As we approach the end of week three in the major league baseball season, it is incredibly common for fantasy participants to begin reaching for the proverbial panic button.
What panic button you may ask?
It's not a physical button per se. This button represents the emotional state of panic one finds themselves in when their fantasy teams are pooping the bed early on in the baseball season. Whether it's your whole team or particular players you thought would start out red-hot, we've all experienced it before.
How many times have you had what you thought was THE best draft in the history of fantasy drafts only to witness an absolute collapse in the first month? I think it's happened to all of us more often than we want to admit.
However the best advice, says multiple fantasy baseball champion Todd Brown is, "Be patient and rely on stats to help ease the pain."
Brown is one of the most regarded owners in the PFL having won back-to-back league titles in 2013 and 2014, and 1st-runner up in 2015. To put it simple, the guy knows what heck he's doing.
Last season was our first year as co-owners in a separate, highly competitive 20-team mixed league. Brown and I had what we felt was an incredible draft in 2015. Our team, the Lemont Mud Turtles was "poised to make some noise" because after all, (with sarcasm) "Brown and I were PFL league veterans with over 30+ years of experience."
Well, our team finished well short of the playoffs. We healed our emotional wounds and headed into this 2016 with renewed energy. We had what we thought was an even better draft than the year before and held the feeling that we positioned ourselves to run roughshod over the league.
At press time, the Mud Turtles rank 17th out of 20 teams.
But yet, panic hasn't set in. We aren't posting all of our players on the trade block. We aren't blowing our entire waiver wire budget. Why?
"Because we have good players and we trust the cyclical nature of the game," says Brown.
"All good, but slumping, players eventually come around," said Brown.
For example, Todd and I drafted St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright. Heading into 2016, Wainwright was coming off a 2015 campaign where he missed all but three weeks of the season due to a torn left Achilles.
"It was a non-throwing-related injury, so his arm was healthy," said Brown.
Brown also added that Wainwright's injury happened so early last season that the Cardinals ace looked to be a great draft target. Someone who could help bolster a Mud Turtles pitching staff that struggled from the very start last season.
Best laid plans right? Wainwright's first three starts of 2016: 0-2, 9 walks, 7 strikeouts, an 8.27 ERA and 1.90 WHIP.
Not what you'd expect from a staff ace of a perennial playoff team in the National League. Yet, Brown refuses to panic.
"Wainwright's 3-year-averages tell me not to panic. You have to trust the numbers," Brown said.
Over his career, Wainwright averages a 16-9 win/loss record along with a 3.02 ERA and 1.17 WHIP per season.
Brown concluded that trusting a player to come around isn't as difficult as trusting yourself not to panic.
"You have to allow things to play out" Brown said.
"There's a reason players who are sitting on the waiver wire are there and not on fantasy rosters: because rostered players are generally better. Despite our team struggling, There's no need to panic. We'll come around."
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