Analyzing the Best: Hixvillehunk and G123 Square off on DS
Two of the best daily fantasy baseball players around decided to square off in a 7-day H2H series to prove who the best DFS baseballer truly is. Hixvillehunk and G123 have already played twice and Hix has a 2-0 lead early in the series. For a younger player, analyzing the strategy used by some of these top tier players can really pay off. Understanding the similarities and overall approach can infinitely improve your game play. That’s what I’ll try to do today.
Day One: Hixville (48.2) Wins Over G123 (44.4)
HixvilleHunk Takes 1-0 Best of 7 Series Lead
G123 – DAY ONE | Salary | Score | HIXVILLEHUNK – DAY ONE | Salary | Score | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Evan Gattis | $6,947 | 2.25 | C | Carlos Santana | $7,122 | 2.25 | |
1B | Joey Votto | $9,188 | 3 | 1B | Nick Swisher | $5,288 | 0.75 | |
2B | Rickie Weeks | $4,522 | 5.75 | 2B | Eric Sogard | $7,048 | 1.5 | |
3B | Adrian Beltre | $8,153 | 2 | 3B | Pedro Alvarez | $7,156 | 9.25 | |
SS | Starlin Castro | $4,832 | 0 | SS | Jed Lowrie | $7,148 | 3.25 | |
OF | Giancarlo Stanton | $8,221 | 5 | OF | Melky Cabrera | $5,419 | 0 | |
OF | Justin Upton | $6,794 | 1 | OF | Leonys Martin | $5,180 | 1.75 | |
OF | Leonys Martin | $5,180 | 1.75 | OF | Jay Bruce | $9,767 | 3.75 | |
DH | Adam Dunn | $5,627 | 3.5 | DH | Joey Votto | $9,844 | 3 | |
Batter Totals | $59,464 | 24.25 | Batter Totals | $63,972 | 25.5 | |||
SP | Francisco Liriano | $14,796 | 11.15 | SP | Jeff Samardzija | $12,866 | 9.7 | |
SP | Brandon Beachy | $12,886 | -0.7 | SP | Mike Leake | $10,436 | 4.7 | |
SP | Jeff Samardzija | $11,970 | 9.7 | SP | Zach McAllister | $12,716 | 8.3 | |
Pitcher Totals | $39,652 | 20.15 | Pitcher Totals | $36,018 | 22.7 | |||
Combined Totals | $99,116 | 44.40 | Combined Totals | $99,990 | 48.20 |
Day One Similarities
- Joey Votto vs. O’Sullivan – This one seems relatively straight forward to understand. With a decent price tag for a guy as consistent as Votto, plus the juicy matchup, he was a guy that was well rostered across the board.
- Jeff Samardzija vs. MIL – The biggest factor that pushed people away from Samardzija on Monday was his splits at home which have been less than spectacular. But the 12K price tag on a high-strikeout pitcher at home was too good to pass up for either of these players.
- Leonys Martin vs. Weaver – This is the one that has perplexed me a bit. Martin had good value at 5K but against one of the better pitchers of late in Jered Weaver, I found it extremely interesting that he wound up on both rosters. Martin came into the day 0-4 against Weaver in his past, a set of BvP splits that could be considered negligible for daily research purposes.
Weaver is also holding lefties to a .230 batting average against on the season. The biggest selling points I could find on Martin were the facts that he has an OPS just under .900 against righties on the year and is hitting .329 (OPS around .900) at home. For the $5K price tag, it looks like both of these experts ignored the difficult matchup and looked squarely at Martin’s individual success in the Home/vs. Right setting.
Day Two: HixvilleHunk (95.05) Beats G123 (69.15)
Hixvillehunk takes 2-0 Best of 7 Series Lead.
