Starting with confusion (like always)
Alright, so fantasy baseball season is creeping up, right? My picks last year? Yeah, pretty terrible. Kept grabbing guys based on hype or “vibes,” whatever that means. Needed data, real numbers. Remembered LSU always has absolute beasts on the diamond. Figured, hey, use their stats, find the next big college stars before they blow up pro. Worth a shot.
Finding the good stuff
First step: find those stats. LSU Athletics website? Checked. Annoying as heck to navigate. Took me like twenty minutes clicking around, bouncing from schedules to player bios. Finally found the team stats page. Felt like winning a tiny battle. Scrolled down, saw the list of players with numbers. Sweet relief.
Next problem? Stats overload. RBI, ERA, batting average, that OPS thing… so many. My eyes kinda glazed over. My plan was simple: focus on hitting for batters. Needed guys who get on base and hit bombs. So, I zeroed in on:
- Batting Average: Basic, I know. But gotta hit the ball consistently.
- On-Base Percentage (OBP): How often they don’t make an out? Yes, please. Walks are good!
- Slugging Percentage (SLG): This “total bases” thing? Basically, power hitter material.
- Home Runs (HR): Obvious. Dingers win games (and fantasy weeks).
For pitchers? Different story. Don’t need them getting shelled.
- Earned Run Average (ERA): Lower numbers better. Simple.
- Strikeouts per Nine Innings (K/9): Whiffs are gold. More Ks, the better.
- Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched (WHIP): Messy name. Messy pitchers if this is high. Wanted LOW numbers.
The number crunching mess
Okay, got my stats, printed a bunch of pages like a dinosaur. Sat down with coffee, highlighter, and a notepad. Felt official. Started scanning. First thing jumped out? Some dude near the top hitting like .350. Good sign. Dug deeper.
Highlighted anyone with OBP over .400 – getting on base a ton. Then looked at SLG. Found this guy slugging .700?! Checked his HRs. 18 already?! Okay, big red circle around his name. Must-have.
Pitching was trickier. Found a starter with a killer ERA under 2.50. Awesome. Then checked his K/9… kinda low. Huh. Maybe gets outs without strikeouts? Could work. WHIP was decent, not amazing. Still felt promising. Found another reliever with crazy high K/9, like 12 something. YES! That’s fantasy gold late in the draft. Highlighted him bright pink.
Making my hit list
Took the top guys I found based on my key stats and wrote them down. My LSU target list:
- [Made-up Name!] Jake “Crush” Thompson: .352 AVG, .430 OBP, .710 SLG, 18 HR (Stud alert!)
- Marcus Rivera: .340 AVG, .410 OBP, .560 SLG, 10 HR (Solid on-base guy)
- Pitcher: Ethan “K Machine” Ruiz: 2.45 ERA, 11.8 K/9, 1.12 WHIP (Love the Ks)
- Closer: Ben Carter: 1.98 ERA, 13.5 K/9, 1.01 WHIP (Late-round steal?)
Felt better seeing names with real numbers attached.
Reality check
Got into my draft feeling smarter. Crush Thompson? Grabbed him quick, maybe a round earlier than others planned. Snagged Ethan Ruiz too. Ben Carter? Waited a bit, grabbed him super late – hope he keeps closing!
Early season results? Mixed bag. Thompson started slow! Ugh. Ruiz was solid, Ks showing up. Carter is perfect so far – loving those save chances he gets. Rivera hasn’t come up yet… fantasy team waiver wire watch for him.
Using LSU stats didn’t magically solve everything. College stats are college stats. Pitcher workloads are different. But damn, feels WAY better than picking blind. Highlighting Ben Carter based just on those LSU numbers? Best feeling. Will I keep doing this? Absolutely. It’s messy, it’s time-consuming, but finding those hidden gems before anyone else? That’s the dream.