Congratulations to bhy101. This individual was the DraftKings DFS MLB GPP winner of the MLB $225K Knuckleball contest on April 30, 2018. bhy101 won this grand prize pool and its $25000 prize when the lineup scored 214.5 points. bhy101 is the No. 150 ranked player on RotoGrinders.
Please note that this isn’t a projections forecasting. This series was created to analyze what may have gone through the minds of those who created the teams. Maybe you’ll pick up on trends that will assist you when constructing your future submissions. What kind of pivots are others making on their teams? What are their strategies? Are there any reoccurring trends?
Let’s analyze the $25000 lineup.
DFS MLB DraftKings $25K Winning Lineup: bhy101, 4-30-18
This roster used the entirety of its $50000 salary. This slate featured 10 matchups.
Nothing too gimmicky. The lineup consisted of one team stack (Boston Red Sox), two mini-team stacks (Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants) and Nolan Arenado. Both pitchers featured solid matchups that placed them in perfect situations to correct their ERAs to their much lower SIERAs.
SP: Zack Greinke ($10200, 23.9%)
SP: Jake Faria ($7200, 7.2%)
Combined Salary: $17400
Points: 61.5
Not much to say here. Greinke had reasonably low ownership considering he was facing a lackluster Los Angeles Dodgers offense. Faria is one of those unknown commodities that most people won’t play unless they see effectiveness through his game log. Faria had a great matchup. His SIERA indicated that his ERA was about a point too high. He’s probably better than that 5.36 SIERA indicated. bhy101 did his homework and made a smart play.
1B: Mitch Moreland ($3900, 3.8%)
SS: Xander Bogaerts ($4700, 12.9%)
OF: J.D. Martinez ($5100, 22.0%)
Combined Salary: $13700
Points: 70
You know what’s funny about this stack? The two lower owned and cheaper hitters combined for 56 of the 70 points. What a way for bhy101 to race out in front of the competition. All he had to do was take the No 3-5 hitters on one of MLB’s best offenses versus a $5200 pitcher (Jason Hammel) whose BABIP and SIERA numbers were overdue for a strong correction. Moreland was fantastic value when one considers that Hammel is more vulnerable to lefties.
2B: Daniel Descalso ($2800, 3.2%)
OF: A.J. Pollock ($4800, 7.6%)
Combined Salary: $7600
Points: 54
So this was a bit lucky. No one could’ve predicted Pollock’s three-homer game. What’s surprising are the ownership tallies. The Diamondbacks were facing a $4000 pitcher (Ross Stripling) who was making a spot start. The cheapest and most prone pitcher on the entire slate outside of maybe Hammel. No interest in Arizona’s No. 4-5 hitters?
But the humidor! The humidor! Who bleeping cares? Pollock could crush even if Randy Orton was RKO’ing him midway into his at-bat. So can most of Arizona’s lineup. Amazing how much a narrative can change ownership percentages. Last year at this spot, Pollock would’ve been 30 percent owned. Descalso in the teens.
But the humidor!
C: Buster Posey ($3700, 9.9%)
OF. Gorkys Hernandez ($2600, 0.9%)
Combined Salary: $6300
Points: 20
The No. 1 and No. 3 hitter on a Giants lineup facing a fill-in southpaw. Typically, Posey isn’t the most enticing catcher option. But his career vs LHP numbers always make him a legitimate choice against any LHP. Maybe even more so now that San Francisco has surrounding him with capable leftie smashers in Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen.
Hernandez only scored five points. Didn’t matter though; he was salary relief to fill bhy101’s other luxurious purchases that catapulted him to $25000.
3B: Nolan Arenado ($5000, 12.7%)
Points: 9
Maybe the best LHP-hitter in baseball. Jon Lester awaits a correction to his BABIP and SIERA numbers. The wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field. Game was on prime-time television. I’m stunned Arenado wasn’t higher owned. There were some silly ownership percentages on Chicago’s side.
CLOSING NOTE
Anyone who’d like to discuss winning teams (whether it’s their own or someone else’s) can email me. Below are the most recent installments of the series. Visit my profile to check out the full selection. I started creating these in late April. I’ll do as many of them as time allows.
DFS MLB GPP Winners Study Guide: nrpeto11, $5K, 4-25-18
DFS MLB GPP Winners Study Guide: petteytheft89, $100K, 4-23-18
Joshua Huffman was born and collegiately edumacated in Middle Tennessee. That said, Huffman spent 13-plus years with the type of Northern Wisconsinites and Yoopers who turn Nashville bars into alcohol wastelands whenever NFC North teams travel to play the Tennessee Titans. This makes him the NoBro of SoBros. He has published content for Yahoo! Sports (via Contributor Network) and Titan Sized, among other venues. At SoBros, he’ll provide Daily Fantasy Sports suggestions and broad sports coverage. Check out more of his musings at his blog, Millennial on Maple Street.