Rise & Grind: Thursday, July 9th
Welcome to the RotoGrinders cup o’morning joe. Start your day off right here, as we sort through yesterday’s happenings and take a peek at the upcoming DFS day.
In Case You Missed It
Yahoo DFS – Yesterday the months-long wait for Yahoo DFS ended. Yahoo officially launched its DFS platform. Yahoo DFS will be connected to the user’s virtual wallet. If you already have an account from Yahoo pro leagues (season long), you can simply use those funds to play DFS. A representative from Yahoo dropped by the forums yesterday to make the announcement and answer questions. If you feel like giving it a shot, there is a $1000 freeroll tonight. The roster setup is very similar to DraftKings. The only major difference I noticed is that pitcher wins are valued at eight points instead of four. Judging by reaction across the industry, Yahoo did a decent job on day one but has several improvements to make if it wants to become a serious competitor to DK and FD.
DraftKings Script Policy – While the Yahoo news was big, it was trumped by DraftKings long-awaited script policy clarification. If you aren’t a regular in the forums, you may not understand the issue here. A script is a computer program or code that can repeat a process thousands of times in a matter of seconds. Many Grinders have long suspected that scripts are being used across the industry to enter contests and even build lineups. A statement from both FanDuel and DraftKings has been expected. Yesterday, DraftKings decided to allow automation for certain actions on the site. Players will be allowed to automate creating, editing, or canceling lineups as well as entering guaranteed contests. If you have a minute, head over to the forums later to weigh on this topic or read responses from other Grinders.
NBA Emoji War – NBA free agency opened a little over a week ago. The top prize for most teams was DeAndre Jordan. After Marc Stein broke the news that Jordan planned to sign with the Mavericks, many teams began pursuing their backup plans. The NBA has a quirky rule though where free agents can’t actually sign their new contracts until July 9th. That led the Clippers to make one last ditch effort to keep Jordan. That also led to the great NBA emoji war. It started when Chandler Parsons tweeted an airplane emoji. J.J. Redick responded with a car emoji implying that he was driving over to Jordan’s house. Several other players and teams weighed in with various emojis. The Cavs tossed out the Kermit tea meme, the Warriors went with the ring emoji, and the Jordan brand (as in Michael Jordan) took it up a notch by tweeting six trophy emojis. James Worthy then trumped that with 16 trophy emojis. Needless to say, it was a wacky day on NBA Twitter.
Late last night things got even weirder though. Chris Broussard broke a story that the Clippers met with Jordan in Houston and then hung around until midnight to block him from meeting with the Mavericks. At some point during this saga, Mark Cuban actually flew to Houston and frantically tried to find DeAndre Jordan’s house. The Clippers appear to have been successful in blocking Jordan from meeting with anyone else. Blake Griffin even tweeted a picture from Jordan’s house.
Jason Pierre-Paul – NBA Twitter was wild yesterday, but it doesn’t have a monopoly on shenanigans. Over the weekend, sources were claiming that New York Giants’ free agent Jason Pierre-Paul was seriously injured in a fireworks accident. Reports ranged from “not that serious” to Pierre-Paul losing several fingers. Yesterday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter dropped what is known as a “Schefty bomb” when he tweeted a picture of Pierre-Paul’s medical records. Other sources later confirmed Schefter’s tweet that JPP did indeed have his index finger amputated. As more details emerge on this story we can only wish JPP a speedy recovery. The major damage has already been done though. Madden 2016 adjusted JPP’s rating yesterday, and his hands are now rated zero.
Big Winners – With everyone focused on the Jordan kidnapping, JPP amputation, and DK/Yahoo announcements, it was pretty easy to overlook MLB DFS. As usual, there were still plenty of big winners. The biggest of them all was theclone, who absolutely dominated on FanDuel. theclone won the following contests: Monster (1-2), Rally (1-4), WFBC Qual, Squeeze (3-6), and several other GPPs. theclone easily won over $100,000 between FD and DK last night. A few other players managed to win what theclone didn’t. Tinderalla won the Boston qualifier, Msteinberg09 won the Gold Glove, jpwilkie won the Perfect Game, klink won the Payoff Pitch, and entensity99 won the FBWC qual. For the rest of yesterday’s links, check this forum thread.
On The Menu
MLB Action – It is hump day in MLB but the slate is slightly smaller than usual. We have 10 games to choose from split between three early and seven late. There appear to be some good options, as aces like Jose Fernandez, David Price, and Felix Hernandez headline the pitching options, while mid-range guys like Carlos Martinez and Garrett Richards can be had for a discount. Stay tuned for advice from the pros on which direction you should go.
MLB GPPs – Even with a smaller slate, tonight’s GPPs haven’t been drastically reduced. DraftKings still has a $125K Perfect Game, $115K Payoff Pitch, $90K Moonshot, and around $150K guaranteed for the early slate. The same is true on FanDuel as well. There is about $150K in early guaranteed plus $115K Slam, $125K Monster, $40K Squeeze, and $85K Rally.
#NarrativeStreet – With limited options tonight, it will be slightly more difficult to differentiate your team from the herd. That means you will want to play extra attention to the narratives behind players other may not have considered. Players who were snubbed from the All-Star game still make very strong plays as they prove they were worthy. Mark Teixeira hit two home runs to drive his point home while Joey Votto teed off on Max Scherzer the night before. Today, you will want to look at Brett Gardner, Kevin Kiermaier, Mookie Betts, Alex Rodriguez, Jose Iglesias, and J.D. Martinez (who made the team but was snubbed from the HR Derby). If All-Star snub revenge isn’t your thing, the regular form of revenge still works too. Jimmy Rollins went deep to get a little revenge against the Phillies. He makes a strong play again tonight. Torii Hunter also makes a decent revenge play but he has to do it against David Price. Last but not least, it is “Shark Week” on A&E and you absolutely have to take a look at Jeff “The Shark” Jeff Samardzija against the Blue Jays. If narratives are a real thing, The Shark will come up big during his week.
Bottom Line – Only four days of MLB DFS remain before the All-Star Break. If you are looking to play the Millionaire Maker or other PGA contests at a discount, you need to win your tickets now. Finally, let’s end with a quick word of encouragement to those who are feeling overwhelmed by MLB DFS. With the DraftKings script policy change, it feels more and more like the smaller player is overlooked in DFS. Here at RotoGrinders, you can make your voice heard and help shape the future of DFS. If you want change though, you must also take responsibility for your own play. The sites are going to sell whatever we buy. The benefits of a script are nullified with reasonable entry limits. Be aware of how you are voting with your DFS dollar. If you continue to play the massive GPPs, that is what the sites will offer. If we fill the single-entry or smaller capped entry GPPs, those will grow. Be part of the solution. Support the GPPs that you want to grow and the sites will take notice.