We had some minor shuffling at the top of our MLB Expert Standings. Rotowire had grabbed the top spot in the hitter standings but slid back to a 2nd place tie this week. There was also a flip in the top-3 in the pitcher standings. While the three experts remained the same, it was DailyFantasySportsRankings that hopped into the top-2. The slide continued in our Lineup Construction this past week as well. Enjoy!
In this article, I will give a brief recap of each day we gathered and graded the experts, including how the Industry Consensus picks did, highlighting which experts were at the top for the day and which players were only called out by one expert, but produced an “A+” grade. We will also review the overall standings and highlight the top experts so far this season. And finally, I will publish results of our Lineup Construction series.
As a reminder, we are currently gathering selections and publishing the MLB Industry Consensus articles and MLB Consensus Lineup Construction articles each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday during the season, so be sure to check back about an hour or so before the first pitch of the first game to get a look at the consensus picks and sample lineups for the day.
Leaderboard
The top-3 for both pitchers and hitters are below. Check out the full MLB Expert Standings to see how your favorite experts check out.
Pitchers
#1) Daily Overlay – BvP for MVP (Score: 5.08) stayed completely flat for the week to maintain a comfortable advantage atop the leaderboard.
#2) DailyFantasySportsRankings (Score: 4.92) made a full .10 point jump to hop into 2nd place. It was a really solid showing and should make for an entertaining last month to see who can grab the #2 spot.
#3) RotoGrinders Consensus (Score: 4.91) only lost .01 points for the week even though they were overtaken. It will be a battle down the stretch to see if they can beat our DFSR.
Hitters
#1) DailyRoto (Score: 2.94) saw a slight dip in the score but regained top billing as Rotowire dropped back. They have a comfortable .11 lead heading into the final stretch.
#2A) Rotowire (Score: 2.83) still find themselves in the top-3. We shall see if they can maintain that spot as they are now a part of our daily grading.
#2B) RotoGrinders Consensus (Score: 2.83) has proven themselves throughout the season. I expect them to overtake Rotowire for that 2nd spot.
Week in Review
Monday (August 15th)
Industry Consensus Picks
The Consensus finished tied for 6th on the day in the pitcher category with a solid 4.00 score. A 9th place finish on the hitter side with a 2.61 score.
A+ – Felix Hernandez, David Phelps, Paul Goldschmidt, Adrian Beltre, Jayson Werth, Nelson Cruz, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout
F – 19 of the 38 picks finished in the failing category.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1) DailyFantasySportsRankings (Score: 6.00) topped the day with one “A+” and one “C” for a total of 6.0 on the DO scale.
#2) Rotowire (Score: 5.00) finished in 2nd place hauling home one “A+” and one failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) ESPN Daily Notes (Score: 3.71) posted a solid start to the week. Six of their 14 plays finished with an “A” or better. They were the only expert to play Ryon Healy.
#2) RotoGrinders Consensus (Score: 3.58) scored eleven picks with an “A” or better grade. Unfortunately, they had 13 failing grades. RG Consensus was the only site to play JD Martinez.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – JD Martinez (RotoGrinders Consensus)
A+ – Neil Walker (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Logan Forsythe (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Kevin Kiermaier (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Chris Johnson (Moxyball – Cheat Sheet)
A+ – Scott Schebler (FantasyPros)
A+ – Ryon Healy (ESPN Daily Notes)
Tuesday (August 16th)
Industry Consensus Picks
Tuesday was a really good day for pitchers…in turn, that means it was a really rough day for hitters. A 7.00 score only got the Consensus a 7th place finish so that tells you how good the day on the pitching side was. A 10th place finish with a 1.47 score on the hitter side of things.
A+ – Cory Kluber, Blake Snell, Danny Duffy, Kenta Maeda, Ervin Santana, Jett Bandy, Mookie Betts, Christian Yelich
F – Twenty of the 38 selections finished with a failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1A) DailyFantasySportsRankings (Score: 10.00) was one member of a 3-way tie at the top. They scored an “A+” on both of their plays.
#1B) FantasyTeamAdvice (Score: 10.00) did the same thing as DFSR in pulling two “A+” grades with both selections.
#1C) DailyFantasyCafe (Score: 10.00) decided to follow the trend in scoring two “A+’s”.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) RotoGrinders 6-Pack (Score: 3.83) brought home the gold on Tuesday. Two of his six plays finished with an “A+” grade.
