BY ROB SHAW

Twitter: @RobShawSports

 

With more than 20 of the Major League Baseball teams turning to Bloomberg Sports as a business solution, fantasy managers can rest assured that their fantasy teams are in good hands.

 

Offering a trade analyzer, lineup manager, and projections for every single player in the Big Leagues, Bloomberg Sports uses an algorithm that takes into account nine Fantasy Factors.

 

In a previous article, we focused on ballpark, durability, age, and contract status.  Now the focus is on the remaining five Fantasy Factors.

 

In fantasy baseball, career trends are an important aspect to be considered when evaluating players.  In essence, fantasy managers like investors have to know what’s a growing stock and what’s a mature stock.  A player on the rise would be a growing stock and two examples are Baltimore Orioles rising stars Adam Jones and Matt Wieters.  Both players are in their mid-20s and have been improving their statistics consistently over the last few seasons.

 

On the other hand, Yankees veteran Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are far from their prime and have recently suffered their worst seasons of their legendary careers.  It’s perfectly fine to invest in a player on the decline, as long as you are realistic about what they can produce in the upcoming season.

 

Next, luck is a Fantasy Factor that can help forecast performance.  Using an advanced statistic: BABIP, it is possible for baseball fans to find out if a player had luck on their side or if it worked against him over a given period.

 

BABIP is the batting average for balls in play and takes into account whether a player enjoyed a higher percentage than usual of balls in play falling for hits.  For instance, if a player offers a BABIP that is significantly higher than their career norm, it is often a safe bet that in the following period his performance will regress to the previous rate.

 

On the other hand, if the BABIP is abnormally low, it is safe to assume the player will have better luck ahead and his batting average and other statistics will improve.  The statistic can also be used for pitchers when looking at BABIP against the opposition.

 

Next, team support is an important fantasy factor for hitters and pitchers.  For hitters, it is a matter of whether they have players around them in the lineup that they can drive in and players who will drive them in.  In other words, team support has a direct impact with RBI and runs.  For pitchers, it’s a matter of having run support to earn wins, plus a solid defense behind them to keep runs off the board.

 

Strength of schedule is the next factor, and this is all about what ballparks and teams an opponent faces.  Pitching in the AL East is no easy task for pitchers who have to deal with the Red Sox offense in Fenway Park, the Yankees offense in Yankees Stadium, and additional hitters parks in Toronto and Baltimore.  On the other hand, the NL West calls home to several pitcher parks and limited offenses including in San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles.

 

Consistency is a fantasy factor, as fantasy managers have to decide whether to gamble on a player who has great potential, but also great volatility.   A player like Geovany Soto seems to alternate between good years, while Torii Hunter and Yadier Molina are examples of players who seem to produce consistent numbers every given season.

 

To see the Fantasy Factors in action visit BloombergSports.com.