(3) Roster Strategy
Assuming you've followed along the first and second sections, you probably have a really good roster ready to go. You'll get a nice chunk of RP bonus, your RP opponents will be thankful, and everything's lined up nicely. That's perfect! This next section is for diving into additional detail. If you want to add player bios or at least have some level of player info beyond name and position, this is the sort of stuff that's useful to think about without getting too far into the weeds.
Most of the information here is about the different roles that players have on a team. For example, most players strive to be a good hitter, but there are multiple different ways of being a "good hitter." Similarly, relief pitchers are meant to come into the game once the starting pitcher is no longer effective, but there are a variety of different roles in a given bullpen. This section is meant to delve into a few of the different "types" of players you might see on a roster. Think about what sort of players you'd want to have on your roster!
3.1 Lineup Construction
If you followed along in section 1.2, you might remember that I said "Generally speaking, the players at the top of the order will receive more at-bats, while the ones at the bottom will receive fewer. Because of this, the better hitters are placed in the beginning of the lineup, and the worse hitters are placed at the end of the lineup." This is mostly true, but there's a little more nuance in how managers will build a batting order. There's not necessarily a "right or wrong" when it comes to this, but there's several conventions that most professional baseball teams follow. Optimizing your lineup may not make you score more runs in the scorinator, but it's a very easy way of characterizing your players based on where they are in the order.
First, some terminology for you. "Batting order" and "starting lineup" are sometimes used interchangeably. I'll probably use "lineup" the most in this section; just know that I'm specifically talking about the batting order. Batters are usually referred to by the spot they occupy in the lineup. The player in the #1 spot is known as the "leadoff," while the #4 is sometimes called the "cleanup hitter." Most other spots are referred to just by their number ("batting 7th" or "in the seven-hole", for example).
The "top" of the order generally refers to spots 1, 2, 3, and sometimes 4. These are usually the best four hitters on the team. The "middle" of the order comprises spots 4, 5, and 6. Finally, the "bottom" of the order are spots 7, 8, and 9. The bottom three batters are usually the worst hitters on the team (or if we're being kind, "defensive specialists"). For a national team roster, that doesn't necessarily mean they're bad, just that they're not as good as the top of the lineup.
The top of the lineup is where you see the most strategy involved. These hitters will come up more often in the game, so you want to make sure they're arranged in a way that maximizes success. There's two schools of thought (old school and new school), and I'll clue you in for both.
- The leadoff hitter should be one that specializes in getting on base and preferably has some speed to steal bases. This used to mean a player with a high batting average, but nowadays teams prioritize On Base Percentage (OBP, which includes walks and other methods of reaching base in addition to base hits).
- Back in the day, the #2 hitter was often someone with good bat control who could move the leadoff hitter if he got on base (with a base hit, a hit-and-run, sacrifice, or otherwise). Nowadays teams know that the #2 hitter comes up in important situations more than most other spots in the lineup, so generally the best hitter with a high OBP gets put here.
- The #3 spot was often filled by the best "overall" hitter back in the day, but modern sabermetrics suggests that the #2, #4, and #1 hitters are more important (roughly in that order). Your third batter should definitely be one of the better hitters on the team, able to move the line to the cleanup guy, but he doesn't have to be the best.
- The #4 spot is called the cleanup hitter. If anybody from the top of the lineup gets on base, it's the #4 hitter's job to "clean up" the bases by knocking everybody in with a big hit. The #4 hitter generally gets the most opportunities with runners in scoring position, so you want this to be a guy with some power that can drive the ball deep and/or hit home runs. Old school and new school pretty much agree: you want the cleanup guy to be your best power hitter.
