21 Strategies to Dominate Daily Fantasy Baseball
On this website, I’ve written a number of fantasy MLB tutorials for you. Everything is covered, from pitcher selection and crucial analytics to stacking theory and using Vegas odds to guide your draft decisions. Here is a long collection of my finest advice. You may put these strategies to use right away. I’ll link to pages that go into greater depth about them along the way.
One: Pay attention to your starting pitcher
Get your money ready to buy your pitcher. He will give you the most points, so pay attention to him. He’ll be the center of your lineup barring an unforeseen injury.
If you want to select an ace pitcher with a lot of strikeouts and a durable arm, you’ll probably have to shell out a lot of money. Just remember that it typically pays off financially.
There are exceptions to the rule, as when a starting pitcher is slated to face a lineup of batters that are exceptionally productive. But the norm is often followed.
Remember that FanDuel only needs one pitcher in your starting lineup. DraftKings needs two people. Spend a lot at DraftKings to get an ace, and keep an eye out for a less priced candidate to take the second spot.
#2: Pay attention to strikeouts
When choosing pitchers, many metrics must be taken into consideration. Strikeouts, though, are more significant than most.
Select a star with a ton of them in the draft. One of the best indicators of how well a pitcher will do on any given night is strikeout rate.
Watch The Strikeouts/Walks Ratio, or third,
This builds on the advice from earlier.
Obviously, strikeouts are significant. Your pitcher should throw as many pitches as she can. For each, you’ll score three points at FanDuel and two points at DraftKings.
But there’s also the matter of walking to think about.
Mostly a problem at DraftKings. There, each walk your pitcher permits results in a 0.6 point deduction. Given this situation, you ought to select an ace pitcher with a high strikeout-to-walk ratio.
At FanDuel, you don’t have to worry about walking as much. They don’t lose any points for them. But remember that for every earned run your pitcher allows, you WILL lose 3 points. Therefore, the better is to have less walks. More MLB variations can be found at FD and DK.
Look for weakened opposing lineups in #4.
Use the aforementioned advice, as well as the ones I’ve previously provided you, when choosing pitchers for your lineups. They’ll assist you in focusing on very effective arms.
However, you should also take the opponent lineup’s offensive potential into account. It seems to reason that the weaker it is, the better the chances are for your pitcher. The difficult part is figuring out a weak lineup.
In order to achieve that, one of the simplest methods is to look at each hitter’s weighted on-base average (wOBA). That metric is provided by several different websites. All you have to do is search it up.
Now let’s shift gears and discuss hitters.
#5: Pick your top-of-the-lineup hitters.
The batter at the top of the batting order will have more chances to score than the batter at the bottom. More chances equate to more points. So it makes sense that you would choose to choose hitters at the front of the order, other things being equal.
That surely seems obvious. But you’d be shocked at how many players from the bottom of the lineup are on daily fantasy baseball players’ teams.
Avoid making the same error.
Exploit right-to-left splits.
Selecting right-handed hitters in the draft is typically a wise move when a southpaw is on the mound. Be on the lookout for left-handed hitters if the pitcher is right-handed. On this page, I provide the justification for my proposed plan.
The effectiveness of this strategy in daily fantasy baseball will astound you. When batting against right-handed and left-handed pitchers, a hitter’s average might vary greatly.
You might as well benefit from it.
#7 – Take Weighted On-Base Average Into Account
I briefly discussed this in tip #4, but I did so from the standpoint of selecting a pitcher. Let’s look at it now from the opposing perspective of rostering hitters.
Most observers are drawn to sluggers. It makes sense that way. Watching a man thump the ball over the barrier is exhilarating. Slugging average, however, is a terrible way to choose batters in daily fantasy baseball.
Instead, you want players with a knack for reaching base. It makes no difference how they get there—on foot, by themselves, or otherwise. Simply put, you don’t want them to get away. Pay attention to the weighted on-base average of each hitter.
#8: Watch Out For Careless Base Stealers
In fantasy MLB competitions, stolen bases are a wonderful “giveaway.” You will receive an additional 6 points on FanDuel for each base stolen by one of your players. At DraftKings, each base that is stolen is worth 5 points.
However, you don’t want a man who is careless. They should score a run for 3 and 2 points, respectively, since you want them to.
#9 – Search for last-minute deals
You’ll need to be frugal after spending a lot on an excellent pitcher and adding a few high-paid stars to your lineup. Searching for deals is one way to achieve this.
I don’t mean to scrape the bottom of the barrel for inexpensive, low-quality players when I say “bargains.” I’m referring about men who the market has unfairly undervalued.
The batter with a strong track record who has been having difficulty for one reason or another is one type of deal. The backup player, who advances when the starter is injured, is another type. After the news is announced, you can frequently roster such players for little money if you move quickly.
Play a lot of 50/50s.
The two types of daily fantasy MLB competitions are cash games and tournaments with a guaranteed prize pool (GPP). Head-to-head (H2H), tiny leagues, and 50/50s (or double-ups) are the main components of cash games.
GPPs are more harder to win than double-ups. There are fewer participants, and only half of them are paid. Although the payouts are substantially lower, the chances of cashing are much higher.
Here and here, I talked about daily fantasy 50/50 approach. I strongly advise getting up to speed by reading both guides.
