This will be the final weekly update as the next Recap that I post will be the season recap. We will continue grading MLB on Tuesday, Wednesday and either Thursday or Friday for at least this week. We’ve had discussions on continuing through the end of the season but have yet to make a firm decision. If you’d like us to continue posting the Consensus articles through the end of MLB, please let us know. As always, check out our MLB Expert Standings to make sure that you’re up to speed on who is making the grade. Enjoy!
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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.
As a reminder, we are currently gathering selections and publishing the MLB Industry Consensus article each weekday 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. As an added bonus in 2017, we will publish the Consensus on weekends when we have a writer available. To begin the 2017 season, we will grade 20 experts that provide pitcher selections and 21 that provide hitter selections daily.
Leaderboard
The top-3 for both pitchers and hitters are below. Be sure to check out the full MLB Expert Standings to see how your favorite experts check out.
Pitchers
#1) DailyFantasyNerd (Score: 5.11) looks like they are going to claim the crown this year barring a complete collapse. The only suspense will be if they can maintain a season-long score north of 5.0, which is quite impressive.
#2) DailyFantasySportsRankings (Score: 4.94) is really fighting for 2nd place at this point. They maintain a fairly comfortable lead over the nearest competition for that slot.
#3) RotoGrinders Consensus (Score: 4.86) need a strong run to close out the season to hop above DFSR. They also should watch out for FantasyLabs who sit a mere .03 behind them for the final top-3 slot.
Hitters
#1) RotoGrinders 6-Pack (Score: 3.08) is done for the season. Beer should hang on to win the season-long crown.
#2) FantasyTeamAdvice (Score: 3.02) stayed flat once again this week. Can FTA make one final (big!) push to challenge the top spot.
#3) RotoGrinders Lineup Builder (Score: 2.91) also stayed flat for the week. They have several experts nipping at their heels that they will have to hold off.
Week in Review
Monday (September 4th)
Industry Consensus Picks
Pitchers – 4.17 (11th)
Hitters – 1.68 (11th)
A+ – Trevor Bauer, Carlos Martinez, Ryan Braun, Charlie Blackmon, Denard Span
F – Twenty of the 34 selections finished with a failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1) Rotoballer (Score 10.00) nailed down a perfect score with their only play for the day.
#2) FantasyTeamAdvice (Score 7.50) scored an “A+” and “A” with their two selections on Labor Day.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) RotoGrinders Lineup Builder (Score: 8.00) absolutely crushed Monday with four of their five plays scoring an “A+” grade. They were the lone expert site to play Joe Panik and his “A+” grade.
#2A-C) DailyFantasySportsRankings, FantasyTeamAdvice, Sportsline (Score: 2.67) all found themselves knotted for 2nd place.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Joe Panik (RotoGrinders Lineup Builder)
Tuesday (September 5th)
Industry Consensus Picks
Pitchers – 5.11 (6th)
Hitters – 2.55 (12th)
A+ – Stephen Strasburg, Eduardo Rodriguez, Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Lucas Duda, Jose Ramirez, Jonathan Schoop, Joe Panik, Nolan Arenado, Travis Shaw, Denard Span, Lorenzo Cain, Austin Jackson
F – Twenty-nine of the 56 selections finished with a failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1) DK Playbook (Score 10.00) hauled home a perfect score with both pitcher selections on Tuesday.
#2) FantasyPros (Score 7.67) had a nice day with two “A+” grades and a “B”.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1A) RotoGrinders Lineup Builder (Score: 5.00) scored an “A” or better with half of their eight plays for the night.
