Where in the rules does it state, “a team needs to be able to fill out a reasonable number of innings rather than have 5+ SP and 5+ RP”?
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It doesn’t say those words. That’s just how I interpret “capable of filling out a starting lineup.” An MLB team has to play 162 9+ inning games. If they chose to use 10 starters and never pull them, they could do that. It would be dumb, but it would be legal.
Different leagues will handle that rule differently. I tend to be less strict about actually having 5 RP. Some leagues count injured players. Some count short term injuries but not long-term.
If this is coming up in your league for the first time, I’d raise it with the entire league on the message board by asking what people think. In general, people mean well and will respond well to a discussion and you can figure out how your league will handle it
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In the sentence, “In head-to-head leagues and during the playoffs, a starting lineup consists of one slot at each infield position (catcher, first base, second base, third base, and shortstop), five outfielder slots, one additional middle infielder (second base or shortstop) slot, one additional hitter from any position (utility slot) and five relief pitcher slots.” what does the word “and” mean to you?
What does the “must” in, “RP spots must be taken by pitchers who are in the bullpen in MLB games.” mean to you?
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This means that you can put any pitcher into any spot in the lineup but you only get stat accumulation if the MLB team uses the pitcher in the same way as you used them, i.e. if a RP starts a game they must be in a SP slot and if a SP comes out of the pen for a game they must be in a RP slot.
As such, an absolutist requirement for 5 “RP” is less meaningful than pursuing a reasonable number of innings from a pitching staff as whole, as @chy924 mentioned.
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Look, I explained how I view things and how I manage things in my leagues. If a team has like 10+ P and is accumulating a decent number of innings, that’s sufficient in my interpretation of the rule. If you disagree, that’s fine, and you should discuss with your league and figure out how you want to manage it. If you just want to be kind of a jerk and argue about semantics, I’m not that interested.
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