My Twitter feed this afternoon was full of people discussing FanDuel's new softer pricing, and it was noticeable while setting lineups tonight. It could be a coincidence, but I wonder whether FD wants to make things easier for the novice player ahead of Yahoo! Sports impending DFS launch. Yahoo! will open the floodgates for the masses of season-long participants they have, and I'd expect the interface and style to cater to the newer player.
In any event, it didn't deter me from a couple Captain Obvious pitchers in Clayton Kershaw and Michael Wacha. As I noted in prior entries, on a point-per-dollar basis, the pitcher has the best expected return, and given the larger sample for one game (100-plus pitches for pitchers vs. 10-15 for hitters), he's also less volatile and therefore more likely to perform to his true skill level, i.e., you're more likely to get that for which you paid. That might not be ideal in a large-field tournament where volatility is your friend, but with the softer prices, I didn't feel as though I had to compromise much.
Here are my two lineups, used in five contests:
| Pos | Player | $ | Player | $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Kershaw | $11,500 | Wacha | $8,400 |
| C | Zunino | $2,200 | Zunino | $2,200 |
| 1B | M. Adams | $2,800 | Goldschmidt | $4,500 |
| 2B | Weeks | $2,200 | Weeks | $2,200 |
| 3B | Beltre | $3,100 | K. Bryant | $3,500 |
| SS | Owings | $2,500 | Castro | $3,300 |
| OF | Ruggiano | $2,200 | Soler | $3,200 |
| OF | Cruz | $5,000 | Pollock | $3,100 |
| OF | Souza | $3,500 | Dickerson | $4,600 |
| $35,000 | $35,000 |
I entered the one on the left into two $10 ones, one of which is a large-field tournament, the other a Double Up. The one on the right (which I actually like better) I put into two $5 tournaments, one a large field, the other a Double Up. I also entered the one on the right into the same $10 large-field tournament as the one on the left. So I have $40 in play total.
My rationale for the one on the left was Kershaw at home against the Giants and then figure it out as I go. I suppose had I started with 1B rather than catcher next, I might have a different team, but once I settled on Zunino and Weeks, both for the minimum, against lefty Ross Detwiler in Arlington, I felt committed to a Seattle stack. I like Ruggiano, hitting second, too at that price, and I forced in Nelson Cruz for $5,000 even though I hate the price and am only lukewarm on the player. The problem was the other high-priced outfielders didn't fit with my stack and/or had tough match-ups.
One could argue the stack is fine for the tournament entry, but for the Double Up I should have gone elsewhere, and I almost swapped Cruz for Giancarlo Stanton just now, but that would entail me re-writing/posting the entry, and Cruz vs. a lefty in Texas is roughly equal to Stanton at home vs. a righty. When Stanton hits three HR today, I'll chalk the $10 loss up to my laziness.
The other spot on which I went back and forth was first base. Adams seems like the best value against a weak righty at home, but James Loney is hitting fifth against righty Chase Whitley in Yankee Stadium and was $200 cheaper. My gut said Loney, but my brain - and the projections - said Adams. I go back and forth on how much to read into a sinking feeling when I swap out one player for another. Is it superstition, a function of the bias we have toward the player we've already picked over one we don't yet have in the lineup, or is there a subtle awareness, earned over many years of experience, trying to notify us non-verbally about something our heavy-handed, reason-obsessed brains have overlooked? I'm fairly certain it's sometimes one and other times the other, and if I could tell the difference this game - and most life decisions - would be a lot easier.
As I mentioned, I like the second lineup better, but hate that I have Wacha in a couple big places (notably the NFBC Main) for season long. It's a bad idea to double-down on your season-long investments in DFS for reasons I've discussed before, namely you're already ecstatic if they go off, so there's less to gain, and if they get shelled, you're especially miserable. Actually I have Kershaw and Wacha in that Main Event league.
Because Wacha was so cheap (despite being a -210 favorite against the Phillies, who are rolling out a rookie pitcher, at home), I was able to do a triple-stack, of sorts, using the Diamondbacks at home against Kyle Kendrick, the cheap Mariners and the right-handed middle of the Cubs lineup against Jeff Locke. I had another $4600 left over for a big-hitting outfielder, and though I'm not a big Dickerson fan, the venue (Arizona) and the pitcher (a wild, right-handed Archie Bradley) steered me toward him. Plus, I might be wrong about Dickerson anyway.