To say that Points leagues differ from Roto leagues is an understatement. In Roto, you must create a roster primarily focused on balance. You want to find the right mix of players who will keep you at or near the top in all 10 categories. There are no such concerns in Points leagues. All you need to do is – you guessed it – accumulate the most total points. Below I’ll break down my points league strategy for 2025 fantasy baseball. If you play only roto, you’ll want to pay attention. Once you get done here, make sure to check out my 2025 Points League Rankings.
Let’s begin with the basics, including the scoring system and roster. In Fantrax Points leagues, the draft consists of 30 rounds. You will start 22 players and have eight bench spots. The 22 starting spots include 13 hitters as follows based on position groups:
- 1 Catcher
- 1 First Baseman
- 1 Second Baseman
- 1 Third Baseman
- 1 Shortstop
- 1 Corner Infielder
- 1 Middle
Infielder500+ 600+ 700+ 800+ 2021 7 0 0 0 2022 10 0 0 0 2023 4 1 0 0 2024 4 0 0 0 - 5 Outfielders
- 1 Utility Hitter
2025 Points League Strategy
An important thing to remember is that elite hitters will consistently score more points than elite pitchers. Here are the number of hitters and pitchers that have scored at least 500, 600, 700, and 800 points in a season since 2021 using Fantrax scoring:
HITTERS
| 500+ | 600+ | 700+ | 800+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 38 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 2023 | 52 | 14 | 4 | 1 |
| 2024 | 41 | 14 | 5 | 2 |
PITCHERS
| 500+ | 600+ | 700+ | 800+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
87.6 percent of the 500-point seasons over the last four years have come from hitters. And Spencer Strider is the only pitcher in the previous four years to register a 600-point season. Meanwhile, there have been 48 such seasons from hitters in that span.
Because of this, you should frontload your drafts with hitters. And power is the name of the game. While well-rounded bats are always in high demand, Points leagues offer under-the-radar rewards for sluggers. The rules state that a home run is worth four points, but hitters are also credited with one point per run scored and one per RBI. That means a homer earns a minimum of six points. Marcell Ozuna is not a threat on the basepaths. But the Braves’ designated hitter played in all 162 games and scored over 600 fantasy points last season.
Speed and Batting Average? Pshaw!
Batting average concerns go by the wayside when constructing a Points roster. Kyle Schwarber may slip to the sixth round in Roto drafts because his batting average is up and down. But he has finished 13th overall or better in total points in each of the past three years and projects to finish 11th in total points this season. Schwarber is UT-only eligible in 2025 but is a viable borderline first-round pick in Points Leagues for fantasy managers who do not mind having their UT spot locked up.
One of the factors that works in Schwarber’s favor is hitting at the top of a potent Philadelphia Phillies lineup. When in doubt, target hitters who hit at the top of their batting order. Per Fangraphs, Marcus Semien earned $12.1 in Roto leagues last year. That was 65th among all hitters. But Texas’ everyday second baseman scored 512 fantasy points last season, mainly due to 712 plate appearances. Lineups can change throughout the season due to several factors. However, certain players will hit at the top of the order if they are healthy and do not completely fall off the map.
Speedsters who offer little else in terms of fantasy production have less value in Points leagues than they may in Roto. Jose Caballero finished fourth in MLB with 44 stolen bases in 2024. But he finished outside the top 120 among hitters in total fantasy points last year. Caballero finished the year with fewer fantasy points than teammate Christopher Morel, who hit .196.
Time to Get Offensive
The trend of hitters dominating the leaderboards in Points leagues will not change anytime soon. The overall increase in strikeout rate that MLB has experienced in recent years has been offset by an even greater decrease in the number of innings that starters pitch. Teams no longer expect starting pitchers to finish games; most starters aren’t even expected to pitch more than five or six innings. In 2014, 34 pitchers threw at least 200 innings. Last year, only four hurlers reached that threshold. As a result, wins have become harder to come by. 24 pitchers recorded at least 15 victories in 2014. Only 10 did so last season.
