STARTERS: Sixth starters, 2019

One of the biggest draft day mistakes that owners make is to overvalue Opening Day roles.

It might seem natural to target Opening Day starting rotations when filling out your pitching staffs. After all, they include the guys who already have starting jobs, and we all want to get out of the gates quickly in our fantasy leagues.

But early-season roles on pitching staffs are fluid, especially when it comes to starting pitchers. Injuries will create openings. So too will poor performance, or strong performance from guys outside of their team's initial starting rotation.

That conclusion comes with quantitative backing. Over the last six seasons, Opening Day starting pitchers have accounted for roughly 70% of the total innings thrown by their...

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