#1B) DailyFantasyNerd (Score: 5.00) also nailed down grades of “A” or better on half of eight plays.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – John Hicks (DailyRoto)
A+ – Manny Machado (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Robert Stephenson (DK Playbook)
A+ – Jose Martinez (DK Playbook)
A+ – Matt Davidson (FantasyPros)
Wednesday (September 6th)
Industry Consensus Picks
Pitchers – 4.71 (14th)
Hitters – 3.35 (T-6th)
A+ – Carlos Carrasco, Kenta Maeda, Salvador Perez, Nick Hundley, Carlos Santana, Whit Merrifield, Eduardo Nunez, Marwin Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon, Nick Williams, Carlos Gonzalez
F – Seventeen of the 41 selections finished with a failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1) Rotoballer (Score 10.00) brought home an “A+” with their lone selection on Monday.
#2A-B) Scout Fantasy, FantasyLabs (Score 8.33) both scored two “A+” grades and an “A”. Scout was the lone expert to play Doug Fister and his “A+” grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) RotoGrinders Lineup Builder (Score: 4.17) continued another solid week. The Lineup Builder scored an “A” or better with half of their six plays.
#2) DailyRoto (Score: 4.06) scored an “A” or better with 14 of their 32 plays including ten “A+” selections.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Ian Kinsler (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Stephen Piscotty (Fantasy Alarm)
A+ – Doug Fister (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Ryan Zimmerman (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Yangervis Solarte (Scout Fantasy)
Thursday (September 7th)
Industry Consensus Picks
Pitchers – 4.00 (T-9th)
Hitters – 1.90 (10th)
A+ – Cory Kluber, Anthony Rizzo, Edwin Encarnacion, Francisco Lindor, Nolan Arenado, Marcell Ozuna, Phillip Ervin
F – Twenty-two of the 45 selections finished with a failing grade (all failing grades were hitter selections).
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1A) DailyFantasyNerd (Score 10.00) scored an “A+” with their lone pick on Thursday.
#1B) Sportsline (Score 10.00) also scored an “A+” with their lone play on Thursday night.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) Scout Fantasy (Score: 3.78) scored an “A+” with six of their 18 plays. Scout killed it with the “diamonds in the rough” as they were the only expert to play Joe Mauer, Jorge Polanco, Ender Inciarte and Robbie Grossman. All of those guys scored “A+” grades.
#2) Rotoballer (Score: 3.13) nailed down two “A+” grades with their eight total selections on Thursday.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Jon Lester (DailyRoto)
A+ – Joe Mauer (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Jorge Polanco (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Ender Inciarte (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Robbie Grossman (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Jorge Alfaro (FantasyPros)
Friday (September 8th)
Industry Consensus Picks
Pitchers – 4.00 (T-8th)
Hitters – 2.94 (10th)
A+ – Luke Weaver, Drew Pomeranz, Freddie Freeman, Jose Altuve, Trea Turner, Jose Reyes, Josh Reddick
F – Nine of the 38 selections finished with a failing grade.
Top Experts of the Day – Pitchers
#1A-E) RotoGrinders Lineup Builder, DK Playbook, DailyFantasyNerd, Sportsline, Rotoballer (Score 6.00) all scored an “A+” and “C” with two plays to cap the week.
Top Experts of the Day – Hitters
#1) RotoGrinders Consensus (Score 4.15) scored an “A” or better with six of their 13 plays on Friday.
#2A-B) Rotowire, Rotoballer (Score 3.83) each ended the week with a solid top-2 finish.
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – John Lackey (DailyFantasySportsRankings)
A+ – Eduardo Escobar (DailyFantasySportsRankings)
A+ – Mookie Betts (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Mike Clevinger (DailyFantasySportsRankings)
A+ – Seth Lugo (DailyFantasySportsRankings)
A+ – Matt Chapman (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Manuel Margot (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Ryan Braun (DailyFantasyNerd)
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 % chart shows the average ownership percentage of those players in a Cash game. The GPP % chart shows the average ownership percentage of those players in a GPP tournament.
