The GPP Scene: MLB Week 14
Coming off a nice week, I was hoping to continue the momentum into Week 14. There were some interesting nights on the schedule this week, so let’s take a peek at how everything went!
Here’s the way it will work. I will enter the $10 FanDuel Line Drive GPP five days a week with three different teams, and only those three teams. The teams will be composed of the following:
| Team #1 | Two-team stacks with 4 hitters from each team, finished off by whatever pitcher I like best that fits within my remaining cap.1 |
| Team #2 | My favorite expensive pitcher of the day with a team of lesser hitters. |
| Team #3 | A total punt at pitcher surrounded by a team of better hitters. |
1 – This is my general GPP strategy on FD.
I’ll document the results of each team along with my profit and loss and return on investment as the days go by, with some final analysis for the week at the end of the article. Let’s get to this week’s results!
MONDAY, AUGUST 4TH
Team #1 – The mini stacks were Texas and the White Sox facing each other in Chicago. The weather was a concern in this game but I stuck with them as a risk/reward play with two bad pitchers on the mound in Hector Noesi and Nick Martinez. The stacks did fine, but this game was called after 6 1/2 innings and was not played to completion. Corey Kluber was a solid pitcher on this squad, and it may have cashed had the game gone to completion. Alas, we shall neer know. * FINISH: 36.08 PTS / 312 OF 1116 FOR $0.
Team #2 – Zack Greinke was the choice for the ace of the night as I had Kluber on Team #1. He didn’t have his best performance in a fairly tough matchup against the Angels, but the bats performed relatively well, boosted by performances by Jason Kipnis and Lonnie Chisenhall. A cash would have been in the works had Greinke pitched a bit better, but it was not to be. There is a fine line with Team #2, and it’s very hard for the squad to cash without a nice performance from the pitcher. * FINISH: 39.00 PTS / 222 OF 1116 FOR $0.
Team #3 – Kevin Gausman was the punt pitcher of the day, as I am a fan of his talent and he was pitching in the pitcher-friendly Nationals Park. He actually outscored Greinke by a point, but the bats were not good here, dragged down by poor performances from Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and Nelson Cruz. The poor bats made this the worst squad of the three today. * FINISH: 24.50 PTS / 797 OF 1116 FOR $0.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6TH
Team #1 – This was one of the lowest scoring DFS baseball nights of the season, so it didn’t take much to cash. The mini stacks were the Tigers against Chris Capuano and the upstart Phillies against walk machine Brad Peacock. The Tigers only scored one run, but the Phillies teed off for ten runs and I hit the good majority of their production with my four man stack of Utley, Rollins, Revere, and Byrd. When paired with a 16 points outing from Yordano Ventura, this was enough to cash on a low-scoring night despite the quiet performance from Detroit. * FINISH: 45.00 PTS / 91 OF 1005 FOR $30.
Team #2 – You know it’s a weird night when Doug Fister is the highest priced pitching option. Virtually by default, he was the choice for the ace of the night against the Mets, and he didn’t disappoint with a solid outing. The bats did disappoint, however, as my trio of Mike Trout, Rajai Davis, and Alex Gordon barely cracked positive points as a whole. Brian McCann and Arismendy Alcantara had solid nights, but that was about it and this team fell just short of cashing. * FINISH: 39.33 PTS / 175 OF 1005 FOR $0.
Team #3 – The talented but disappointing Shelby Miller was the punt pitcher of the day, but he was not the story here. The real story was the “big” bats. Ian Kinsler, Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Jhonny Peralta combined to go 0-for-20 for -5 points. This team was a laughable disaster and the worst final score for Team #3 all season. As a whole, the bats scored -0.75 points. Somehow, this team still beat almost 100 people in this tournament as it was that kind of low-scoring night. * FINISH: 9.25 PTS / 913 OF 1005 FOR $0.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 8TH
Team #1 – My mouth was watering with thoughts of all of Cleveland’s lefty bats against fill-in starter Esmil Rogers, so the Indians had to occupy half of this squad. They struggled early in the game but picked it up late, punctuated with five runs in the 6th/7th innings. Three of the four Cleveland bats topped six points. I chose Texas for the other half of the stack against a struggling Brett Oberholtzer, but they didn’t do much beyond a first inning HR by JP Arencibia. Hisashi Iwakuma was the pitcher on this squad, and he pitched a solid seven innings and picked up a win, but he only tallied three strikeouts. This would have been a solid cash game squad, but it didn’t have enough to cash in GPP’s. * FINISH: 37.50 PTS / 248 OF 1340 FOR $0.
