We made some changes. Pitchers score higher, hitters score lower. Probably no mystery to both so we didn’t want to continue to punish those sites that only pick one or the other. We now break out the grading by pitchers and hitters. Be sure to check out the updated MLB Expert Standings where you can now find the scoring tables for Overall, Pitchers and Hitters. This should provide some added insight in to who the top experts are. That being said, it altered the way some experts and their scores are perceived. Brad had been dominant all season in our Overall Standings; however, when we take the hitters out of the equation, the leaders change. Hope you guys enjoy the change and the added insight. It should be fun to keep an eye on how things play out these last couple of months. Also, keep an eye out on the grading tables, as we will likely add the points per dollar column to the charts. This will help you find those experts that provide solid value, contrarian plays.
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. As you can see, the top-3 are the same for both, just in inverse order. Our in-house man, Stephen, makes it a nice showing for Daily Overlay. Check out the full MLB Expert Standings.
Pitchers
#1) Daily Overlay – BvP for MVP (Score: 5.38) takes the top spot on the pitcher scoreboard. Stephen does provide a pitcher on most days and those plays have worked out nicely. Be sure to dig deep into his article everyday to find those pitcher selections at the bottom.
#2) RotoGrinders Consensus (Score: 5.14) finds themselves in 2nd place on the pitcher chart. A really solid 5.14 score though the daily plays are typically the top “stud” options for the day.
#3) DailyRoto (Score: 4.86) just eeked out DailyFantasySportsRankings for a spot on the podium. Similar to the RG Consensus, they provide mostly “stud” options with very few value plays.
Hitters
#1) DailyRoto (Score: 3.02) finds the gold medal on the hitter side and opens up a comfortable lead. You’ll notice how much lower the hitter scores are, hence the need to break them out by position.
#2) RotoGrinders Consensus (Score: 2.86) is in the top-3 on the hitter side as well. Same as above (and same as DailyRoto) they are providing high-priced options so you’ll have to look elsewhere for the value plays.
#3) Daily Overlay – BvP for MVP (Score: 2.84) also finds the top-3 on the hitter side. Stephen has shown his ability to provide solid plays, including the value ones on a daily basis.
Week in Review
Friday (July 15th)
We started the 2nd half on the Friday after the ASG. Being that it was just one day, there was no reason to do a whole recap article over one day.
Industry Consensus Picks
The Consensus finished in 11th for the day on the pitcher side with a 4.00 score. The hitter side of things was a bit more kind with a 6th place finish and a 2.96 score.
A+ – Stephen Strasburg, Neil Walker, Ian Kinsler, Nolan Arenado, Giancarlo Stanton, Stephen Piscotty
F – Ten of the 30 picks finished in the failing category.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1) Fantasy Alarm (Score: 6.25) topped the list in the pitcher category. Three of their four picks scored an “A” or better.
#2) FantasyPros (Score: 5.50) found their way into the top-2 for possibly the first time this season. We will probably see more of this since we are dividing up positions. Two of their four picks scored an “A+”. They were the only expert to play Andrew Cashner and Miguel Gonzalez.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) Daily Overlay – BvP for MVP (Score: 3.71) finds the top of the heap for the first post-ASG day. Three of the seven plays scored an “A” or better.
#2A) FantasyTeamAdvice (Score: 3.50) was one of three experts to finish in a 2nd place tie. Three of the eight selections finished with an “A” or better.
#2B) FantasyWired (Score: 3.50) made four plays and scored one “A+”.
#2C) DK Playbook (Score: 3.50) was the final expert in the tie. Four of the 14 selections finished with an “A+” grade. DK Playbook was the only site to play Marcell Ozuna.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Stephen Vogt (DailyFantasySportsRankings)
A+ – Jonathan Villar (DailyRoto)
A+ – Mike Napoli (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Yasiel Puig (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – George Springer (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Travis Shaw (Moxyball – Cheat Sheet)
A+ – Marcell Ozuna (DK Playbook)
A+ – Andrew Cashner (FantasyPros)
A+ – Miguel Gonzalez (FantasyPros)
A+ – Justin Verlander (ESPN Daily Notes)
Monday (July 18th)
Industry Consensus Picks
The Consensus finished in 8th for the day in the pitcher category with a 6.33 score. A 5th place finish on the hitter side of things with a 3.38 score.
A+ – Jose Fernandez, Chris Sale, Mike Leake, Joey Votto, Trevor Story, Aledmys Diaz, Evan Longoria, Justin Upton, Stephen Piscotty, Billy Hamilton
F – Eleven of the 32 picks finished in the failing category.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1) DailyFantasySportsRankings (Score: 10.00) finished with a perfect score on Monday. Both of their picks scored “A+” grades.