Cash by Position
| Count | SP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | Total |
| 16 | 79.70% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 66.40% | N/A | 75.27% |
| 15 | 65.73% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 65.73% |
| 14 | 64.98% | 63.10% | N/A | N/A | 48.50% | 61.60% | 79.25% | 65.41% |
| 13 | 69.49% | N/A | 66.10% | N/A | 72.90% | 63.55% | 65.10% | 68.70% |
| 12 | 56.82% | N/A | 48.25% | 43.65% | 27.10% | 70.43% | 56.00% | 55.25% |
| 11 | 51.65% | 66.40% | 43.55% | 27.58% | 39.77% | 46.17% | 50.25% | 47.62% |
| 10 | 47.92% | 31.70% | 41.59% | 47.87% | 39.66% | 41.13% | 49.76% | 44.67% |
| 9 | 39.15% | 25.20% | 31.09% | 42.99% | 25.74% | 36.37% | 37.56% | 34.95% |
| 8 | 34.13% | 20.87% | 29.00% | 28.40% | 27.57% | 35.24% | 34.46% | 31.19% |
| 7 | 22.61% | 26.44% | 24.70% | 21.09% | 23.86% | 22.66% | 29.07% | 24.63% |
| 6 | 22.81% | 23.19% | 20.60% | 19.81% | 18.59% | 20.08% | 22.77% | 21.49% |
| 5 | 16.42% | 15.74% | 14.83% | 15.01% | 15.31% | 11.30% | 19.53% | 16.09% |
| 4 | 12.28% | 11.33% | 9.85% | 9.75% | 9.85% | 8.56% | 13.48% | 11.02% |
| 3 | 7.79% | 8.78% | 6.98% | 8.58% | 7.23% | 6.66% | 9.36% | 8.05% |
| 2 | 5.03% | 5.72% | 4.44% | 4.85% | 5.20% | 4.35% | 6.02% | 5.20% |
| 1 | 2.58% | 3.50% | 2.28% | 2.58% | 3.37% | 2.24% | 3.18% | 2.87% |
GPP by Position
| Count | SP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | Total |
| 16 | 52.65% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 46.50% | N/A | 50.60% |
| 15 | 38.13% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 38.13% |
| 14 | 40.16% | 40.40% | N/A | N/A | 27.30% | 42.30% | 50.90% | 40.85% |
| 13 | 43.49% | N/A | 31.93% | N/A | 36.40% | 21.60% | 27.30% | 39.98% |
| 12 | 35.49% | N/A | 23.00% | 24.35% | 27.10% | 36.03% | 33.30% | 33.36% |
| 11 | 31.78% | 25.20% | 21.05% | 22.10% | 26.17% | 23.89% | 27.36% | 27.61% |
| 10 | 30.62% | 21.11% | 21.30% | 29.02% | 25.77% | 18.78% | 26.54% | 26.31% |
| 9 | 29.33% | 18.73% | 20.63% | 21.26% | 18.63% | 19.71% | 23.50% | 23.73% |
| 8 | 26.14% | 17.39% | 19.52% | 18.16% | 18.06% | 19.51% | 21.69% | 20.84% |
| 7 | 20.40% | 18.66% | 15.15% | 14.43% | 18.45% | 15.75% | 17.90% | 17.53% |
| 6 | 21.34% | 15.41% | 13.69% | 13.88% | 14.72% | 14.11% | 15.19% | 16.05% |
| 5 | 16.69% | 12.56% | 10.95% | 12.07% | 11.34% | 10.32% | 13.64% | 12.78% |
| 4 | 14.12% | 9.75% | 8.58% | 8.62% | 10.08% | 8.37% | 11.21% | 10.25% |
| 3 | 10.16% | 8.51% | 6.77% | 7.50% | 7.28% | 7.21% | 8.66% | 8.01% |
| 2 | 7.84% | 6.10% | 5.26% | 5.37% | 5.85% | 5.35% | 6.37% | 6.08% |
| 1 | 4.74% | 3.92% | 3.23% | 3.54% | 3.86% | 3.35% | 3.94% | 3.80% |
