Many of my RotoRank Subscribers this year are playing in H2H Leagues (Head to Head Leagues) that are based on Fantasy Point Scoring.

RotoRank provides three default leagues scoring types in the fantasy baseball draft guide wizard: Rotisserie, Fantasy Point, and H2H.  The H2H selection is best used for leagues that are counting how many categories your team can win during a week.  For example, a regular H2H league may compare the weekly stats of two teams in each of the following 14 categories: Struckout(SO), Walks(BB), Batting Average(BA), Home Runs(HR), Runs Batted In(RBI), Runs Scored(R), Stolen Bases(SB), Wins(W), Losses(L), Strikeouts(K), Earned Run Average (ERA), Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched(WHIP), Saves(SV), Holds(HD).  Each teams accumulates its stats in each of the 14 categories for the week, the 1 point is assigned to the team with the better stats in each of the 14 categories, so that the maximum score for the week is 14-0-0.  Categories, in which both teams may tie, will usually result in a half point being awarded to each team, or your league may track ties separately.

In H2H Leagues that are using Fantasy Point Scoring, the Maximum Score is likely to be 1-0.  Whichever team that has the most fantasy points during the week wins the H2H week.  If you are playing in an H2H league that uses fantasy scoring, then you want to use the RotoRank Fantasy Baseball Draft Guides for Fantasy Scoring, rather than the H2H scoring system.  Any leagues that assigns positive and/or negative values ranging from 100 to -100 is usually considered a fantasy point league.  A common Fantasy Point league setup is 1 point for Hits(H), 2 points for Stolen Bases(SB), 4 points for Homeruns(HR), -1 points for Struckout, 10 points for Wins(W), -5 points for Losses(L), 10 points for Saves, 5 points for Holds, 1 point for Strikeout, -1 for Earned Run Allowed, etc. 

One of the key strategies for fantasy scoring leagues is the use of rotating two start pitchers on a week to week basis, so consider drafting pitchers later than normal in fantasy point leagues, since it is hard to bench a pitcher like Johan Santana or CC Sabathia for a pitcher like Paul Maholm or Aaron Cook who may be getting two starts in the current H2H scoring period.  If you set up your league correctly using the RotoRank Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide Wizard, you’ll be able to spot pitchers that you can draft late who will surprise many of your competitors, especially in leagues where pitchers do not have many negative point categories!  You can spot these players using the comparison of the RotoRank versus the ADP.

As you can see from the RotoRank Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide excerpt above, based on the scoring system for the fantasy baseball points league, only 1 point seperates AJ Burnett and Bobby Abreu; however, since most magazines only project rankings for simple 5x5 leagues, there is a big difference in perceived draft value.  Abreu is projected to be a 4^th round pick, and Burnett is projected to be a 9^th round pick.  The owner who realizes that he can wait to get AJ Burnett (3^rd round fantasy points value) in the 7^th or 8^th round of a 10-team draft will have an advantage over the owner who selects Roy Oswalt in an earlier or the same round as AJ Burnett.

Another interesting item in newer fantasy point leagues is the bonus scoring for rare events that are unlikely to occur throughout the season.  Some leagues assign bonus points for No-Hitters, Complete Games, Hitting for the Cycle, Grand slams, etc.  Since these occurrences are rare, they have very little impact on your team in a week to week basis.  These events may influence the outcome of your H2H matchup once or possibly twice in one year, but in general, they can be ignored for the purposes of drafting your team. 

In general, standard H2H fantasy baseball is my least favorite fantasy baseball format, because it allows more random chance to be involved in the outcome of your weekly matchups.  When I do decide to participate in H2H Fantasy Baseball Leagues to help a friend fill out his league, I usually look for a way to reduce the role of chance in the H2H game, by eliminating categories from my league setup that are less predictable on a week to week basis. 

My traditional H2H fantasy baseball strategy usually involves selecting a majority of the categories to target during my draft, so I am more likely to dominate them during every week of the H2H season.  Using the 14 category fantasy baseball league configuration from above as an example, I would likely target 8 categories: HR, RBI, R, BB, SV, HD, ERA, and WHIP.  If I win those 8 categories every week, I will finish over .500 for the season and will usually qualify for the H2H playoffs.  You can decide to target other categories than the eight statistical categories I selected, but this strategy allows me to load up on top closers and power hitters without regard for speed or batting average (see Carlos Pena, Adam Dunn, Ryan Howard, etc.) and then get great late round draft value by selecting top rated middle relievers who will rack up the Holds, ERA, and WHIP on a weekly basis.  If you choose to target select categories for an H2H league, my new SKEWP/SHARB ratings on Report 11 and Report 12 will help you throughout the draft.

The great thing about H2H leagues for me is that they are usually free, so I am more willing to try out different fantasy baseball draft strategies in order to add another dimension of interest to the typical fantasy baseball draft.  If you are in an H2H league this season, good luck, because you’ll definitely need some along the way to finish at the top of your fantasy baseball league!