Team #2 – Not to be outdone, Team #2 on Friday must have felt bad for Team #3 on Wednesday. The bats had another LOL-worthy performance, as not a single hitter that I chose here topped 1.25 points. It was a dreadful combination of awfulness from guys like John Jaso, Kole Calhoun, and Josh Hamilton, all guys who were blessed with solid matchups. This was another low scoring night, but this team took low scoring to an extreme. Oh, by the way, Madison Bumgarner was the ace of choice and he didn’t pitch all that well against the Royals either (not that it mattered). * FINISH: 12.00 PTS / 1311 OF 1340 FOR $0.
Team #3 – After constantly being suckered into Trevor Bauer’s upside, I think I might finally be done with the guy. He got lit up once again by the Yankees and was lucky to survive the first inning. A 1.33 point performance did this team in for the day, but the bats were awful again for a 2nd straight night. Believe it or not, Team #3 set a new low for worst score of the year a night after setting a new low for worst score of the year. We’re ballin’ now! It’s safe to say that I was way off base with my picks tonight. * FINISH: 7.58 PTS / 1333 OF 1340 FOR $0.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 9TH (EARLY)
Team #1 – With just four early games on the docket today, I knew it was imperative to be a bit contrarian while also trying to hit the top stack of the morning. The top stack was the Orioles, who demolished John Lackey and my Redbirds. Of course, I didn’t stack them, as I opted for the Cardinals and Tigers instead. Those two teams only scored five runs combined, so this squad was left in the dust. * FINISH: 25.75 PTS / 495 OF 592 FOR $0.
Team #2 – Max Scherzer was the ace of choice, and he pitched a great game against a tough Blue Jays lineup, hurling eight innings of one run ball while striking out eleven. Unfortunately, his win was blown and that cost this squad four points. Nelson Cruz and JJ Hardy did well on this squad, but the rest of the bats were lukewarm and this team finished in the top half but short of the money. * FINISH: 36.50 PTS / 227 OF 592 FOR $0.
Team #3 – There weren’t really any super-cheap punt pitching options here, and at just $7.5K I chose Jake Odorizzi as the cheap pitching option with the wind blowing in at Wrigley. He was the first hit of the week for the pitchers on Team #3, but the bats were once again poor as three guys were negative and there were no home runs to be had on the squad. * FINISH: 32.00 PTS / 350 OF 592 FOR $0.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 9TH (LATE)
Team #1 – With Brad Penny returning to the big leagues for the first time in 2+ seasons, I had to stack Reds against him based on upside. I paired that with a stack of Mariners against Hector Noesi, who I love to pick on. Both teams were underwhelming, as Penny actually picked up a win and the Mariners scored just one run. Despite a solid performance from Cole Hamels, this team was dead in the water with the bad showing from the stacks. * FINISH: 27.00 PTS / 791 OF 1159 FOR $0.
Team #2 – Yu Darvish was the choice as the ace of the night given his high strikeout upside against Houston and the fact that I was able to fit Hamels on the stack team. Darvish was underwhelming for the second straight time against the Astros, putting up just six fantasy points and pitching in trouble all night. He uncharacteristically made it through just 4+ innings of this game. The bats were somewhat decent on this squad, as I was able to get solid performances out of cheap-to-mid range guys like Carlos Ruiz and Christian Yelich. However, it was not enough to overcome the bad start by Darvish. * FINISH: 31.00 PTS / 582 OF 1159 FOR $0.
Team #3 – At a mere $2,700 price tag, I had to roll with Brad Penny here out of principle. It allowed me to fit the top bats I liked at every position and even have $700 leftover. Penny held up relatively well through five innings and even picked up a win, so it looked like the strategy might pay off. However, the bats failed to produce yet again despite the fact that I literally had the highest priced guys at every position (Abreu, Cano, Trout, Stanton, Puig, etc…). This was somewhat disappointing given the nice baseline performance from Penny. That’s the way it goes in MLB – unpredictability reigns supreme at times. * FINISH: 32.00 PTS / 542 OF 1159 FOR $0.
FINAL RESULTS: THROUGH WEEK 14
| Statistic | Team #1 | Team #2 | Team #3 | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Score | 2486.41 | 2400.27 | 2148.32 | |
| Average Score | 35.52 | 34.29 | 30.69 | |
| High Score | 69.25 | 50.50 | 59.50 | |
| Low Score | 6.08 | 12.00 | 7.58 | |
| Entry Fees (Seas) | $700 | $700 | $700 | $2,100 |
| Winnings (Seas) | $1,580 | $295 | $810 | $2,685 |
| Profit/Loss (Seas) | $880 | -$405 | $110 | $585 |
| ROI (Seas) | 125.7% | -57.9% | 15.7% | 27.9% |
MY ANALYSIS
It was a disappointing week as there admittedly wasn’t a whole lot that I hit on. Team #2 set a season low with 12 points on Friday, and Team #3 set a season low two nights in a row. Yikes. I can’t complain after the big week last week, and this is just another chapter in the ups and downs of GPP play. We’ll be back to the grind and attempt to get things on the right track next week!