Can we use a RP/SP pitcher in a SP slot in our daily lineup and collect his stats for the day?
With the MLB culture change of using a “bullpen” day, I’d like to use the strategy of placing a RP in a SP slot to collect his stats for that day whether he “started” or was used a 4th/5th inning pitcher.
Let’s talk about it.
This used to be the case, many years ago, and the rule changed because it made the gameplay much much worse. Random SP/RP who had high leverage roles became insanely valuable. And the season would always start with a small handful of guys like Hunter Gaddis making that SP-to-RP transition and breaking out as elite relievers and then very few more would emerge. So the team who jumped on those players would have crazy dominant pitching even if they had mostly bad SP. And it just made the game way less fun. And I know this because back in those days, I was the #1 abuser of this loophole.
Basically, you ended up in one of two situations: 1) only one or two people really recognized that SP/RP who got holds were league winners and they would grab those players up and no one else could compete or 2) many managers recognized it and Hunter Gaddis was a $40 value. Neither of those are good situations.