#11 – In tournaments, take enormous risks.
Don’t be hesitant to gamble in GPPs. Take risks in them if you want to succeed. This entails signing up players who have the potential to become stars but are being overlooked and discarded by the bulk of your rivals.
Here is a guide I wrote on how to take part in FanDuel tournaments. It was written with daily fantasy football in mind. However, the majority of the advice is transferable to one-day fantasy baseball tournaments.
#12 – Master the Technique of Stacking
Stacking is when multiple players from the same MLB team are rostered. To take advantage of struggling pitchers is the plan. You stand to score a lot of points if you fill out your lineup with multiple effective batters.
When particular players depend on one another’s output, stacking can be helpful as well. Consider stacking four hitters who typically bat first for their respective teams. Assume that the first three batters hit singles to load the bases. After then, the fourth batter blasts a home run to score his teammates.
For each of those runs, you receive credit.
In daily fantasy baseball, stacking may be a potent tactic. Become proficient at it.
#13 – Avoid spending money on catchers.
The complete opposite of pitchers in one-day fantasy baseball are catchers. While you should be prepared to shell out a sizeable fee to sign a fantastic pitcher, preserve your money when selecting a catcher.
They don’t have a lot of potentials offensively.
You must include one more in your lineup. You have no other option. Just make sure you don’t overpay for it. Your budget could be used more wisely.
#14. Look for struggling pitchers
The equivalent of a failing quarterback in fantasy football is a weak pitcher in fantasy baseball. The most crucial thing to keep in mind is that they can be advantageous when selecting batters.
Assess pitchers who have struggled in recent games first.
Next, note who will be interacting with productive lineups. Find out how they fared in previous matches with those teams.
Third, group those players together, especially the ones at the top of the lineup.
If the pitcher keeps having trouble, he will eventually be removed from the mound. But before that occurs, your hitters ought to be able to score a sizable quantity of points.
#15 – Become accustomed to daily MLB statistics
You don’t have to be a saber metrics fan to understand how important analytics is when creating successful daily fantasy baseball lineups. Your draft picks can be influenced by metrics like Batting Average On Balls In Play (BABIP), Expected Fielding Independent Pitching (xFIP), Skill-Interactive ERA (SIERA), and Left on Base Percentage (LOB%).
That does not imply that each metric is essential. Undoubtedly, some are worth more than others. Choose the ones that will be most helpful to your draft strategy because you only have so much time, and skip the others. Learn more about them. After that, make it a practice to compute them before each draft.
#16. Know Your Scoring Systems
You’ve probably noticed that FanDuel and DraftKings use distinct fantasy baseball scoring systems. Each event has a different quantity of points granted (or subtracted). For instance, think of strikeouts. Your pitcher will score 1 point at FanDuel and 2 points at DraftKings for each, as I already mentioned.
Additionally, both scoring systems fail to take into account some events. The amount of points taken away when a runner is detected stealing is one illustration. You may remember that DraftKings takes away 2 points. FanDuel does not take any away.
The two fantasy MLB scoring systems’ differences can be utilized in a variety of ways. Here is an excellent summary with some helpful advice.
#17: Begin construction from the middle
Fantasy football players frequently start at the top of their lineups. They start with a few stars and work their way down, selecting an ace pitcher.
The issue is that it’s simple to overpay up front, leaving little money for player drafting later.
Here is an alternative model.
Register your pitcher and one star first. Then, start looking for deals in the middle of the pay scale to complete the balance of your roster. By doing this, you’ll be able to stick to your budget without worrying about running out of money when there are still two or three seats to fill.
You can always swap out players if you still have money to spare and you believe doing so will increase your chances of winning.
#18 Check Vegas Odds
Accurate line calculations are how oddsmakers support their living. They are invested in the outcome. In light of this, it’s wise to always check the most recent odds on forthcoming games before deciding on your starting lineup.
Pay attention to how many runs are anticipated to be scored overall in a game. A high-scoring game may indicate that one or both pitchers will have trouble.
Examine the money line that the bookmakers have established. Utilize the statistics to select pitchers and hitters for winning teams.
#19 Take The Ballpark Into Account
It’s likely that you’ve heard that some stadiums favor batters and other pitchers. For instance, Coors Field and the Great American Ball Park are recognized as two of hitter-friendly stadiums. The number of home runs is reportedly suppressed at AT&T Park and PNC Park.
Can you see how that knowledge could be used to assist you put together winning lineups?
#20: Pay attention to Twitter
Currently, Twitter is one of the finest places to learn about injuries, late scratches, weather issues, and other news that could affect a game. Up until the start of the evening’s games, pay attention to the most pertinent streams.
Your lineup can be hampered by a last-minute scratch, necessitating a prompt substitution. Additionally, it can provide the chance to purchase the injured player’s backup at a steep discount.
Keep yourself informed and prepared to act if significant news occurs.
#21 play on multiple daily fantasy sites
Play on DraftKings and FanDuel simultaneously. In addition to offering different fantasy MLB promotions, competing for websites also have varying player salaries.
Here’s an illustration.
The New York Mets and Washington Nationals are set to play at the time this article is being written. The salary for two pitchers from each facility are listed below.
Utilize the advice I’ve provided on this page to improve your chances of winning a cash prize.