Rise & Grind: Monday, April 6th
Welcome to the RotoGrinders cup o’morning joe. Start your day off right here, as we sort through the weekend’s happenings and take a peek at the upcoming DFS day.
In Case You Missed It
Disney Invests $250M in DraftKings – This news rolled in late Friday and you probably already heard. Walt Disney has agreed to invest $250 in DraftKings. The deal not only gives DraftKings access to massive capital, but also prime advertising space. DraftKings will receive coveted featured advertising space on ESPN.com and on ESPN networks during live telecasts.
FantasyAces Basketball Championship -Congratulations to GrindersLive co-host RadThad on taking down the FantasyAces Basketball Championship. Thad bested a field of thirteen players to take down $40,000 and all the bragging rights. Closely behind Rad was lead moderator and frequent GrindersLive guest Stevietpfl who claimed third. For the rest of the FABC results click here.
Other Winners – Thad wasn’t the only Grinder who took home some serious cash in what amounted to the final big weekend of NBA DFS. On Friday, booourns took down the FanDuel Monster, while rdubs30 claimed $100,000 in the DraftKings 3-Ball and egunn88 claimed first in the Sharpshooter championship.
On Saturday, a small stakes Grinder named shauncarter1 claimed first and second in the FanDuel Shot for a total of $25,000. I love when that happens as it proves that even a small stakes player can hit big. If you follow your process, and manage your bankroll your day will come one day, just keep grinding. Other Saturday, other big winners included silverplayer taking down the FanDuel Slam, johnnydrama took down the Slam, jmofoshosucka took down the DraftKings Thunderdome,
On Sunday, Makisupa claimed second in the DraftKings 3-Ball, and AC-Vegas took down the Crossover. For the rest of the weekends links click on the applicable day. Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
On The Menu
MLB Opening Day – Alright, enough industry news and weekend NBA. Today is MLB opening day. I’m sure that’s pretty obvious by now with the entire homepage covered in MLB content. With only one NBA game tonight, nothing stands in the way of the sites rolling out some massive GPPs. There is overlay galore across the industry today. Before you dive into the massive amount of MLB content, let’s run through some of the MLB lingo.
Dong – In MLB DFS the “dong” reigns supreme. A dong is simply slang for a home-run which can also be known as dinger, bomb, or grand slam (if bases loaded).
Overlay – This isn’t MLB specific, but just in case you are brand new I will define it. Overlay means the amount of money in a guaranteed contest exceeds the buy-ins. If a contest has $500K Guaranteed and only $470K in entries, it can be said that $30K in overlay exists.
One-time – The rules here are a bit vague. A “one-time” is simply a request made by a DFS player for their athlete to do something good. Say for example you are tied for first in a GPP in the 9th inning. When your hitter comes to the plate, you may want to use your one-time. There is some argument in the DFS community whether a one-time is a once in a lifetime privilege, or whether it resets every sport or season. The one thing we all agree on though is that each DFS player gets no more than a single “one-time” per season at a maximum. Use it wisely.
Stack – A stack in MLB refers to taking as many players on the same team as allowed. DraftKings allows six hitters from the same team which is known as a full stack. FanDuel only allows four players from the same team which is known as a mini-stack.
The Mendoza Line – The Mendoza Line is a term used to describe a hitters’ batting average. It gets its name from shortstop Mario Mendoza who had a career batting average of .215. A player batting under .200 is an incompetent hitter and is said to be below the Mendoza line. Some would also say the jokes in this column are below the Mendoza line.
K – The letter K is used as shorthand for a strikeout. When hanging out in GrindersLive chat during games, you will see may see things like “Kershaw K” or even “KKKKKKKKKershaw!!!!”. If you are deciding between two pitchers and it is close, always take the one with more Ks in his name. For example, today you could have Scherzer or Kluber. That’s easy, KKKKKKKKLuber all the way!
Don’t be that Guy – Alright, that should do it for basic MLB vocabulary. Now let’s cover some situations that happen all the time so we can help you avoid being “that guy.” Here are some common questions that will make you look silly if you ask.
Why didn’t my player get an RBI on that double-play? –There are no RBIs on a double-play. The fact that the defense had time to throw out two separate runners proves your guy did not do anything substantial to bat in the run that scored. You are awarded zero points, and you need to quit picking Ryan Howard.
My player is on base, why didn’t I get a hit? – It appears your player hit into a fielder’s choice. This means the defense could have thrown your player out, but they opted to throw out the lead runner instead. Again, you get zero points here which is what you deserve.
My pitcher just hit a HR, where are my points? – Your pitcher just hit a home-run? Cool story bro. Is that the reason you selected him? No? Ok then, no points for you. You selected him for what he can do on the mound not at the plate. If pitchers really received points for hitting, it would skew the prices. National league pitchers would be worth more or less depending on how they hit. You could also end up with negatives. Settle down and just enjoy the run support your pitcher provided for himself.
The White Sox won but Chris Sale’s W isn’t showing up. – Ahh, you picked Chris Sale. Here are the rules for a starting pitcher to be credited with the win. He must pitch at least 5 innings, he must leave with the lead, his team must never give up the lead, and his team must win the game (duh). Say for example you take Chris Sale and he pitches a gem. He leaves in the 8th inning up 2-1. the White Sox bullpen must hold that lead for Sale to keep his win. This almost never happens. Usually they allow the tying run in the 9th then the offense comes back in and wins the game. In this situation, the White Sox win but Sale doesn’t. Get used to it, that’s just the way it works.
The Bottom Line – Alright, we have covered all the basics and I’m running out of space. Go read through the MLB Grind Down, Starting Pitcher report, Daily Hitter Breakdown, and the plethora of other MLB content posted. Also, be sure to catch GrindersLive at 1030 and 1130Et and at 530Et this afternoon. Good luck out there today. Go chase some overlay and may the baseball gods bless you with multiple dongs one-time.