It was an exciting start to the 2016 RotoWire & FanDuel Baseball Championship with subscribers duking it out for cash prizes as well as entries into the exclusive RotoWire Championship which will be held July 22. If you missed out on the action, don't fret, as there are 14 more qualifying rounds starting with week 2's contest Friday.
As a quick refresher, each qualifying round will be a $10, multi-entry contest where the top 50-percent will double their entry fee and entries 1-10 will get a ticket to the championship. And yes, you can win multiple entries into the championship round.
Expert Contest
RotoWire contributors are not allowed to participate in the public league, so FanDuel was nice enough to create a separate Expert Championship.
Chris Benzine (crispy272001) was the king of the experts in week 1, netting 153 points with huge outputs from Tyler White (33 points) and the Milwaukee bash brothers, Ryan Braun (24 points) and Scooter Gennett (24 points). In fact, those three players netted more points (81) than my entire lineup (78). Things didn't go my way in week one despite strong performances with Taijuan Walker (24 points), Rougned Odor (24 points) and Brandon Crawford (18 points). My true downfall came at the hands of my premium picks (Adrian Gonzalez, Kris Bryant, Mike Trout and Jose Bautista) who combined for 12 points. I am hoping for better luck this week.
Here is how the standings shake up after week 1:
- Chris Benzine (crispy272001) - 153
- Chris Olson (cristop) - 132
- Clay Link (linkdaddydollaz) - 120
- Eric Caturia (etcat30) - 117
- James Anderson (realjranderson) - 111
- Jason Collette (jasoncollette) - 111
- Jake Letarski (rotojakeski) - 109
- Shawn Cwalinski (cwalinski) - 108
- Kevin Payne (kevinccp) - 104
- Anthony Tynan (at325802) - 102
Strategy Tips
As Andrew Fiorentino mentioned in last week's blog, there are plenty of tools RotoWire subscribers have at their disposal to gain a competitive advantage. A great starting place for assembling your squad would be the RotoWire Lineup Optimizer. It automatically generates the best value lineup based on each player's price, matchup, weather conditions as well as other day-specific variables.
If you want identify your own value picks, it is imperative that you utilize RotoWire's weather reports (data provided by forecast.io) and daily lineups. Weather reports are useful in avoiding games that are likely to be delayed or rained out completely. Nothing is worse than having one of your players get a bagel because their game was postponed. While delays don't generally affect batters, I tend to avoid starting any pitcher that has any likelihood of a delay. Most delays will usually result in a completed game, but starters can have their outings shortened if the delay lasts long enough. Daily lineups not only help you make sure your player is starting on a given day, but it allows you to identify platoon players or injury fill-ins who are getting spot-starts. Players on the weak side of a platoon (and some on the strong side) usually come at a discounted price and can easily meet their value, opening up cap space to spend on higher-priced options at other positions. A few examples are Josh Phegley (against lefties), Mark Reynolds (against lefties) and Scott Schebler (against righties) who have excellent opportunities to meet or exceed their near-minimum salaries when they are starting.
Value Picks
SP Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks @ San Diego Padres
FanDuel Price: $10,400
2016 has been an early disappointment for Greinke. The switch from pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium to hitter-friendly Chase Field hasn't done him any favors and he brings an ugly 9.90 ERA into his third start. Friday's start against the Padres in Petco Park is the type of matchup that could get his season back on track. As predicted, San Diego's offense has been lacking. They ranked in the bottom-third in slugging (.349 SLG) among all MLB clubs and they managed to score just four runs in a four-game set against the equally-woeful Phillies. Greinke is the cheapest of the top-tier options, and he has the potential to be the highest-scoring starter Friday.
1B Brandon Moss, Cincinnati Reds @ St. Louis Cardinals
FanDuel Price: $3,000
Moss hasn't started a game since April 10, but he is swinging a hot bat of late with two homers and four RBI in his last six at-bats. With an unproven righty on the mound for the Reds, Moss has the potential for a big day at the plate. Just make sure to check RotoWire's daily lineups to make sure he is going to play.
2B Rougned Odor, Baltimore Orioles @ Texas Rangers
FanDuel Price: $2,900
It will be a smelly day of baseball Friday with both Odor and Jake Odorizzi in action. All joking aside, Odor has been anything but stinky this season with three 18-plus point FanDuel performances already under his belt. He is one of the few options at the keystone who has both power and speed. With Vance Worley taking the hill for Baltimore, I am liking Odor's $2,900 price more and more.
SS Troy Tulowitzki, Toronto Blue Jays @ Boston Red Sox
FanDuel Price: $3,000
The five-time All-Star has struggled out of the gates in 2016, hitting a paltry .125 through 37 at-bats. His poor play has resulted in a $3,000 price tag that DFS players would seem like a programming error as recently as last season. Part of his struggles may be attributed to a leg kick he tried to incorporate this season. He has since ditched the leg kick and it could lead to Tulowitzki regaining his timing at the plate. He is an unappealing option given his poor play of late, but the beauty of DFS is that everyday is a new slate. With the hittable Rick Porcello starting for the Red Sox, I'm hoping Tulowitzki can smack a couple balls off of he Green Monster, or possibly even over it.
OF Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles @ Texas Rangers
FanDuel Price: $3,100
Sticking with the theme of underpriced veterans, Jones comes at a significant discount after missing time with a rib injury. He returned to the lineup Thursday but ended up going 0-for-4, but that was against Rangers ace Cole Hamels. He draws a matchup against the much-more hittable lefty, Martin Perez. Jones should be slotted in the three-hole, giving him protection in the lineup and potential to put up counting stats in a game that should surpass the 9-run over/under.
High Risk/High Reward
OF Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels @ Minnesota Twins
FanDuel Price: $4,900
Trout will cost you a pretty penny, but he could be worth the investment. After a slow start, he is heating up at the plate with four hits and a homer in his last three games. He faces off against soft-tossing southpaw Tommy Milone on Friday, which could lead to a huge performance. The risk here is that if Trout has a poor showing (like he did for me in last week's competition) he could cripple the rest of your lineup due to the hefty price tag.
Steer Clear
C Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants @ Los Angeles Dodgers
FanDuel Price: $4,000
Posey comes in as the most expensive option at the catcher position, and for good reason. So why avoid fantasy's best backstop? Two words: Clayton Kershaw. Even though he has two career homers against the reigning NL Cy Young award winner, he sports a sub-par .228 average with almost as many strikeouts (16) as hits (18) in 79 career at-bats. Couple that with the fact Posey is fresh off a minor foot injury and you have a recipe for a very risky FanDuel play.
You can follow Josh on Twitter @JashFath