#2) Scout (Score: 8.25) scored a nice 2nd place finish, just missing out on the perfect score. Three of their four plays scored an “A+” grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) DailyFantasySportsRankings (Score: 4.75) made it a clean sweep to start the week. Five of their twelve plays scored an “A+”.
#2) Rotocurve (Score: 4.60) brought home a top-2 finish to start the week. Two of their five plays scored an “A+”.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Zack Cozart (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Edinson Volquez (FantasyPros)
A+ – Adrian Beltre (FantasyPros)
A+ – Alex Rodriguez (FantasyPros)
A+ – Francisco Lindor (ESPN – Daily Notes)
A+ – Adonis Garcia (FantasyPros)
Tuesday (July 19th)
Industry Consensus Picks
The Consensus turned in an 3rd place finish for the day with a 6.75 score for pitchers. A 6th place finish with a 3.50 score on the hitter side.
A+ – Danny Salazar, Jake Arrieta, David Ortiz, Jose Altuve, Trevor Story, Evan Longoria, Mike Trout, Corey Dickerson, Ian Desmond
F – Thirteen of the 28 selections finished with a failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1) DailyFantasySportsRankings (Score: 10.00) turned in another perfect day, though it was only one pick.
#2) RotoGrinders Consensus (Score: 8.33) took home a 2nd place finish. Two of their three plays scored an “A+” with the 3rd pick scoring an “A”.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) DailyFantasyCafe (Score: 5.75) scored a 1st place finish on Tuesday. All four of their picks scored a “B” or better on the day.
#2) RotoGrinders 6-Pack (Score: 5.00) only had three selections that played but they all scored well. Two of the three scored an “A” or better.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Eduardo Nunez (DailyRoto)
A+ – Jay Bruce (DailyRoto)
A+ – Logan Forsythe (RotoGrinders Consensus)
A+ – Brad Miller (RotoGrinders Consensus)
A+ – Marcus Semien (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Todd Frazier (Moxyball – Cheat Sheet)
A+ – Mike Napoli (DK Playbook)
A+ – Jeff Bandy (FantasyPros)
Wednesday (July 20th)
Industry Consensus Picks
The Consensus finished in a 7th place tie for the day with a 3.67 score on the pitcher side. The hitter side brought a 3.00 score and a 4th place tie.
A+ – Michael Pineda, Jonathan Villar, Bryce Harper, Mookie Betts, Ian Desmond, Carlos Beltran
F – Fourteen of the 32 selections finished with a failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1) Moxyball – Cheat Sheet (Score: 10.00) found the “A+” column with their only play on the day.
#2A) Fantasy Alarm (Score: 5.00) finished in a 2nd place tie for the day. Two of their three plays finished with an “A” or better.
#2B) DailyFantasySportsRankings (Score: 5.00) was the other expert in the tie. Their only play scored an “A”.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) DK Playbook (Score: 4.42) topped the list on Wednesday. Five of their 12 plays finished with an “A+” grade.
#2) Scout (Score: 3.90) found the silver medal for the day. Half of their ten plays finished with an “A” or better.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Ryan Braun (DK Playbook)
A+ – Tyler Goeddel (FantasyPros)
Friday (July 22nd)
Industry Consensus Picks
A really bad day for the Consensus pitchers with a 0.80 grade. Things were better on the hitter side with a 4th place finish and a 3.03 score.
A+ – Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, Ian Kinsler, Brian Dozier, Manny Machado, Justin Turner
F – Sixteen of the 35 selections finished with a failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1) FantasyPros (Score: 8.00) finished the week with a bang. Three of four plays scored an “A+” grade. They were the only site to play Dylan Bundy, Kyle Gibson and James Paxton.
#2) RotoGrinders Consensus (Score: 4.50) finished the week with a 2nd place finish on the pitcher side. Two of the four plays finished with an “A” or better. The only site to play Lance McCullers.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) FantasyWired (Score: 5.00) hauled in a 1st place finish to round out the week. Two “A+'” and two failing grades on the day.
#2) Daily Overlay – BvP for MVP (Score: 4.80) bookends this week’s article with another top-2 finish. Two of Stephen’s five plays scored an “A+”.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Lance McCullers (RotoGrinders Consensus)
A+ – Trevor Story (RotoGrinders Consensus)
A+ – Jon Gray (Daily Overlay – On the Hill)
A+ – Christian Yelich (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Dylan Bundy (FantasyPros)
A+ – Kyle Gibson (FantasyPros)
A+ – James Paxton (FantasyPros)
A+ – Jose Abreu (FantasyPros)
A+ – Jace Peterson (FantasyPros)
A+ – Alcides Escobar (FantasyPros)
A+ – Billy Hamilton (FantasyPros)
Consensus Lineup Construction Review
Thanks to Stephen, we boosted the overall ROI significantly. He was able to find a 2nd place GPP finish on Friday for a nice return on his $1 investment. Brad will be back on Tuesday so only one more day of Stephen covering on the DraftKings side of action. We are hoping to make a strong push as the MLB season winds down.
