FanDuel Single Entry Series: Week 2 Recap
During Week 2 of the FanDuel Single Entry Series, presented by RotoGrinders, 3,852 unique users participated in at least one contest, but only the winner achieved four scores of over 200 points. Week 2 focused on the $25 buy-in level, but just like in Week 1, there were 11 different slates to play (with each player’s top four scores determining who would win a trip to Nashville to compete for more prize money).
Overall, the scoring was down a little bit this week, which was to be expected with a smaller field of contestants, but I think it was also due to there not being as many crazy-good individual MLB performances.
RG member doctor_doom punched his ticket to Nashville in Week 2. Here’s a look back at how he did it.
Monday, July 4 – Early Slate — 205.9 points, finished 59th out of 924
doctor_doom chose to build his roster around the top-of-the-order Cubs stack on the early slate, which was a popular sentiment. Addison Russell hit 5th for the Cubs on this day, and only cost $2100, yet he was very low-owned (at 6.2%) because most gamers preferred to roster his teammate Baez instead. This scenario illustrates to me that lineup order certainly influences ownership percentages, even in a single entry format. The other trendy team to stack was the Red Sox, whose leadoff hitter, Mookie Betts, made his way into this lineup as well. There weren’t any expensive aces on the mound, but choosing either Eickhoff or Lance McCullers, who returned 60 fantasy points for $8700, was the key to building a well-balanced squad on this slate. Solid contributions from a pair of Mets with low ownership levels was enough to lift this team over the 200 point mark.
Monday, July 4 – Main Slate — Didn’t Play
A lot of people understandably sat this slate out. With just four games on the docket, and many people busy with Independence Day activities, there were only 462 participants in the evening slate. The winning total was a mediocre 175.1 points, so no one missed out on a huge score by skipping this contest.
Tuesday, July 5 — 227.9 points, finished 3rd out of 1,248
doctor_doom pocketed a cool $1000 as a result of Donaldson and Stanton’s power surges. On this night, Donaldson and Stanton both hit two homers, but very few fantasy players rostered both of them. doctor_doom’s strategy to use four Blue Jays and three Indians was risky, but when those teams scored 8 and 12 runs, respectively, the risk paid off. Dallas Keuchel was a sneaky good option on this slate, as most players decided to pay up for pitching. 37.1% of gamers paid $11400 for Madison Bumgarner (36 fantasy points), while another 25.2% spent $10200 on Carlos Carrasco (42 fantasy points).
Wednesday, July 6 – Thursday, July 7 — High of 185 points across three slates
Wednesday was a split-slate day with 219.3 and 265.1 as the top scores. On the early slate, doctor_doom had a full Cubs stack, and on the late slate he rostered two pairs of teammates. He stayed aggressive on Thursday, yet again rostering two pairs of teammates, plus Trevor Story, whose 50.6 fantasy points (at 50% ownership) were crucial to posting a solid result. Getting his third impressive score of the week on Thursday left him with five more chances to nab one more huge total.
Friday, July 8 — 241.9 points, finished 3rd out of 1,618
Choosing Jose Fernandez over Chris Sale was paramount to success on this slate. Sale was a popular choice in this contest, ending up 32.8% owned. Unfortunately for his owners, he cost $11000 and returned a measly six fantasy points. For $700 more, Fernandez produced 57 fantasy points, and plenty of hitters to choose from in the $3000 range led to his healthy 21.8% ownership number. Despite missing out on Yasmani Grandal’s 3-homer, 6-RBI barrage (72.6 points), doctor_doom still managed an eye-popping total of 241.9 points, getting 30-plus points from four different hitters! His full Baltimore stack contributed plenty on this night (outside of Wieters’ goose egg), but his other lineup cogs shouldn’t be overlooked. The cheap price tags on Kipnis, Turner, and Correa were part of the reason they made their way into this lineup, as the decision to play Fernandez warranted using some low-priced hitters, but in my mind, they were also three of the best value plays on the loaded 15-game slate.
Saturday, July 9 – Sunday, July 10 (Early) — High of 174.3 points across three slates
The current leader at this point, doctor_doom continued with his stacking theme, though it didn’t work out on Saturday or the early Sunday slate. No one exceeded 235 points in any of these three contests, so doctor_doom was still in first place with one slate remaining.
Sunday, July 10 – Main Slate — 228 points, finished 13th out of 465
The main slate only consisted of four games, but it turned into one of the highest scoring slates of the week, with Kenta Maeda generating 69 points and Madison Bumgarner ending up with 81 in his complete game shutout. Maeda was $2300 cheaper than Bumgarner, which allowed doctor_doom to fit in some of the expensive Rockies hitters who were playing at home. The Phillies were also playing at Coors Field and doctor_doom’s decision to avoid Nolan Arenado in favor of Maikel Franco was worth 38.1 points. The cheap Twins hitters were popular and profitable. doctor_doom’s score of 228 bested his 185 from Thursday and gave him an overall total of 903.7 points.
Final Thoughts
doctor_doom put together an incredible week. In case his finishing totals didn’t sink in as you read this, let’s review: He had a 59th, 3rd, 3rd, and 13th place finish in single entry contests this week. He absolutely dominated this contest with three- or four-man stacks and seemingly one of the top two or three pitching selections on every single slate.
Hats off to doctor_doom, who outscored the nearest competitor by a massive 83.7 points, for his Week 2 victory.