The middle of the order is a little more up for interpretation. Plenty of teams have their hitters with good power but lower batting averages here. The #5 hitter is often somebody who profiles like a cleanup/#4 hitter but just isn't consistent enough to hold that important position. From then on out, most lineups just list the players in descending order of talent, 6 thru 9. The modern approach does suggest that the #6 spot should be given to a player with speed and base-stealing skills that isn't good enough to be higher in the lineup. Since the 7/8/9 hitters are more likely to just hit singles, it can be useful to put a player ahead of them who can run for extra bases when the ball is put in play, even if it's just a single.
Calling the bottom of the order all "bad" hitters is a bit rude, but it's sometimes true. At the highest levels (like the WBC), it usually means that they're Good but not As Good as the top of the lineup guys. These players are either power hitters with consistency issues, or decent contact hitters who have minimal power. Normally the 9-hole is reserved for the worst hitter on the team. In lineups without designated hitters, that's pretty much always the pitcher, since they almost exclusively practice pitching and let hitting go to the wayside. With the DH in play, the 9-hole is often the catcher or a defensive specialist: someone whose value comes from their glove rather than their bat. Some teams will put their worst hitter at #8, and have a high contact/high speed hitter (who isn't good enough to be higher in the order) in the #9 spot. The idea is that this hitter could extend innings and bring the leadoff/top of the order back to the plate with runners already on base. This only results in a few extra runs over the course of a season, but some people like doing it. It's certainly an option, especially in the WBC where the bottom of your order may still be all-star level hitters.
Remember that fielding position doesn't necessarily affect batting prowess. This is especially true at the national team level, where pretty much every player is expected to be a Good Hitter (unless you're RPing a nation with a lack of elite baseball talent). There are some defensive positions which are more likely to have good hitters, but you can mostly feel free to put whichever player in whichever spot in the batting order makes sense for their style of hitting. The notable exception is the designated hitter: since their main job is just to hit, they're probably one of the better hitters on the team (but not necessarily the best). It can I'll go over this in a bit more detail in section 4.1, if you're interested in that sort of thing. Also, some of this content came from this source, if you want to take a closer look at that. Most of the important information I've already restated here.
If you've listed the left- or right-handedness of your players (which you absolutely should), then that also plays a factor in lineup construction. It is long-accepted wisdom that you should never put two or more left-handed hitters in a row on the lineup. Recall section 2.2 where I talked about handedness: left-handed pitchers usually perform better against left-handed hitters (vice versa for righties vs righties). Imagine a close game situation where an opposing manager has to put in a relief pitcher. If you have two or more lefties in a row, it makes their decision very easy to bring in a left-handed pitcher, therefore making things difficult for your own team. Try to alternate left and right handed hitters in your lineup whenever possible. If you have any switch hitters, they're basically immune to the left/right dichotomy, so you can put them anywhere.
On the topic of left/right handed hitting, there's another to consider: pinch hitters. Your roster should have a "bench" of backup players to begin with. In many sports, players are taken off the bench to relieve injured or fatigued starters. The same is true for baseball, but there's an additional layer of strategy. Say you have an important situation where you need a base hit (down by 1 run with two outs and a runner at third base, for example), but you're facing a lefty pitcher and you have a left-handed hitter come to bat. In this scenario, most managers would take a right-handed batter from the bench to replace the left-handed hitter for that at-bat, and later replace them on the field. This is known as a "pinch hit." For that reason, you want to have an even mix of left-handed and right-handed hitters on your bench, or at least one of each. This isn't just for single at-bats, either. Imagine you have a right-handed hitter who's GREAT against lefty pitching but bad against righty pitching. If you know you're facing a left-handed starting pitcher in the next game, you could have that hitter in the starting lineup for just that match. This general concept is known as platooning. Somebody who only starts against opposite-handed pitchers and usually gets pinch hits in those scenarios is often called a "platoon hitter" or "platoon bat."
