The GPP Scene: MLB Week 9
Hello Grinder Nation and welcome to this week’s edition of the GPP Scene! I decided to change things up a little bit this week. Instead of playing 3 teams on 5 different days, I went for a different strategy and put 15 teams in one day (5 versions of “Team #1”, 5 versions of “Team #2”, and 5 versions of “Team #3.” I am only doing this as a one week trial run, but let’s get to the results!
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 the week nine results!
SUNDAY, JUNE 15TH
As I stated above, I decided to do all fifteen teams this week with one day’s worth of games to see how it went. In retrospect, this was not the smartest decision on the planet. Multi-entry allows you to cover more bases, but it also increases your exposure if there is a player that is highly owned who plays well if you don’t have enough exposure to that player. Today, the nemesis for me was Derek Norris, who had a great game and wasn’t on near enough of my squads.
Team #1 – The five team #1’s were as follows:
Toronto/Baltimore stacks with Ian Kennedy * FINISH: 32.08 PTS / 523 OF 893 FOR $0.
Detroit/Atlanta stacks with David Price * FINISH: 37.00 PTS / 324 OF 893 FOR $0.
Baltimore/Atlanta stacks with AJ Burnett * FINISH: 32.50 PTS / 510 OF 893 FOR $0.
Oakland/Seattle stacks with Madison Bumgarner * FINISH: 34.25 PTS / 427 OF 893 FOR $0.
Toronto/St Louis stacks with David Price * FINISH: 46.25 PTS / 97 OF 893 FOR $0.
Nothing really hit here outside of Oakland and David Price. Unfortunately I didn’t pair them together and one of my teams with Price finished just outside of the money thanks to a decent performance by the Blue Jays and Cardinals. If I would have somehow managed to pair Price with A’s, there probably would have been some cash for Team #1. As it stands though, it was another dry week for the mini-stacks.
Team #2 – The five team #2’s were as follows:
David Price as ace with Starlin Castro and Matt Holliday as value-type bats that paid off. This was the best team of the day and these three guys were the key. * FINISH: 48.50 PTS / 67 OF 893 FOR $30.
Madison Bumgarner as ace with Howie Kendrick and Austin Jackson as the best value bats. This one was a dud and was cemented further in the depths of the day when the Giants bullpen blew Bumgarner’s win. * FINISH: 26.00 PTS / 711 OF 893 FOR $0.
Corey Kluber as ace with Manny Machado and Allen Craig as the best bargain bats. Kluber was a risk as the ace given his matchup against the Red Sox, but he had a nicer price than some of the other aces on the mound today so I gave him a go with one. He was relatively terrible on this day with only 7.33 fantasy points and the bats didn’t do much outside of Michael Brantley. * FINISH: 33.58 PTS / 458 OF 893 FOR $0.
James Shields as ace with value bats led by Starlin Castro and Howie Kendrick. The bats were decent here as they produced a solid total, but Shields was disappointing with only 10 fantasy points despite getting a win. A David Price-like performance from Shields would have been enough for this squad to cash. * FINISH: 38.00 PTS / 292 OF 893 FOR $0.
A second David Price entry with value bats led by Matt Adams and Devin Mesoraco. This team was in the best shape of any of them for most of the day, thanks to the big game from Price and home run from Adams. However, it drifted late in the day as the highly owned A’s went off against Vidal Nuno. In retrospect, I didn’t have near enough exposure to their bats. * FINISH: 44.50 PTS / 131 OF 893 FOR $0.
Team #3 – The five team #3’s were as follows:
Jaime Garcia as the punt pitcher with big bats led by Victor Martinez and Mike Trout. Both of these bats were solid and Garcia was spot on today, but none of the other bats made enough of a push to help this team cash. Matt Carpenter and David Ortiz were the biggest drags on the squad. * FINISH: 39.00 PTS / 261 OF 893 FOR $0.
Andre Rienzo as the punt pitcher which made this squad an epic failure. I was hoping he could at least contain the punchless Royals and put up around 10 points for a bargain basement salary. There would be no such luck, and the Royals knocked him around. The bats on this team were also squat, and this was the worst team of the day. * FINISH: 17.50 PTS / 872 OF 893 FOR $0.
Nicholas Martinez as the punt pitcher against the hit-or-miss Mariners bats. With him being only $4,000, I was able to fit Votto, Reyes, Kinsler, Trout, and Stanton all on this team. Unfortunately, Martinez only mustered seven points and the rest of the bats outside of Trout were relatively quiet. * FINISH: 34.00 PTS / 434 OF 893 FOR $0.
Dice-K Matsuzaka was the punt choice on one entry and this was basically a donation as he left after one inning with a Tummy Ache. His one point put this team in the water before it even got going as it made the bats irrelevant. You aren’t cashing in a GPP with one pitching point. * FINISH: 26.75 PTS / 690 OF 893 FOR $0.
A second Jaime Garcia entry as the punt pitcher with big bats led by Derek Norris and Matt Holliday. This was one of just two squads where I rostered the big A’s catcher, and this entry probably should have cashed given Norris’ 10.5 points, Holliday’s 8.75 points, and the solid 16 point effort by Garcia. However, only one other bat reached 2 fantasy points and this team fell just short of cashing. * FINISH: 44.50 PTS / 131 OF 893 FOR $0.
FINAL RESULTS: THROUGH NINE WEEKS
| Statistic | Team #1 | Team #2 | Team #3 | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Score | 1548.69 | 1584.54 | 1444.20 | |
| Average Score | 34.42 | 35.21 | 32.09 | |
| High Score | 56.50 | 48.75 | 59.50 | |
| Low Score | 6.08 | 22.00 | 13.08 | |
| Entry Fees (Seas) | $450 | $450 | $450 | $1,350 |
| Winnings (Seas) | $450 | $245 | $720 | $1,415 |
| Profit/Loss (Seas) | $0 | -$205 | $270 | $65 |
| ROI (Seas) | 0.0% | -45.6% | 60.0% | 4.8% |
MY ANALYSIS
We can go ahead and scrap the single day method with this piece moving forward. It’s really hard to differentiate among different punt pitchers and different aces when trying to use this strategy for multi-single-day entry. It was fun to try for a week but caused a fairly decent hit to the overall results for the season.