#2) FantasyWired (Score: 3.25) finished 2nd on the day with two of their four plays scoring a “B” or better.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Brad Miller (RotoGrinders Consensus)
A+ – Evan Longoria (FantasyTeamAdvice)
A+ – Alex Bregman (Moxyball – Cheat Sheet)
A+ – Corey Dickerson (DK Playbook)
A+ – Eduardo Rodriguez (FantasyPros)
A+ – Jedd Gyorko (FantasyPros)
A+ – Hernan Perez (FantasyPros)
A+ – Tucker Barnhart (ESPN Daily Notes)
Wednesday (August 17th)
Industry Consensus Picks
Another extraordinary day on the pitching side and disappointing on the hitting side. An 11th place finish for the Consensus with a 5.17 score for pitchers. Another 11th place on the hitter side with a 1.94 score.
A+ – Jon Lester, Yu Darvish, Zack Godley, Jonathan Lucroy, Paul Goldschmidt, Adrian Gonzalez, Eric Hosmer, Justin Turner
F – 23 of the 39 selections finished with a failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1A-E) DailyFantasySportsRankings, Daily Overlay – BvP for MVP, FantasyTeamAdvice, DK Playbook and Rotowire (Score: 10.00) all had perfect scores. A special shoutout to DK Playbook who nailed four perfect scores while the others only hit on two at most.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1A) DailyFantasyCafe (Score: 4.00) found a 1st place tie on Wednesday. One “A+”, one “C” and one failing grade for the day.
#1B) Rotowire (Score: 4.00) was the other expert at the top. Four of the seven selections finished with a “B” or better.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Freddie Freeman (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Yasmany Tomas (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Anibal Sanchez (DK Playbook)
A+ – Sandy Leon (FantasyPros)
A+ – Kyle Gibson (Rotowire)
Friday (August 19th)
Industry Consensus Picks
A tie for 10th with a 4.00 score for the Consensus pitchers. A 2.34 score and 13th place finish on the hitter side for the Consensus.
A+ – Cole Hamels, Evan Gattis, Stephen Vogt, Joey Votto, Jose Altuve
F – 13 of the 34 selections finished with a failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1) FantasyTeamAdvice (Score: 6.00) scored one “A+” and one “C” to top the list on Friday.
#2) DK Playbook (Score: 5.33) put together another solid day to end the week. Two of their three plays scored an “A” or better.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) RotoGrinders 6-Pack (Score: 5.33) rounded out the week with a really nice day. Half of his six picks scored an “A+” grade.
#2) Daily Overlay – BvP for MVP (Score: 5.00) hit the opposite end of the spectrum with two “A+” grades and two failing grades. He was the only expert to play Christian Yelich.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – David Ortiz (DailyRoto)
A+ – George Springer (DailyRoto)
A+ – Christian Yelich (Daily Overlay – BvP for MVP)
A+ – Adrian Beltre (Scout)
A+ – Alex Bregman (Moxyball – Cheat Sheet)
A+ – Mitch Moreland (FantasyPros)
A+ – Ender Inciarte (FantasyPros)
A+ – David Dahl (FantasyPros)
A+ – Randal Grichuk (ESPN Daily Notes)
Consensus Lineup Construction Review
Things went from pretty to pretty ugly for us this week in the Lineup Construction. Coming off one of our better weeks this season, we took a big leap in the wrong direction. FanDuel saved a bit of face on Friday and Brad’s three Cash game wins helped us to not totally tank.
Here is a list of the “rules” we are following when constructing lineups:
- Matt will make two separate lineups for FanDuel and Brad will do the same for DraftKings, one for Cash games and one for GPP tournaments. Stephen will now provide a FantasyDraft Cash and GPP lineup for those same days.
- For Cash games, we will try to build our entire lineup from the Consensus list using any player listed regardless of what tier they are in. This has proven a bit difficult to get a top-tier pitcher in our lineups by using only Consensus plays. For that reason, we now have tweaked the rules a bit and allow for one off the board play in the Cash game format.
- For GPP games, we are allowed to choose up to two players that are not on the Consensus list.
- We can modify any lineup as we see fit for any late-breaking news updates that open up good options even if they are not on the Consensus list.
Weekly/Overall Results
FanDuel
I don’t know if I’ve had a 0-fer week until this last one. I wasn’t even very close to finding the money on any day either. Let’s put this one behind us and move forward.
| Day | Cash Score | Cash Place | Profit (Loss) | GPP Score | GPP Place | Profit (Loss) | Picks By |
| Monday | 120.3 | 83/100 | ($2.00) | 81.6 | 4,971/5,780 | ($2.00) | Matt |
| Tuesday | 115.8 | 77/100 | ($2.00) | 103.1 | 4,262/5,780 | ($2.00) | Matt |
| Wednesday | 135.8 | 72/100 | ($2.00) | 168 | 1,324/4,624 | ($2.00) | Matt |
| Friday | 141.5 | 70/100 | ($1.00) | 118.3 | 10,404/15,028 | ($1.00) | Matt |
Draftkings
Brad had another great week on the Cash side of things. He found the money with all four lineups. GPP was not as kind but he still managed to find the money with his GPP lineup on Wednesday.