Hitters taken early in Points drafts are much more likely to provide value than pitchers. When drafting in Points leagues, I only take one or two starting pitchers in the first 10 rounds. Does that mean you are going to miss out on the top few tiers of staters? Yes, and that’s OK.
Let’s use George Kirby as an example. The Seattle fireballer is a consensus top-10 starting pitcher in early 2025 Roto drafts. But he is projected to finish 28th among pitchers in total points. As if that is not bad enough, Kirby is projected to finish with fewer total points than players such as Willi Castro and Dylan Moore. Both super-utilitymen are available well after pick 200 in most Roto leagues.
Stream Away!
Starting pitchers are also unique in that one starter per MLB team will usually start twice a week. That means you can play some roster gymnastics on the pitching side. In leagues with weekly transactions, filling out your roster with starters that you can rotate in and out of your starting lineup each week makes much more sense than drafting “stud” pitchers early. Maximizing the number of starts each week is a key to success in Points leagues. The best part about this strategy is that the starters you can draft late do not have to be particularly good to be productive.
Tyler Anderson finished outside the top 100 starting pitchers in total Roto value in 2024. But he made 31 starts and averaged 9.87 fantasy points per start. For reference, Kirby averaged 13.33 fantasy points per start last year. Nobody is doubting who the better pitcher is between the two. But Kirby is projected to average just five more points per week in 2025 than Anderson is. And there will likely be a few weeks where Anderson will outscore Kirby. That is extremely unlikely to occur between hitters with such vastly different ADPs.
No Need to Fight for Saves
You may have noticed that I still need to discuss relief pitchers. That is because you do not declare a particular number of starters or relievers among your nine starting spots. You start nine pitchers every week. That means you should not go overboard drafting closers. With so few “locked-in” closers heading into the season, there is often a rush to draft the elite closers early in Roto leagues. But there is no Saves category to worry about competing in with Points leagues. Since innings are the key to pitchers scoring points, relievers tend to fall short compared to starters. Ryan Helsley scored 523.33 total fantasy points last season. In doing so, he became the first reliever to accumulate 500 fantasy points since 2018.
There is no need to speculate on potential closers late in Points drafts. Similarly, there is no impetus to draft elite middle relievers to protect ratios. Middle relievers have very little value in Points leagues. Tigers’ pitcher Tyler Holton was one of the most valuable pitchers in Roto leagues last year. His $16.8 of Roto value was 16th-most among all pitchers. His value came mainly from stellar ratios (2.19 ERA and 0.78 WHIP), seven wins, and eight saves. But his 264.33 total fantasy points placed Holton outside the top 100 pitchers last season. Holton finished with fewer total points than Miles Mikolas. Mikolas pitched to a 5.35 ERA and 16.9 percent strikeout rate in 2024, “earning” -$10.9 worth of “value.” As horrific as Mikolas was in Roto last year, he averaged over 10 fantasy points per week.
No Need to Whip It Real Good
Starting pitchers with bad ratios still have plenty of value in Points leagues. Another prime example is Chris Bassitt. The veteran finished outside the top 200 in Roto value among pitchers last year, earning -$5.6. Bassitt’s 1.46 WHIP was the eighth-highest among 126 pitchers who threw at least 100 innings last season. But Bassitt scored 326 fantasy points, ranking among the top 60 starters. He also outscored all but nine relief pitchers in Major League Baseball in 2024. As problematic as starters like these are in Roto, they can be valuable back-end starters in Points leagues.
I suggest going extremely hitter-heavy early in a Points league draft. I would draft up to a handful of pitchers in the first 15 rounds. Of those, one or two can be established closers. The second half of the draft should consist mostly of starting pitchers you can rotate in and out of your last few starting spots. I would want as many as four or five starting pitchers among my eight-man bench. If you load up on stud hitters early on, there is less of a need to round out your bench with a surplus of middling hitters. Subpar pitchers can still earn plenty of value in Points leagues, while subpar hitters usually will not.
Got beef with Mick’s 2025 points league rankings? Pick your gnits in the comments below! For more of the great fantasy baseball rankings and analysis you’ve come to expect from FantraxHQ, check out our full 2025 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit! We’re here for you all the way up until Opening Day and then on into your championship run.