MLB Restart Primer: What You Need to Know
Major League Baseball daily fantasy sports are back on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo! Well, hopefully anyway. We’d all love to be using MLB player projections, ownership projections, and top stacks very soon. The great news is: MLB and the MLB Players Association have finally reached a deal for the 2020 season. While we’re still gathering information on what exactly the season will look like, below you’ll find what we currently know.
MLB Restart Primer: Dates and Details
— “Spring Training” will start July 3 and the season will start July 24.
— Teams will play a 60-game regular season.
— In an attempt to limit travel, teams will play 40 games against their division (10 games against each team) and 20 games against the opposite league’s geographical divisional rival.
— While there was some talk that the MLB could restructure divisions for the shortened season, it appears that won’t be the case. Divisions will remain the same.
— There will be a universal DH.
— All extra-inning games will start with a runner on second base.
— Roster sizes will start at 30 players until the 15th day of the season, move to 28 players until the 28th day, and then 26 players for the remainder of the season.
— MLB has the right to relocate teams during the regular season to neutral sites for health and safety reasons.
— All players can elect to opt-out of the season but only those players classified as high-risk will still receive full pro-rated pay.
MLB Restart DFS and Sports Betting Tips
Based on the information we currently have, here are a few DFS and sports betting takeaways:
— A smaller sample size inevitably leads to higher variance. Keep this in mind when eyeing up season-long future bets. In divisions that were already up for grabs, there should be even more value on underdogs at plus-money.
— Keep your eyes open to see if books will offer odds for season-long awards, specifically for pitchers. While the season, in general, will be a smaller sample than usual, we’ll be dealing with an especially small sample for starting pitchers who may max out at only 12 games started. A second-tier pitcher getting hot for a two-month stretch and winning the Cy Young (if they award it this season) is not out of the question.
— Expanded rosters to start the season will influence how managers handle their starting pitchers. While we are already used to starting pitchers on a shorter leash to start a season, we may see that even more exaggerated this year. In general, expect less production out of your starting pitcher to start the season until they are fully ramped up and roster sizes are reduced.
— Implementing a universal DH will have both betting and DFS implications. We should see more runs scored in the National League so keep an eye on betting totals to start the year – here may be some value to had in NL overs to start the season.
— The addition of the DH in the NL will also impact a starting pitchers’ overall projection. In general, we can expect fewer strikeouts, increased earned runs, and increased innings pitched.
RotoGrinders MLB DFS 2020: What to Expect
So what can you expect from RotoGrinders? We’ll be back and better than ever with all of the tools and content you have grown accustomed to. Not limited to, but including:
— LineupHQ Optimizer – We’ll be fully loaded and ready to help you with player projections (Including add-on access to Derek Carty’s “The Bat” baseball projections), projected ownership, stacking tools, and everything else you need to build competitive DFS tournament lineups.
— PlateIQ MLB Stats and Analytics – Use data and information to better inform your DFS selections.
— Player Projections – Our RG Projections will be better than ever, and we also allow you to upload your own custom projections in LineupHQ from any source. As always, Derek Carty’s “The Bat” baseball projections will also be an option for you using the latest and most sophisticated projections techniques you’ll find anywhere.
— Starting Lineups – We provide immediate updates to MLB lineups as they release, and push notifications directly to your phone and LineupHQ when the changes occur.
— Weather – MLB weather is always a hot topic being played outdoors, and we have the expert (Kevin Roth) and tools (Weather forecasts, CrunchTime Weather, WeatherEdge Premium) to help you modify your projections and exposures accordingly.
— Premium Slate Analysis from CheeseIsGood and Others – We’ll offer up detailed analysis on all 60 regular season games for every team, and be sure to help you understand the best strategies to deploy in each associated DFS contest.
— Advanced Tournament Strategy, Core Stacks, Expert Rankings, and Expert Recommendations – We’ll have a suite of premium articles and tools with help from top players to help you gain a deeper understanding of not just who to play… but how to play.
- Build DFS Lineups Like a Pro!
- Access to Content and LineupHQ
- PGA, MMA, KBO, SOC, ESPORTS
The MLB Schedule
Breaking down every
mlb</a> teams updated 2020 travel schedule... Pretty cool looking at the divisional separation of the schedule this way. <a href="https://t.co/ht2Bg3qBnj">pic.twitter.com/ht2Bg3qBnj</a></p>— Daren Willman (darenw) July 6, 2020
The MLB schedule is now posted, and we can see a few quirks to get ready for:
— The travel schedule is tightly controlled and we won’t see cross country travel.
— Some teams will have 20 games in 20 day stretches. Some won’t.
— There will be no Friday day games for first time in Cubs history. Per this article
— The AL West / NL West group features two top hitters parks (Texas, Coors) and multiple low end environments (SF, SD, OAK, SEA). The balance of parks (HOU, LAA, LAD, ARI) are for sure not pure hitters environments. There could be a stark contrast to player performance in this division depending on how often they’ve played in those prime hitting environments vs. the pitchers parks.
Hope you are ready for action! MLB DFS will be here before you know it, and we’re beyond excited to get things going for the 2020 season. Best of luck!