How ESPN and Yahoo will handle fantasy baseball in a shortened MLB season

So you want to play fantasy baseball in 2020, with the extremely shortened season presenting a very different experience than what we’re all used to. The old adage about how baseball is a marathon, not a sprint is now completely the opposite, and that applies to fantasy.

We’ll get to that strategy change down the road, closer to the season.

For now, there are questions to answer about how this will all work, particularly in two of the most popular fantasy services — ESPN and Yahoo, and that’s what we’re here for. Let’s give you the answers to some of your burning questions about fantasy baseball in this short season:

Head-to-head leagues

Yahoo: They’re doing nine weeks of fantasy, seven of which are regular season and two weeks of playoffs with four teams making the postseason.

ESPN: They say they’re doing nine or 10 weeks “depending on the details of the final MLB schedule,” with seven or eight serving as the regular season and two for the playoffs, with commissioners able to change settings (although that sounds like the right way to do this kind of season, in my opinion).

Rotisserie/Points leagues

Yahoo: The most important thing with these kinds of leagues is innings/games limits, and pitchers have a 525 max innings limit.

ESPN: “The default games-started maximum for pitchers will go from 200 to 74 games. In season-long leagues with innings pitched minimums, those will be reduced proportionally as well, going from 1,000 down to 370.”

Again, those can be adjusted.

What’s the deal with keeper leagues?

Yahoo says they’re “evaluating options” about how keeper leagues who don’t want to run this season will move forward, while ESPN doesn’t address them. My advice: start a separate, non-keepers standalone league for this season only.

How about increased Injured List spots?

Yahoo is going from two to four IL spots for its default and ESPN is going from one to three.