3.2 Pitching Staff
The arrangement of pitchers in a roster is typically much less regimented than the batting order. There's only ever one pitcher in the game at a time, so it's not about where you play them, but when. Pitching deployment can be very situational, and properly balancing the usage of your pitchers is one of the toughest jobs a baseball manager has. Obviously most of that nuance can't be fully replicated in NSS outside of RP, and a lot of that detail isn't necessary for a regular roster post. Still, there's a few archetypes of starting and relief pitchers that can be useful to include in your roster.
I touched on this in sections 1.2 and 2.1, but I'll reiterate some of those points for clarity. Starting pitchers are (as the name implies) pitchers who start the game on the mound. Beyond the obvious task of preventing the other team from scoring runs, their goal is to get as deep into the game as possible, because usually relief pitchers aren't as great as the starters. The modern starting pitcher can go for anywhere between 4-7 innings if they're pitching well, depending on how many times they've had to throw and how well they're playing against the opposing lineup. If a pitcher is succeeding then they can throw up to 100 pitches before the manager considers taking them out. If they have injury concerns or the other team isn't having trouble scoring against them, then a manager will take them out much sooner.
That being said, throwing 60-100 pitches in a single day is very hard on the arm and requires multiple days of rest to prevent unnecessary injury. Thus, teams carry anywhere between 4-6 (usually 5) starting pitchers. These starters are arranged in an order called the pitching rotation. Similar to the batting order, the front of the rotation will play more games than the end of the rotation, so generally your rotation should be in descending order from Best to Not The Best.
Once again, it's a little different at the national team level, since most/all of your pitchers should be Really Good. Still, I'll dive into what the typical pitching rotation looks like. The first pitcher in the rotation is usually called the "ace." This should be the best pitcher on your team, or at least the one you're most confident in. This usually means a guy with a good arsenal that can mow through opposing lineups and throw a lot of innings, leaving his team in a good spot when he finally departs. The middle of the rotation can also contain good pitchers, but maybe these are guys who can't throw as many pitches, or get really "boom or bust" results. The back of the rotation often has pitcher(s) known as "inning eaters." These guys almost always give up some runs when they pitch, but they're efficient enough to pitch deep into games, saving the energy of your relief pitchers and keeping the score Close Enough for your lineup to compete and maybe win the game.
In the old days, starting pitchers were expected to pitch as long as possible, perhaps even all nine innings if they were pitching well enough. This rarely happens nowadays unless a pitcher is having a really good day, which is a result of how common strategy has changed over the years. Pitchers used to try and throw at 70% effort for 100% of the game, now it's more like pitching at 100% effort for 70% of the game, if you make it that far. This change was made around when analysts realized that most hitters get noticeably better results once they've seen the same pitcher more than twice in a game (known as the "third time through the order penalty"). To avoid this, managers take their starters out once they're facing the opposing order for the third time, unless they're doing very well. You don't have to follow this line of thinking, especially if you want to RP a more "old school" nation or team, but just know that this is how the modern approach works.
Because starting pitchers are being taken out of games earlier and earlier nowadays, the value of the bullpen has never been higher. Relief pitchers are no longer an afterthought, some relievers and closers can be the biggest stars on their team. Still, in most cases relief pitchers are there for a reason; most of them don't have the stamina or pitch variety to "make it" as a starter. These players simply have more value pitching one great inning in relief than multiple mediocre innings as a starter.
As I said earlier, the roles in a bullpen aren't as solidified as roles in a batting order. Relievers also need rest days like starters do, even if they don't throw as many pitches. If a reliever throws more than two days in a row, they generally need to take a day or two off. If a situation where they'd normally come in to pitch occurs when they're resting, another reliever will need to fill that role. That said, most players perform well when they're given a consistent job, and managers like to have confidence in turning to a specific pitcher in a specific situation. Including these pseudo-roles for your bullpen pitchers can be very helpful for you and your opponents when RPing about your team.
