Reactions to New FanDuel MLB Scoring
Initial reaction from players has been mixed, but a little less than a week after implementing changes to its MLB scoring system, FanDuel says it’s pleased with the results so far.
The scoring was modified for the second time in a month after the preseason overhaul resulted in a multitude of ties, yielding split pots and a dissatisfied player base.
FanDuel reacted by increasing the points awarded for runs and RBIs, to 3.2 and 3.5, respectively. Both stats had previously been worth three points.
“We’re very pleased with the new MLB scoring system and the effects it has had on the user experience,” a FanDuel spokesperson said Monday. “Our goal was to reduce the number of ties and the number of people who tie at any one position, and in a short time we are already seeing dramatic results achieving these objectives.”
Though the sample size is limited, a quick look at recent results shows that ties have been reduced.
In the five days prior to the scoring change, which was implemented on April 27, 104 ties (not including identical lineups) were found in the top 25 scores in the FanDuel Grand Slam and Squeeze tournaments, including three divided grand prizes.
In the five days since the change, only 20 ties were found in the top 25 scores of the same tournaments, with no split jackpots.
Further research provided by FanDuel shows that the number the number of ties at any given position on the leaderboard down 40 percent.
For the most part, players seem to be happy that a change was made, though a sampling of opinions on the RotoGrinders forum shows many would’ve preferred something other than a boost to runs and RBIs.
“I’m happy they made a change because the scoring system was in need of some variance and now we have it,” said Marty Langlo, a California-based DFSer who plays under the name “mlanglo” on FanDuel. “I don’t know that the categories they chose were necessarily the best ones, but at least it accomplishes the variance we needed.”
The effects of the scoring change beyond the stated goal of reducing ties is still yet to be determined. One immediate consequence pointed out by players is that increasing point totals for runs and RBIs would augment the benefit to “stacking,” or building lineups around a core of three-to-four hitters from the same MLB team.
Stacking has long been a popular method of building lineups in large-scale tournaments, due to the effect of positive correlation, which is when two variables—hitters, in this case—move in tandem. For instance, when a batter hits a three-run home run, he not only drives up his own point total, but the totals of those who he is knocking in, and the DFS player who has all three players rostered reaps the greatest benefit.
The new FanDuel system is believed to amplify this effect to some degree.
In the 10 lineups that won the Grand Slam and Squeeze tournament from April 22-26, only two used the max four-player stack, and 33 hitters were used who were not paired with an MLB teammate.
In the 10 lineups that won those tournament from April 27-May 1, six four-player stacks were used and the number of one-off hitters used was down to 23.
Again, what we can glean from this data is limited by small sample sizes, but early returns seem to show an increase in stacking among tournament-winning lineups. Players who spoke with RG for this article, however, indicated their lineup-building methods haven’t changed much, if at all.
FanDuel first announced a change to its MLB scoring in March in response to customer requests for higher scoring and complaints about negative scoring for hitters. In response, it tripled the value of all stats, and removed .25-point hitter penalty for at-bats that resulted in an out.