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
An up-and-down look to the chart. The Cash format was decent, producing three wins in five tries. The GPP was still a struggle thought. My experiment on Tuesday of submitting the same lineup didn’t work; however, I received a goose egg from the pitcher position in both lineups. I really thought the rain in St. Louis would hold off…but I was wrong!
| Day | Cash Score | Cash Place | Profit (Loss) | GPP Score | GPP Place | Profit (Loss) | Picks By |
| Friday (7/15) | 125.5 | 39/100 | $1.60 | 90.5 | 5,318/6,936 | ($2.00) | Matt |
| Monday | 144 | 45/100 | $1.60 | 119.8 | 3,764/6,936 | ($2.00) | Matt |
| Tuesday | 68.8 | 95/100 | ($2.00) | 68.8 | 5,099/5,780 | ($2.00) | Matt |
| Wednesday | 142.7 | 57/100 | ($2.00) | 191.1 | 1,475/23,529 | $1.00 | Matt |
| Friday | 120.8 | 27/100 | $1.60 | 88.4 | 9,693/15,678 | ($1.00) | Matt |
DraftKings
Stephen filled in for Brad as he was on vacation in California. Including Friday, the 15th, Stephen found the money in half of the 10 games entered. A solid GPP finish on Tuesday and a couple nice Double-Up wins in the Cash format.
| Day | Cash Score | Cash Place | Profit (Loss) | GPP Score | GPP Place | Profit (Loss) | Picks By |
| Friday (7/15) | 121.5 | 15/100 | $0.80 | 92.6 | 5,696/14,705 | ($1.00) | Stephen |
| Monday | 92.95 | 373/574 | ($1.00) | 41.35 | 96,871/98,039 | ($3.00) | Stephen |
| Tuesday | 133.15 | 57/574 | $1.00 | 153.45 | 321/14,705 | $4.00 | Stephen |
| Wednesday | 81.05 | 538/574 | ($1.00) | 99.8 | 7,295/11,764 | ($1.00) | Stephen |
| Friday | 136.15 | 47/574 | $1.00 | 122.3 | 1,617/14,706 | $1.50 | Stephen |
FantasyDraft
Stephen had a nice week on FantasyDraft. He found the money with four of five Cash lineups and three of five GPPs. His GPP wins included a 2nd place finish in a 340-person tournament, which hauled in a nice return for his $1 investment. He’ll look to continue this momentum down the stretch.
| Day | Cash Score | Cash Place | Profit (Loss) | GPP Score | GPP Place | Profit (Loss) | Picks By |
| Friday (7/15) | 108.7 | 35/104 | $1.00 | 105.2 | 98/374 | $0.50 | Stephen |
| Monday | 126.55 | 38/113 | $1.00 | 71.95 | 375/422 | ($1.00) | Stephen |
| Tuesday | 143.5 | 2/96 | $1.00 | 124.45 | 57/395 | $1.00 | Stephen |
| Wednesday | 96.25 | 92/99 | ($1.00) | 120.8 | 15/316 | ($1.00) | Stephen |
| Friday | 112.15 | 43/106 | $1.00 | 171.3 | 2/340 | $22.00 | Stephen |
The grid below shows a recap of the results so far this season. Thanks to Stephen’s monster GPP night on Friday on FantasyDraft, we are as close to a positive overall ROI as we’ve been in awhile. Creeping towards the positive numbers. Take out a couple really nice GPP showings and our numbers would be way down. Our Cash game lineups have been fairly solid all season; however, the GPP has been much tougher to navigate. If we could consistently post a decent GPP finish using the Consensus each week, we’d pull ourselves out of the hole quickly.