| Day | Cash Score | Cash Place | Profit (Loss) | GPP Score | GPP Place | Profit (Loss) | Picks By |
| Monday | 121.25 | 41/100 | $1.60 | 65.55 | 2,099/2,352 | ($1.00) | Brad |
| Tuesday | 113.95 | 17/100 | $1.60 | 110.2 | 616/2,352 | ($1.00) | Brad |
| Wednesday | 106.65 | 49/100 | $1.60 | 131.6 | 2,144/11,764 | $1.00 | Brad |
| Friday | 135.35 | 30/100 | $1.60 | 121.45 | 1,030/2,352 | ($1.00) | Brad |
FantasyDraft
Stephen also put together a solid week with his Cash lineups finding the money on three of four days. He struck out on the GPP lineups this week though.
| Day | Cash Score | Cash Place | Profit (Loss) | GPP Score | GPP Place | Profit (Loss) | Picks By |
| Monday | 122.95 | 46/114 | $1.00 | 88.2 | 245/342 | ($1.00) | Stephen |
| Tuesday | 116.95 | 18/107 | $1.00 | 96 | 201/451 | ($1.00) | Stephen |
| Wednesday | 103.35 | 49/91 | $1.00 | 96.9 | 244/367 | ($1.00) | Stephen |
| Friday | 120.35 | 75/114 | ($1.00) | 120.35 | 225/400 | ($1.00) | Stephen |
The grid below shows a recap of the results so far this season. The slide continued this week as we dropped another couple percentage points in the overall ROI. Need a couple big weeks to close out the season.
| FanDuel | Cash Entry Fees | Cash Tot Winnings | Cash ROI | GPP Entry Fees | GPP Tot Winnings | GPP ROI | Tot Entry Fees | Tot Winnings | Tot ROI |
| Brad | $12.00 | $10.80 | -10.0% | $7.00 | $0.00 | -100.0% | $19.00 | $10.80 | -43.2% |
| Matt | $133.00 | $118.80 | -10.7% | $136.00 | $117.51 | -13.6% | $269.00 | $236.31 | -12.2% |
| Stephen | $9.00 | $12.60 | 40.0% | $10.00 | $8.50 | -15.0% | $19.00 | $21.10 | 11.1% |
| FD Overall | $154.00 | $142.20 | -7.7% | $153.00 | $126.01 | -17.6% | $307.00 | $268.21 | -12.6% |
| DraftKings | Cash Entry Fees | Cash Tot Winnings | Cash ROI | GPP Entry Fees | GPP Tot Winnings | GPP ROI | Tot Entry Fees | Tot Winnings | Tot ROI |
| Brad | $134.00 | $129.60 | -3.3% | $66.00 | $63.17 | -4.3% | $200.00 | $192.77 | -3.6% |
| Matt | $6.00 | $3.60 | -40.0% | $9.00 | $0.00 | -100.0% | $15.00 | $3.60 | -76.0% |
| Stephen | $6.00 | $7.80 | 30.0% | $11.00 | $7.50 | -31.8% | $17.00 | $15.30 | -10.0% |
| DK Overall | $146.00 | $141.00 | -3.4% | $86.00 | $70.67 | -17.8% | $232.00 | $211.67 | -8.8% |
| FantasyAces | Cash Entry Fees | Cash Tot Winnings | Cash ROI | GPP Entry Fees | GPP Tot Winnings | GPP ROI | Tot Entry Fees | Tot Winnings | Tot ROI |
| Stephen | $16.50 | $8.00 | -51.5% | $44.00 | $22.50 | -48.9% | $60.50 | $30.50 | -49.6% |
| FA Overall | $16.50 | $8.00 | -51.5% | $44.00 | $22.50 | -48.9% | $60.50 | $30.50 | -49.6% |
| FantasyDraft | Cash Entry Fees | Cash Tot Winnings | Cash ROI | GPP Entry Fees | GPP Tot Winnings | GPP ROI | Tot Entry Fees | Tot Winnings | Tot ROI |
| Matt | $4.00 | $8.00 | 100.0% | $2.00 | $0.00 | -100.0% | $6.00 | $8.00 | 33.3% |
| Stephen | $35.00 | $34.00 | -2.9% | $36.00 | $60.50 | 68.1% | $71.00 | $94.50 | 33.1% |
| FND Overall | $39.00 | $42.00 | 7.7% | $38.00 | $60.50 | 59.2% | $77.00 | $102.50 | 33.1% |
| Overall | $355.50 | $333.20 | -6.3% | $321.00 | $279.68 | -12.9% | $676.50 | $612.88 | -9.4% |
Ownership Percentage Tracking
Below is the current table showing the data we have tracked so far this season. Results are using DraftKings Double-Up or 50/50s for Cash and large field multi-entry tournaments for GPP. The Count column shows the number of times a player was selected by the experts for a given day. The Cash % column shows the average ownership percentage of those players in a Cash game. The GPP % column shows the average ownership percentage of those players in a GPP tournament. The Total column shows the number of occurrences that a player was selected that many times.