Long relievers are relief pitchers who are expected to pitch more than one inning coming out of the bullpen. This isn't very common, because starters are supposed to pitch a majority of the game and relievers are most experienced handled single innings at a time (after all, if a reliever is able to pitch more than 2 innings at a high level, they'd probably be a starter in the first place). Unfortunately, bad days happen. Sometimes the starting pitcher suffers an injury while throwing or getting struck by a hard-hit ball, or maybe the opposing hitters are finding it easy to score runs and you need to limit the damage. In these cases the starter can be pulled after a small number of innings. Say the starter gets taken out in the third inning. If you take a single inning per reliever to finish the game, that means you have to use six relievers! This can cause even bigger troubles for the next few days, since more of your pitchers will be tired. This is where the long relievers come in: they can pitch multiple innings at the expense of sometimes not being as sharp. For a national team roster, I usually designate this spot for a pitcher who's normally a starter but isn't good enough to be in the starting rotation. Long relievers who come in during blowouts to save the better arms are known as mop-up pitchers. Sometimes teams have a swing pitcher whose main job is being flexible. Swing pitchers can pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen, or maybe even start a game (pitching fewer innings than a normal starter) if a starting pitcher gets injured before a game. These are also helpful for extra innings games when you don't know exactly how much longer the game will last.
Middle relievers comprise a majority of the bullpen. These are your bread-and-butter pitchers who will likely throw a majority of innings out of the bullpen, sometimes called your primary relievers. When the starter comes out in the middle of the game, these are usually the guys you turn to. These pitchers generally throw just one inning, but can throw more if needed. It's extra helpful if these pitchers can finish innings that another pitcher started. Usually if a starting pitcher is taken out in the middle of an inning, it's because they're out of energy and/or allowed some hitters to reach base. The reliever then "inherits" these runners and is expected to finish the inning without letting them score. If they do this successfully, it's said that they "got out of the jam." At least one of your middle relievers should be able to do that consistently.
Logically you'd assume there's a type of pitcher called a short reliever, but that's not a very common term. You could designate somebody like that in your bullpen: maybe somebody who's very good but has trouble if they have to pitch more than one inning. A common kind of pitcher who throws as little as possible by design is a lefty specialist. As mentioned earlier, lefty pitchers generally find it easier to get lefty hitters out. Many teams have a left-handed pitcher who is great against lefties at the plate but very vulnerable to righties. Managers will have them come into the game to face one or two lefty hitters, then depart for another pitcher once right-handed hitters are due in the opposing lineup.
Usually the best pitchers in the bullpen are referred to as the "back end." These pitchers are most often used in the late innings of a game (7th, 8th, and 9th innings) when the score is close. These relievers are usually the best at preventing runs from scoring, so managers use them when they're trying to secure a win or keep a deficit small enough to mount a comeback. The most famous among these relievers are the closing pitcher or "closer." These relievers almost exclusively come on to begin the ninth inning when their team is leading by 3 or fewer runs - this scenario is called a "save situation," so called because when a pitcher receives a "save" statistic when they finish a game from this circumstance. The closer doesn't have to be your "best" reliever, but they do have to be consistent. Their job is to not allow multiple runs to score. Your best reliever is often one who usually doesn't allow any runs to score, and you want to use that guy when the score is tied or very close, which isn't always a situation where you'd use the traditional closer. Many teams also have setup relievers. They're similar to a closer, except they come in when their team is leading in the 8th inning and intend to hand the game with a similar scoreline to the closer in the 9th. If a team's bullpen is consistent enough, many managers will have designated pitchers to throw in the 7th, 8th, and 9th inning of close games.
Having a complete detailed rundown of relief pitcher usage in your roster is probably overkill. However, it's a nice idea to designate a long reliever, middle relievers, and your "back end" pitchers including the setup and closing pitchers. Some teams eschew the typical bullpen roles and instead list their relievers in order of leverage: the more dependable pitchers to use in tight games and tough situations on one end, and the less dependable pitchers to use when the score is out of reach and you just need to get through the game on the other end. Consider these factors when you're listing your bullpen pitchers.
@ButlerRodgers
