Week 1 RWBC Recap
Baseball is truly in full swing, with hundreds of subscribers like you preparing to compete with RotoWire experts for Week 2 of the RotoWire/FanDuel Fantasy Baseball Championship. Congratulations to FanDuel user, justinsack15, for assembling the best overall lineup (68.5 pts) in Week 1, while raking $200 in the process. Drew Pomeranz (17), Joey Votto (16.75) and Dee Gordon (12.5) were all chosen by justinsack15 on his way to the nice payout.
As for the RotoWire experts, Tony Goldenstein (trookie83) finished with 67.75 points for second place and $150 in winnings. Four hitters homered for Tony last week, including a player I especially like this year: Yasmani Grandal, catcher for the Dodgers.
Helpful Contest Links
- Enter the Week 2 Qualifier On FanDuel (Starts: 4/17 7:05 PM EDT)
- Official Terms & Conditions
- RotoWire's MLB Weather Report (Weather data provided by forecast.io)
Now let's help you prepare for Week 2!
Strategy Tip
As a RotoWire subscriber, you have exclusive access to DFS tools that can help you win money in the RWBC contest. One of my personal favorites is the RotoWire matchup stats page, which shows career batter vs. pitcher matchup stats, and vice versa. It's a convenient way to see who's hot or cold against a scheduled opponent before locking in a lineup. Disregard this feature at your own peril.
Value Pick
(OF) Angel Pagan: San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks
FanDuel Price: $3,400
Pagan intrigues me in daily fantasy since he typically contributes in several areas without breaking the bank. The veteran outfielder owns a .285 career batting average, along with an on-base percentage of .336. At 33 years old, Pagan's legs won't allow him to swipe 29 bags as he did back in 2012, but he does have it in him to pilfer a base every now and then. Josh Collmenter will throw pitches against the Giants in Friday's contest, which bodes well for Pagan, as he's posted a slash line of .583/.615/.750 against this Arizona pitcher in 12 at-bats.
Sleeper
(SP) Bartolo Colon: New York Mets vs. Miami Marlins
FanDuel Price: $8,400
I'll warn you right away that, for good reason, Colon will not come cheap in Friday's contest. After all, that's what happens when you're a veteran pitcher already owning 13 strikeouts and two wins. The Mets currently sit atop the NL East standings with a record of 7-3. Flip those numbers around to get the Marlins' record. Yeah, it's not fun knowing your fantasy pitcher must toss to slugger Giancarlo Stanton, but the Fish have collectively managed just three home runs to date. It wouldn't surprise me to see plenty of daily players ignore Colon simply because he's 41 years old, but that's when you remind yourself that having a veteran pitcher on a winning team is a smart approach.
High Risk / High Reward
(1B) Brandon Moss: Cleveland Indians @ Minnesota Twins
FanDuel Price: $3,500
A common fallacy in daily fantasy sports has many players believing that if a hitter (or pitcher) hasn't done well over the past five games as an example, then chances are that will once again be the case the next time he's in the lineup. I'm not exactly talking coin-flip style odds here, but it's dangerous to have this mentality because a player can break out on short notice. Take Moss, for example. He is off to an extremely slow start with only two hits in 20 at-bats and a single RBI, but dig deeper and you'll find reasons why he's actually a good play Friday. His historical stats against Mike Pelfrey of the Twins? A .500 average and .545 on base percentage in 10 at-bats. Plus, he smacked 55 homers the last two seasons with the Oakland, so it's only a matter of time before he gets the timing right on his swing and starts mashing. Moss has a terrible strikeout rate of 37.5%, but even though FanDuel penalizes for hitters getting out, strikeouts in particular do not add to the negative totals. Take a chance on Moss for the home run potential.
Steer Clear
(2B) Chase Utley: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals
FanDuel Price: $3,600
It's easy to get excited about Utley's performance performance Tuesday, when he went 3-for-3 with two blasts in the yard against the Mets; just don't forget that he was 2-for-22 leading up to that game. Provided he doesn't get left out of the lineup for rest -- hint, use our daily lineups page -- Utley is set to face Max Scherzer of the Nats, someone he's only seen four times in his career. I'm sure I will be banking on Chase later in the year, but now is not the best time to do so.