| 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 | $102.00 | $100.80 | -1.2% | $108.00 | $101.51 | -6.0% | $210.00 | $202.31 | -3.7% |
| Stephen | $9.00 | $12.60 | 40.0% | $10.00 | $8.50 | -15.0% | $19.00 | $21.10 | 11.1% |
| FD Overall | $123.00 | $124.20 | 1.0% | $125.00 | $110.01 | -12.0% | $248.00 | $234.21 | -5.6% |
| 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 | $104.00 | $90.00 | -13.5% | $51.00 | $52.00 | 2.0% | $155.00 | $142.00 | -8.4% |
| Matt | $6.00 | $3.60 | -40.0% | $9.00 | $0.00 | -100.0% | $15.00 | $3.60 | -76.0% |
| Stephen | $5.00 | $5.80 | 16.0% | $10.00 | $7.50 | -25.0% | $15.00 | $13.30 | -11.3% |
| DK Overall | $115.00 | $99.40 | -13.6% | $70.00 | $59.50 | -15.0% | $185.00 | $158.90 | -14.1% |
| 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 | $19.00 | $22.00 | 15.8% | $20.00 | $52.50 | 162.5% | $39.00 | $74.50 | 91.0% |
| FND Overall | $23.00 | $30.00 | 30.4% | $22.00 | $52.50 | 138.6% | $45.00 | $82.50 | 83.3% |
| Overall | $277.50 | $261.60 | -5.7% | $261.00 | $244.51 | -6.3% | $538.50 | $506.11 | -6.0% |
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 | 68.10% | 42.00% | 1 |
| 13 | 49.60% | 28.40% | 1 |
| 12 | 60.56% | 41.53% | 8 |
| 11 | 56.78% | 36.78% | 12 |
| 10 | 54.37% | 36.33% | 25 |
| 9 | 41.56% | 27.57% | 55 |
| 8 | 34.66% | 22.70% | 86 |
| 7 | 28.91% | 20.23% | 110 |
| 6 | 22.85% | 16.88% | 195 |
| 5 | 18.97% | 15.14% | 325 |
| 4 | 14.09% | 11.74% | 470 |
| 3 | 9.83% | 9.16% | 701 |
| 2 | 6.16% | 6.59% | 1208 |
| 1 | 2.93% | 3.64% | 2640 |
Cash by Position
| Count | SP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | Total |
| 14 | 68.10% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 68.10% |
| 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 | 57.63% | N/A | 47.40% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 56.78% |
| 10 | 54.52% | 35.90% | 66.70% | N/A | 26.50% | 79.50% | 60.20% | 54.37% |
| 9 | 46.81% | N/A | 40.86% | 35.40% | 49.70% | 30.93% | 37.52% | 41.56% |
| 8 | 27.46% | 32.64% | 28.04% | 38.70% | 40.25% | 35.02% | 47.66% | 34.66% |
| 7 | 27.23% | 28.82% | 26.31% | 28.22% | 37.60% | 26.01% | 30.46% | 28.91% |
| 6 | 27.18% | 20.48% | 20.96% | 12.69% | 17.04% | 25.00% | 26.51% | 22.85% |
| 5 | 19.80% | 16.95% | 16.20% | 18.97% | 17.01% | 16.07% | 22.96% | 18.97% |
| 4 | 14.05% | 14.52% | 10.81% | 11.54% | 14.39% | 11.98% | 17.80% | 14.09% |
| 3 | 11.28% | 10.44% | 8.35% | 7.40% | 9.57% | 7.99% | 11.83% | 9.83% |
| 2 | 7.52% | 6.74% | 4.76% | 5.15% | 5.83% | 4.69% | 7.35% | 6.16% |
| 1 | 3.30% | 3.72% | 2.01% | 2.91% | 2.81% | 2.44% | 3.20% | 2.93% |
GPP by Position
| Count | SP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | Total |
| 14 | 42.00% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 42.00% |
| 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 | 37.92% | N/A | 24.20% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 36.78% |
| 10 | 36.95% | 18.70% | 44.20% | N/A | 17.10% | 61.00% | 28.30% | 36.33% |
| 9 | 33.80% | N/A | 23.00% | 23.09% | 31.18% | 20.17% | 22.71% | 27.57% |
| 8 | 22.48% | 20.37% | 17.14% | 21.79% | 23.98% | 19.43% | 30.79% | 22.70% |
| 7 | 21.36% | 18.78% | 16.84% | 19.34% | 24.11% | 17.74% | 20.17% | 20.23% |
| 6 | 21.76% | 15.24% | 14.16% | 10.63% | 14.84% | 17.17% | 17.37% | 16.88% |
| 5 | 18.09% | 13.70% | 12.80% | 13.79% | 14.25% | 12.96% | 16.79% | 15.14% |
| 4 | 14.31% | 12.48% | 8.97% | 10.24% | 12.75% | 9.50% | 12.93% | 11.74% |
| 3 | 12.04% | 9.56% | 6.66% | 7.63% | 9.64% | 7.32% | 10.30% | 9.16% |
| 2 | 9.42% | 7.41% | 5.21% | 5.64% | 6.33% | 5.36% | 6.93% | 6.59% |
| 1 | 5.14% | 3.92% | 2.75% | 3.39% | 3.07% | 3.03% | 3.99% | 3.64% |
We continue to provide the projected ownership info, which is based off the above data, each day in our Consensus articles. We hope that has been helpful in seeking out contrarian plays for larger GPP fields.