G123 – DAY TWO | Salary | Score | HIXVILLEHUNK – DAY TWO | Salary | Score | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | Jarrod Saltalamacchia | $4,511 | 9.5 | C | Brian McCann | $6,982 | 10 | |
1B | Mark Trumbo | $6,472 | 9.25 | 1B | Freddie Freeman | $7,927 | 19.25 | |
2B | Dustin Pedroia | $8,112 | 12.5 | 2B | Dustin Pedroia | $8,112 | 12.5 | |
3B | Pablo Sandoval | $6,774 | 4 | 3B | Adrian Beltre | $6,473 | 6 | |
SS | Jimmy Rollins | $5,763 | 1 | SS | Starlin Castro | $4,829 | -1 | |
OF | Chris Carter | $5,102 | -1.5 | OF | Nelson Cruz | $6,318 | 6.5 | |
OF | Giancarlo Stanton | $7,638 | 0 | OF | Nick Markakis | $6,738 | 2.25 | |
OF | Mike Trout | $9,015 | 12.5 | OF | Andrew McCutchen | $8,339 | 11 | |
DH | Adrian Beltre | $6,473 | 6 | DH | Jason Heyward | $7,192 | 7.5 | |
Batter Totals | $59,860 | 53.25 | Batter Totals | $62,910 | 74 | |||
SP | Zack Greinke | $14,180 | 8.45 | SP | Jake Arrieta | $8,431 | 4.8 | |
SP | Dan Straily | $10,018 | 1.35 | SP | Wei-Yin Chen | $12,566 | 10.15 | |
SP | Mat Latos | $15,931 | 6.1 | SP | Mat Latos | $15,391 | 6.1 | |
Pitcher Totals | $40,129 | 15.9 | Pitcher Totals | $36,388 | 21.05 | |||
Combined Totals | $99,989 | 69.15 | Combined Totals | $99,298 | 95.05 |
Day Two Similarities
- Dustin Pedroia vs. Saunders – This one seemed like the obvious play on FanDuel Tuesday night where his price tag had dropped to 3K. But at 8K at DS, it was far from a guarantee. Again, both players heavily relied on a hitter whose splits favor being at home.
- Adrian Beltre vs. Wilson – Beltre against Wilson is another tough one since Wilson had been so dominant coming into last night. But the BvP for Beltre was overwhelming, along with Adrian’s home success so I can see this (and a few of the other bats in this game) as sound investments.
- Mat Latos vs. SDP – He was probably the best pitching option from Tuesday night so it wasn’t a huge surprise to see him owned on both teams. At $15K he was pretty likely to get the win and likely to have success against a Padres team that has pounded lefties and struggled vs. righties on the season.
Overlying Themes
- #1 – Take Hitters at Home: Hixvillehunk took 15 of his 18 hitters over the last 2 days at home, including all 9 hitters on Tuesday night. G123 had 12 of his 18 hitters at home, a sample that isn’t as significant but still important when you consider some of the value plays like Leonys Martin.
- #2 – Spend Around $40K On Pitching – Both players were in the $36K-$40K range for pitching on both nights. For H2H play, neither used a reliever either. Hix was able to put up nearly 100 FP on Tuesday without breaking the bank for pitching as well. For the most part, the model was simple when selecting pitchers. One above average priced pitcher in a good matchup (Latos, Liriano), one underpriced pitcher whose talent exceeds his salary (Samardzija for example), and one value $8-$10K guy either throwing at home or in a good matchup (Arrieta, Leake, Straily).
- #3 – Don’t Pay Way Up for Hitting – Neither player used a $10K hitter on either night. While both were able to fill their lineups with some of the better known MLB bats, they did so without destroying their ability to build a complete team. I think this is crucial for H2H play when consistency wins in the long run.
Again, this is only a 2-night sample so it’s hard to say anything definitive but a competition like this is a great starting point for new players to better understand the game. Both of these players are at the top of daily fantasy baseball and both can help you improve your game play just by posting their lineups in a public setting like this competition has done.
Keep following along with the rest of this 7-day H2H matchup for $5K over at DraftStreet, and as always remember to sign up through the RotoGrinders links for a 40% Deposit Bonus Plus RG Incentives!