backups is high.

Maximize Your Innings

Roto players are likely either reaching an innings limit or have a lot of innings to make up. Now, for those who have about 100 or more innings to use, that’s likely not going to be possible. There are just so many pitchers available and realistically, one shouldn’t just pick up spot starters — pitchers that will only be owned for one day — for the sake of doing so. Otherwise, it could lead to an ERA and WHIP hit.

However, those who are close to the innings limit — it will depend on the format — need to take advantage of the available resources.

Fantasy Baseball standings from 2023 — Top four spots from a fantasy league I played in back in 2023. Take a look at how close second and third were separated by two wins. However, the third-place team didn’t use up all available innings, something that fantasy players should take advantage of.

Look for your own weaknesses in the standings and where you can reasonably make up ground. Do you need strikeouts to move up a spot or two? In that case, look for high whiff and strikeout pitchers. Are you one or two wins away from the top spot in the league? Pick up a starter on a team with a reasonable chance of winning. It sounds simple enough, as long as you’re paying attention.

Also, be aware that teams can go over the innings limit in most cases, provided that innings were available before the start of play that day. For example, if your team’s pitchers accumulate 30 innings with five remaining, all the stats will count. So, one could go over the limit — 25 innings in this example — if managed properly.

Take Advantage of the Waiver Wire

This is the time of the year when things get funny on the waiver wire. Because, there may be examples — and I’ve seen it plenty — where competitors will drop a good player, simply because there’s A) a roster squeeze and B) a fantasy player may drop someone who can’t help out anymore.

For example, if a player can’t move up or down in the saves category, you might see that individual drop closers to find someone who can help in another. This, in theory, can benefit you.

Check the daily transactions page every day.

Play the Splits Game

In a six-month fantasy campaign, playing the splits game is tough and quite frankly, unnecessary. But in a one-week sprint, it’s a different story. This is where you can use your knowledge to advantage, either in the waiver wire or simply with lineup adjustment.

For example, Carlos Santana will face one lefty in his series against the Marlins and likely another in Cade Povich this weekend against the O’s. Santana, long considered a great lefty hitter, came into play on September 24 with a .284 average (.937 OPS) and 12 home runs against left-handed pitchers. Do you see what I’m getting at here?

Playing the splits game is not easy and can backfire in some instances. But if the numbers work in your favor, it’s worth a shot.