RotoWire & FanDuel Fantasy Baseball Championship – Week 4

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Published on May 1, 2015

Week 3 RWBC Recap

It was a big week for czap in FanDuel's RotoWire Baseball Championship as hundreds of subscribers squared off against RotoWire experts.

FanDuel user, czap, dominated the competition with 71.91 points, more than five ahead of FanDuel user pbarrese13's 66.75 score. Both of the users were far ahead of the pack. FanDuel user meansy53 came in third in the week at 59.75, more than 12 points behind the winner. For czap what put him over the top was Cleveland 1B Brandon Moss. For as little as $3,400 salary, Moss delivered 18.5 points highlighted by a pair of home runs. In addition Gerrit Cole delivered for czap with 17.66 points. Czap listened to RotoWire expert Josh Fathollahi (FanDuel's RotoWire Baseball Championship Week 3) who recommended Cole as a Value Pick/Sleeper in last week's column.

Another Indian, 3B Lonnie Chisenhall delivered for czap with 9.25 points for a small salary of $2,300.Among the RotoWire Experts, Vlad Sedler (rotogutguy) made a big jump up the standings to 11th with a score of 58.50 to have the top score among the RotoWire Experts. His arrow is really pointing upward since his first two weeks score (19.08, 36.75) combined did not even reach the amount for third week. Despite a significant drop from the second week, Paul Sporer (pjs) and James Seltzer (schweppy23) held first and second play overall in the first three weeks with a score of 146.00 and 145.50 respectively. Ryan Rufe (rmrufe) made a big jump to third with a score of 51.75.

Below is the overall RotoWire top-10 standings through three weeks:

1. Paul Sporer (pjs24) - 146.00
2. James Seltzer (schweppy23) - 145.50
3. Ryan Rufe (rmrufe) - 140.75
4. Tony Goldenstein (trookie83) - 140.25
5. Darin Brown (dabsabre) - 129.75
6. Kevin Payne (kevinccp) - 128.66
7. Adam Wolf (rotosomething) - 124.50
8. Peter Schoenke (rotopeter) - 124.41
9. Ed Kensik (chicagoed) - 123.25
10. Herb Ilk (joecomma) - 115.00

See The Full Standings Here

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Strategy Tip

Along with the tools listed above, RotoWire subscribers get the benefit of seeing daily lineups all in one convenient location. This tool can be extremely useful when looking for value picks in daily fantasy leagues. Starting a backup catcher who is in the lineup when the starter is getting rest is a good way to fill the position with a minimum salary contract. This strategy also helps with identifying hot bench players who happen to be getting a spot start on a particular day (i.e. Alex Guerrero). Not to mention it is a great way to make sure one of your players isn't getting a day off.

Value Picks/Sleepers

(1B) Joe Mauer: Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago White Sox
FanDuel Price: $3,200

With his catching days behind him, he might be looking at a bounce back season this year as he has been toeing the line at .300 and recently has been a tear with a .345/.406/.552 mark in the last week. While he continues to be a singles-doubles hitter, Mauer has had success against White Sox's Jose Quintana with a pair of home runs in 21 at bats and hitting .429.

(3B) Evan Longoria: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Price: $3,100

Longoria has been on fire lately and has a choice matchup on Friday against Baltimore's Chris Tillman. In the last seven days Longoria has been hitting .429. While his power numbers have not been part of this last week, he has pounded Tillman in the past with six home runs and eight RBI in 36 at bats. In his career at Camden Yards, he has smacked 13 home runs and 42 RBI, the most outside of Tropicana Field, in 56 games.

(OF) Jason Heyward: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
FanDuel Price: $3,000

Heyward has picked up his game recently with the hope of coming out of a beginning of the year funk. In the last week the new Cardinal has been hitting .318 to raise his batting average to .228. Like the rest of his resume his power numbers have started out with only two in April. Heyward has had a great history against Pittsburgh pitcher A.J. Burnett, hitting .438 with a pair of home runs in 16 at-bats.

High Risk/High Reward

(P) Matt Harvey: New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals
FanDuel Price: $10,300

Matt Harvey has been lights out so far this season and takes on a team that he has already shutdown in the Nationals. While the Nationals have started to wake up in the early going, Harvey has had Washington's number to start his career in five games with a 2-1 mark 44/33 k/IP ratio with a 0.82 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and a .178 BAA. In his return from Tommy John surgery, Harvey whiffed nine Nats in six innings while scattering four hits.

(OF) Starling Marte: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals
FanDuel Price: $4,100

Starling Marte has been one of the bright spots in a slow start for the Pirates. He is in the top 10 in both leagues in home runs with six as well as in the top 10 in RBI with 16 while slugging .521 for the season which is slightly lower than the major's best, but has a .667 slugging percentage against Cards' pitcher Lance Lynn. His OPS against Lynn is 1.250 and has hit .444.

Steer Clear

(P) Max Scherzer: Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets
FanDuel Price: $10,500

If not for the blister that delayed his start this week, Scherzer might have been part of the High Risk/High Reward against a Mets team that he has pitched well in the past. It's hard to take a big part of your salary and gamble on Scherzer this week. All his numbers have been there, 1.26 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 29/28.2 K/IP ratio except the Nats have not supported him with only one victory in the early going.

(OF) Andrew McCutchen: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals
FanDuel Price: $4,100

For McCutchen owners they are hoping that he is finally breaking out of an early slump. Unfortunately for the All-Star outfielder, he has performed poorly against Lance Lynn in the past with only five hits in 35 at-bats (.143) against the Cards' hurler in his career. In addition McCutchen has 13 strikeout in the 35 at-bats to start 2015. Don't sit and pray that McCutchen breaks out of his slump, wait until he starts getting hot and then jump on him.