Rotisserie needs an overhaul. Major websites such as Yahoo! and ESPN use a standard 10 categorie version. There are 5 pitching categories and 5 hitting categories. The pitching categories are wins, strikeouts, ERA, saves and WHIP. The hitting categories are home runs, RBI, stolen bases, AVG and runs. I’m not going to describe the rules as I’m sure that if you’re reading this that you’re not a beginner.

One look at the categories makes it obvious that change is badly needed. Let’s start with the pitching ones… Wins?! Who actually believes that a pitcher’s win total determines their value in 2018?! A pitcher can be credited with a win for giving up 5 runs in 7 innings if his team scores more against the opposing team. A pitcher can be credited with a loss even if he gives up a run in 7 innings, if his own team scores none. “Quality Starts” is a far better statistic to rate a starting pitcher’s performance. I realize that relievers can get wins too, but this category is specifically applicable to starters.

WHIP?! Is this category really needed at all? What about ERA? Why not use the more accurate FIP? At least replace wins with quality starts and WHIP with FIP. This would be a much better way to rate a fantasy team’s pitching staff.

Now let’s look at the hitting categories: why is there no category for walks? Getting on base is an important skill and walks are being excluded in Rotisserie. Why not replace stolen bases with walks? As any experienced Rotisserie player will tell you, you often have to keep players exclusively for their ability to steal bases. In real life while speed is important, teams don’t put such an importance on this statistic. Walks are far more important than stolen bases.

Would it make sense to replace runs with OBP? Runs are not used to determine a player’s value. The reason being that a player simply has to run to home plate to get credited with one. This can happen due to a teammate’s hit or their own home run, it can also happen if a manager sends a faster player to pinch run. Again why is this category even necessary? When was the last time that you rated a player’s value and ability through the amount of runs that they managed to score?

What do you think? Do you want Rotisserie modernized? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter at @NeilfromNYC