New Users Guide

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The first time you log in to Baseball HQ and bring up the Subscriber Home Page, the massive amount of information is daunting. But after a short time of getting used to the structure of the site, you should be able to find virtually anything you need within a click or two. Here is a quick primer...

SITE UPDATE SCHEDULE

From mid-February through the end of September, time-sensitive information is updated daily, typically by midnight ET. This includes our news analyses and daily columns, and minor league call-ups. In October and November, the site is updated with at least one new column on a weekly basis, on Fridays. Beginning the first Friday in December, there are at least three new columns each week; this increases to eight weekly columns by early February.

Baseball HQ takes only two weeks off during the year -- the week after the conclusion of the World Series, and the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.

Our player database, which drives our projections, depth charts, draft guides, etc. is updated on a daily basis during the regular season (daily update typically finishes by 8:00am ET), and several times per month during the off-season. Our subscriber forums are open all year long, so whenever you stop by, you are likely going to find something new to read.

CONTENT SECTIONS

NEWS

PLAYING TIME TODAY (daily February-September; weekly December-January) analyzes each day's events and the ripple effects on playing time and roles.
DR. HQ (weekly March-September) provides in-depth analysis of all new and existing player injuries. Also includes a complete listing of players on the disabled list, their prognoses and expected return dates.
DAILY MATCHUPS provides analyses of that day's pitchers and teams.
TWO-START PITCHERS is a weekly (Sunday) look ahead to those starters who are scheduled to take the hill twice over the coming week.

SKILLS

FACTS & FLUKES (four times weekly) provides a statistical and contextual reality check on current performances.
BATTER BUYERS GUIDE (weekly February-September, monthly December-January) provides a forward-looking analysis of offensive performances.
STARTING PITCHER BUYERS GUIDE (weekly February-September, monthly December-January) provides a forward-looking analysis of starter performances.
BULLPEN BUYERS GUIDE (weekly February-September, monthly December-January) provides an assessment of skills and bullpen roles with an eye toward uncovering saves opportunities.
CHARTS (daily in-season updates) more than three dozen slices of the data files to identify your prime targets for claims and cuts.

RESEARCH

FANALYTICS (weekly January-October) is Ron Shandler's latest insights. His Master Notes analysis from Baseball HQ Radio is often posted here as well.
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS (weekly November-July) looks at the latest advances in progressive thought with fantasy application. 
SPECULATOR (weekly February-September) is Ray Murphy's latest insights on the 20% percentage plays.
MARKET PULSE (weekly January-September) leverages marketplace perception on player values to uncover profit opportunities. Pre-season focus is on Average Draft Position rankings; in-season focus is free agent ratings.

TEAMS

PROBABLE PITCHERS chart rates each of the upcoming week's starts based on recent pitching performance versus strength of opposition. Daily in-season.
DEPTH CHARTS are team-by-team rosters detailing how all roles and playing time are being allocated. Daily all year.
BULLPENS chart looks at detailed usage in each pen to search for future closers. Daily in-season.
TEAM INDICATORS chart analyzes each club's statistical strengths and weaknesses. Daily in-season.
BALLPARKS chart details each venue's 3-year park effects. Updated each December.

SCOUTING

SCOUTING NEWS (weekly January-September) provides the latest insights from the minor leagues. Pre-season editions focus on ratings and rankings by position.
CALL-UPS (daily April-September) provides in-depth scouting reports and ratings for every minor leaguer promoted to the majors that day.
WATCHLIST (several times weekly, April-September) speculates on minor leaguers about to get the call, based on skill and opportunity.
ORGANIZATION REPORTS are complete scouting reports on the top players in each system. Also includes historical files going back more than a decade. Updated each winter.
MAJOR LEAGUE EQUIVALENTS charts provide converted statistics for all AA and AAA players. Also includes historical files going back more than a decade. Updated each December.

STRATEGY

ROTISSERIE (weekly February-March; periodically thereafter) provides complete coverage of 5x5, 4x4, snake, auction, and more.
HEAD-TO-HEAD (weekly February-March; periodically thereafter) provides insights into all H2H formats.
ALTERNATIVE (weekly February-March; periodically thereafter) provides coverage for formats such as simulations (Scoresheet, Strat-O-Matic, etc.) salary cap (CDM, etc.) and other hybrid formats. 
NFBC (weekly January-March, periodically thereafter) provides insight into the popular National Fantasy Baseball Championship format.
KEEPER LEAGUES (weekly July-February) provides insights for long-term planning. 
STRATEGY LIBRARY is more than two decades' worth of articles from the BaseballHQ.com vault.

PLAYERLINK

...is a massive player database, updated daily, that provides stats, tons of splits, projections, game logs and a news archive.

STAT TOOLS

STATS and PROJECTIONS are sortable and downloadable files with complete stats, sabermetrics and leading indicators. Also includes historical files going back more than a decade. Updated daily.
CUSTOM DRAFT GUIDE is an interactive tool that allows you to profile your league to create customized cheat sheets. Updated daily.
MACK TEAM TRACKER is an interactive tool that allows you to track your fantasy team's progress and run custom reports. Updated daily.

FORUMS

...are BaseballHQ.com's active, online community. We pride ourselves in our subscribers' intelligence, experience and civility.

HOW TO USE THE DATA FILES

All VIEW/PRINT and EXCEL files on the site must be saved to your own computer if you wish to manipulate any of the data. The best way to do this is to RIGHT-CLICK on the file link, select SAVE AS TARGET and save to a folder on your computer. Microsoft Excel and LOTUS 1-2-3 should be able to open these files directly.

If you have difficulty printing a chart from the screen, you can adjust the chart to your page specs using Excel as well. OPEN the chart in your browser. Click on FILE / EDIT with MICROSOFT EXCEL. Click on FILE / PAGE SETUP. Under the PAGE tab, adjust to 95% of normal size. Under the MARGINS tab, set the margins to 0.25. You may have to play with these adjustments, depending upon your printer.

EDUCATION

This section contains the Forecasters Toolbox, the Glossary and this page you are reading.