The waiting for baseball is finally over! The season got underway this past week with the Seoul, Korea series between the Dodgers and Padres. Opening Day throughout the majors arrives this Thursday and Friday. Without question, fantasy drafts are going on from coast to coast this weekend. Several managers are using the ESPN platform to get that done. However, there are some functions unique to ESPN that everyone using will need to plan for the week one scoring period. Fortunately, that is where this Fantasy Baseball ESPN Functions comes into play.

Once this information is soaked in and drafts are complete, we will be ready to get the 2024 fantasy baseball season underway. Best to everyone this year, and remember, have fun along the way.

Function One: The Scoring Period Begins with the Seoul Series

The first knowledge that managers using ESPN for their fantasy leagues is, certainly, the most important. That vital piece of information is this: the scoring period for week one begins with the Seoul Series. It matters not when the draft was held. If your league drafted a week or a month ago, Korea counts. If drafting this weekend, be prepared, because the stats will count.

Obviously, that is hard to fathom. Even so, it is true. I heard others on social media saying this, but didn’t see how that could be the case. In order to verify, I joined a random ESPN league and the draft was held Thursday. After it was over, I looked over the schedule. Sure enough, the scoring period began on March 20 and runs through Sunday March 31.

Clearly, the question is why is this important? If you happened to draft Yoshinobu Yamamoto, you’d be stuck with a massive amount of negative points. He only pitched an inning and got lit up for five earned runs. The result: -12 fantasy points. That is a lot of points to make up, especially when you didn’t know that was going to be the case until afterward.

Likewise, there were plenty of Dodger and Padre players who either got a manager points or not. The deciding factor was if they were placed by ESPN in the starting lineup at the end of the draft. As it stands now, I am trailing my opponent 30-5 and I haven’t done anything other than draft. Bottom line on this Fantasy Baseball ESPN Functions edition: be aware while drafting and don’t be surprised when you see the matchup score when finished.

Function Two: Only Ten Starts Available Week One

Secondly, the next important piece of information is that during the first scoring period, ESPN only allows each team ten starts. In years past, that number has consistently been 12. At this point, it is impossible to tell if that starter total is only for that specific period or if that will be the total going forward.

Just as an example, for a manager like me, knowing the starter limit is critical information. I rely much more on starters than relievers in my baseball fantasy strategy. Specifically, in my case, I drafted Yu Darvish and have five other Opening Day starters on my team. After just Thursday’s Opening Day, I will have used six of my ten allowed starts.

Obviously, knowing this will provide me the opportunity to shape my strategy the rest of the period. Anyone that has ever broken the limit knows what happens next. No other starting pitchers will be permitted until the new scoring period begins. All that have gone through this knows the frustration of not being able to use any more starters. As stated above, being aware of the situation applies here. Simply stated: plan accordingly.

The Final Word

Thank you for joining me for this Fantasy Baseball ESPN Functions edition! As of now, the above two items are the only two specific functions that managers must be aware of. If a league commissioner is aware of any way to change the above, please forward that information to me. I will get that info out to the masses as fast as possible.

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