In addition to the Overall Ownership chart, we have broken down ownership percentage by position for the Cash and GPP. You can find those charts below as well.
Overall
| Count | Cash% | GPP% | Total |
| 14 | 49.40% | 36.90% | 2 |
| 13 | 49.60% | 28.40% | 1 |
| 12 | 60.56% | 41.53% | 8 |
| 11 | 52.37% | 34.09% | 15 |
| 10 | 54.84% | 36.14% | 28 |
| 9 | 38.91% | 26.23% | 66 |
| 8 | 34.17% | 22.68% | 108 |
| 7 | 28.51% | 20.08% | 140 |
| 6 | 22.61% | 16.72% | 246 |
| 5 | 18.95% | 14.98% | 408 |
| 4 | 13.87% | 11.53% | 602 |
| 3 | 9.75% | 9.13% | 919 |
| 2 | 6.12% | 6.49% | 1570 |
| 1 | 2.95% | 3.64% | 3423 |
Cash by Position
| Count | SP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | Total |
| 14 | 49.40% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 49.40% |
| 13 | 49.60% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 49.60% |
| 12 | 72.48% | 32.50% | N/A | 17.10% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 60.56% |
| 11 | 57.50% | N/A | 47.40% | N/A | N/A | 14.90% | 33.30% | 52.37% |
| 10 | 54.51% | 35.90% | 66.70% | N/A | 26.50% | 73.50% | 60.20% | 54.84% |
| 9 | 42.59% | N/A | 36.74% | 34.15% | 49.70% | 28.68% | 37.52% | 38.91% |
| 8 | 29.95% | 32.64% | 29.19% | 39.50% | 37.65% | 33.50% | 41.36% | 34.17% |
| 7 | 27.34% | 29.57% | 23.18% | 26.89% | 38.27% | 24.56% | 32.08% | 28.51% |
| 6 | 28.19% | 19.93% | 19.20% | 14.84% | 16.97% | 24.00% | 26.16% | 22.61% |
| 5 | 20.28% | 16.61% | 16.71% | 18.18% | 17.15% | 16.66% | 22.22% | 18.95% |
| 4 | 13.91% | 13.64% | 10.52% | 11.44% | 14.05% | 12.03% | 17.64% | 13.87% |
| 3 | 11.34% | 9.96% | 8.24% | 7.34% | 9.71% | 8.77% | 11.38% | 9.75% |
| 2 | 7.56% | 6.57% | 4.67% | 5.12% | 6.00% | 4.84% | 7.08% | 6.12% |
| 1 | 3.21% | 3.81% | 2.16% | 2.96% | 2.76% | 2.43% | 3.21% | 2.95% |
GPP by Position
| Count | SP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | Total |
| 14 | 36.90% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 36.90% |
| 13 | 28.40% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 28.40% |
| 12 | 47.73% | 29.90% | N/A | 15.90% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 41.53% |
| 11 | 37.42% | N/A | 24.20% | N/A | N/A | 8.50% | 29.70% | 34.09% |
| 10 | 36.58% | 18.70% | 44.20% | N/A | 17.10% | 49.40% | 28.30% | 36.14% |
| 9 | 30.89% | N/A | 21.75% | 22.56% | 31.18% | 18.96% | 22.71% | 26.23% |
| 8 | 23.68% | 20.37% | 18.38% | 21.86% | 22.63% | 18.68% | 27.67% | 22.68% |
| 7 | 21.94% | 19.38% | 14.99% | 18.65% | 25.07% | 17.37% | 20.22% | 20.08% |
| 6 | 22.11% | 15.57% | 13.31% | 11.83% | 14.54% | 16.36% | 17.25% | 16.72% |
| 5 | 17.80% | 13.48% | 12.97% | 13.41% | 14.15% | 13.06% | 16.40% | 14.98% |
| 4 | 14.26% | 11.71% | 8.75% | 9.97% | 12.45% | 9.56% | 12.82% | 11.53% |
| 3 | 12.16% | 9.30% | 6.77% | 7.32% | 9.65% | 8.05% | 10.01% | 9.13% |
| 2 | 9.23% | 7.21% | 5.10% | 5.43% | 6.27% | 5.48% | 6.81% | 6.49% |
| 1 | 5.05% | 3.97% | 2.79% | 3.42% | 3.14% | 3.03% | 3.91% | 3.64% |
