We are now five weeks into the RotoWire & FanDuel Fantasy Baseball Championship and the action is heating up. RotoWire subscribers are duking it out for cash prizes and entries into the $5,000 championship that will be held on July 22. There are plenty of prizes and entries to be had, so make sure to create your lineups! You can view the rules and enter the contest by clicking here.
RotoWire Expert Competition
For those that have been following the blog weekly, you are aware of the separate expert competition that has been taking place concurrently with the public competition. We have a separate competition because RotoWire experts are not allowed to participate in the main contests.
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FanDuel telling RotoWire employees...[/caption]
Chris Smith (smithca28) dominated the week 5 contest with a 197.6 point performance. While no one on his roster had a monster game, everyone but Evan Longoria netted him 15.2 points or more. Impressive. Derek Van Riper (168.4) and yours truly (167.9) placed a distant 2nd and 3rd, further proving how dominant Chris' lineup was last week. Here is how the top-10 shakes out amongst the experts, you can check out the full expert leaderboard here.
- Aaron Quinn (aaronq) - 721.20
- Joel Bartilotta (joelbartilotta) - 675.40
- Ronny Mor (ronnymor2) - 664.20
- Scott Jenstad (oaktownsj) - 659.80
- Chris Olson (christop)- 659.50
- Vlad Sedler (rotogutguy) - 656.30
- Peter Merrill (black26) - 653.00
- Chris Benzine (crispy272001) - 642.20
- Jake Letarski (rotojakesi) - 632.20
- Eric Caturia (etcat30) - 610.80
Strategy Tips
"Stacking" is a term thrown around DFS pretty frequently, and for good reason. If you aren't familiar with the term, "stacking" is basically starting as many hitters from the same team as possible. I say "as possible" because FanDuel limits you to having four players from the same team within the same lineup. Stacks are usually built around the 1-2-3-4 or 2-3-4-5 hitters in a powerful lineup that are facing a weak pitcher in a favorable hitting environment. You can also alternate spots and go 1-3-5-7 or pick four batters with handedness advantages.
For an example, let's look at a stack I used Thursday. I went with Boston because they were facing a sub-par lefty (Eric Surkamp) in Fenway, which is notorious for being generous to right-handed batters. I went 1-2-3-6. I skipped David Ortiz because of the lefty-lefty matchup and I couldn't afford Hanley Ramirez who was hitting fifth, so I went with Chris Young who came at a near-minimum price. Here were the results:
- Mookie Betts (2 1B, R, 2 RBI) - 16.2
- Dustin Pedroia (HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB) - 37.6
- Xander Bogaerts (3 1B, R) - 12.2
- Chris Young (2 2B, R, RBI) - 18.7
Those four batters combined 84.7 points, or 21.2 points each. The Red Sox put up 13 runs in this soft matchup, so almost any combination of hitters would have paid dividends. This strategy doesn't come without risk, because if the perceived soft matchup goes awry (as it did with my stack against Atlanta's Williams Perez), then your whole lineup is almost guaranteed to finish out of the money. Because of this all-or-nothing mentality, "stacking" is considered a very risky strategy. It should only be deployed when you are absolutely confident in your prediction of a blowout.
Value Picks
SP Nathan Karns, Los Angeles Angels @ Seattle Mariners
FanDuel Price: $8,500
Chris Sale is the only premium pitcher available Friday, followed by a gang of mid-range options. Of those options, Karns stands out in my eyes. He is putting together a solid season for Seattle with a 3.38 ERA and 9.87 K/9. His only blemish has been his 3.89 BB/9, but luckily FanDuel doesn't penalize walks. The Angels usually roll out a right-handed heavy lineup and they have the fourth-worst wOBA in the league. This start comes in pitcher-friendly Safeco Field, and if he works around Mike Trout, Karns could be in line for a strong outing.
2B Jason Kipnis, Minnesota Twins @ Cleveland Indians
FanDuel Price: $3,400
While $3,400 doesn't sound cheap, there are actually 10 other second base options priced ahead of Kipnis. He seems to be heating up at the plate, going 7-for-11 over his last two games. He has also gone 3-for-12 with a homer and five RBI in 13 career plate appearances against Friday's starter, Ricky Nolasco. Kipnis is also one of the rare options at the keystone that is not only a threat to go yard, but is equally likely to swipe a bag. This has all the makings of a strong performance.
OF Adam Jones, Detroit Tigers @ Baltimore Orioles
FanDuel Price: $2,600
Jones has gotten off to one of the worst starts of his career coming back from a rib injury. It is safe to say that he has finally found his stroke, going 7-for-15 with two homers and six RBI over his last three contests. His FanDuel salary hasn't caught up with his recent production, and that is what makes him a value play Friday. He doesn't get the handedness advantage against Justin Verlander, but there is still potential for a big day with how homer-prone Verlander has been this season (1.5 HR/9).
OF Steve Pearce, Oakland Athletics @ Tampa Bay Rays
FanDuel Price: $2,800
While never considered a star player, Pearce can be one of the league's most-dangerous hitters when he is locked in. Well, he is about as locked in as any hitter in the league right now. Over his last 10 games Pearce is batting .382 (13-for-34) with five homers and eight RBI. He is doing almost all of his damage against lefties this year (.867 SLG against LHP), just as he has his whole career (.501 SLG and .366 wOBA against LHP). <sarcasm>Even though Oakland starter Rich Hill is the best lefty of all time,</sarcasm> I like Pearce's chances Friday.
High Risk/High Reward
OF Bryce Harper, Miami Marlins @ Washington Nationals
FanDuel Price: $4,300
Harper is arguably the best hitter in baseball, so there is always a temptation to fit him into your lineups. Friday may be as good as any day to do so as he absolutely owns Marlins starter Tom Koehler. In 28 career at-bats against Koehler, Harper has six homers, 11 RBI and a whopping 1.000 SLG! The risk with Harper is always tied to his pricey salary and the possibility that he doesn't deliver, crippling your lineup in the process. Now we have another risk to deal with after MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred, issued a one-game suspension for Harper following his on-field tirade Wednesday. Harper has appealed the suspension, but he will likely lose the appeal, and we may not know if the suspension will be served Friday or not. Luckily the Nationals game starts at 7:05 p.m. Eastern, so we should know whether Harper will play by the time the contest starts, but it is definitely something to monitor if you plan on deploying him.
Steer Clear
1B Paul Goldschmidt, San Francisco Giants @ Arizona Diamondbacks
FanDuel Price: $4,200
Goldschmidt's $4,200 salary is justified, but I would recommend looking elsewhere Friday. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that his .240 average is scaring me off, because his .417 OBP and seven homers tells me he is still seeing the ball well. What made me think twice about Goldy is his matchup. Using RotoWire's batter vs. pitcher tool, I noticed that he owns a .200 average against Friday's starter Jeff Samardzija. Sure, he could end up having a solid game, but that is not a risk I am willing to take with his hefty price tag. There are a plethora of safer options at first with better matchups that come at a lower salary. Edwin Encarnacion (vs. LHP in TEX), Chris Davis (vs. RHP in BAL), Joey Votto (vs. RHP in PHI) and Prince Fielder (vs. RHP in TEX) to name a few.
You can follow Josh on Twitter @JashFath