Pitcher List is proud to partner with DraftKings for the 2019 season. We’ll be featuring our top picks for every daily slate through the season and feature articles dedicated to the GPP.
In addition to our daily previews of the upcoming slates on DraftKings, every Sunday we will be reviewing our Pitcher List Friday Freeroll Series. Daily fantasy players often get caught up in the cycle of preparing for the current day, building lineups, making last-minute changes, watching the games, and following their winnings without taking a step back to look at what strategies were effective for the day’s contests. We will try to shed light on winning plays and trends, as well as where players went wrong.
Pitcher List Freeroll, Friday 5/3, 7:05 p.m.
Our first May contest in the Pitcher List Friday Freeroll Series on DraftKings featured 45 entries. Players are competing for a monthly prize, with the most total points (lowest score dropped) for May receiving a Pitcher List T-shirt. Pitcher List staff will be playing as well, though they will not be eligible for prizes.
Winning Lineup Analysis
Kingofshea took home first place in our first contest of May with a score of 137.45. On a day where Joe Musgrove was the highest owned pitcher (33.33%) and scored -7.4 points, scores were down across the board. Nailing the pitcher position was enough to take home the win, as they accounted for 46% of Kingofshea’s point total. I loved Matthew Boyd, as I wrote in my preview of the slate, and Chris Sale against the White Sox provided an excellent shot at double-digit strikeouts and a win for those willing to spend up at the position.
Kingofshea spent 38.4% of their salary on pitchers, which required some low priced hitters to fit under the cap. Rio Ruiz was a classic punt-play at $3,100, though batting fifth in the order gave him some upside. With a fairly lackluster day for third base options outside of the top priced Coors Field players, Ruiz’s three points were just fine. Manny Machado was an excellent pick, as his $3,600 price tag is just too low for a hitter of his quality. A negative matchup against Clayton Kershaw was offset by Machado’s ability to hit left-handers, and his home run paid off nicely. Brian McCann may have ultimately been the difference maker, at $3,600 and 4.4% ownership his home run was huge, especially in the wasteland that is the catcher position. McCann’s playing time has increased lately, and he’s produced to the tune of a .381 wOBA while walking more than he has struck out. Picking the cheapest catcher that could realistically hit a home run may be the best strategy at the moment.
Overall, Kingofshea was able to win despite getting zero points from one hitter and three from another. Most days that won’t be enough to take down a 45 person tournament, but things don’t always go according to plan. While lower-priced pitching options have been trendy this year with so many aces struggling, this lineup shows that spending up at the position still has value. This score would have placed 289th in the $5 MLB $15K Chin Music Single Entry contest, good for a $10 win.
Contest Overview
Scores in the fifth Pitcher List freeroll ranged from 137.45 to 34.15 points. There were 149 different players rostered across the 45 entries, including 19 of the 26 available pitching options on the slate. Below are the players who provided the best bang for their buck in Friday’s contest, as well as the 10 most-owned players from the contest.
| Fewest $ Spent Per Point | |||
| Player | %Drafted | FPTS | Salary |
| Derek Dietrich | 2.22% | 44 | 4100 |
| Ryan Braun | 8.89% | 27 | 4100 |
| Gary Sanchez | 2.22% | 31 | 5000 |
| Austin Barnes | 2.22% | 21 | 3800 |
| Chris Taylor | 4.44% | 17 | 3200 |
| Adam Jones | 4.44% | 26 | 4900 |
| Kurt Suzuki | 2.22% | 19 | 3800 |
| Brian McCann | 4.44% | 18 | 3600 |
| Joe Panik | 2.22% | 16 | 3300 |
| Yasiel Puig | 20.00% | 19 | 4000 |
| Most Owned Players | |||
| Player | %Drafted | FPTS | Salary |
| Joe Musgrove | 33.33% | -7.4 | 7200 |
| Tyler Glasnow | 28.89% | 33.95 | 9600 |
| Jerad Eickhoff | 28.89% | 19.65 | 7400 |
| Nick Senzel | 28.89% | 9 | 3800 |
| Nate Lowe | 28.89% | 7 | 4000 |
| Tommy Pham | 26.67% | 17 | 5000 |
| Brandon Lowe | 24.44% | 14 | 4800 |
| Rougned Odor | 24.44% | 2 | 3800 |
| Matthew Boyd | 22.22% | 29.55 | 9300 |
| Yandy Diaz | 22.22% | 4 | 4800 |
If you would like to join our freeroll, first sign up for an account by clicking the DraftKings banner in this article. Once you have a DraftKings account, or if you already have one, click here to join the Pitcher List Friday Freeroll Series. If you missed the first May contest don’t worry, we will be dropping the lowest score of the month. Thank you to everyone who has joined so far, and good luck in May’s contest.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is eriks44) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games on which I offer advice. Although I have expressed my personal views on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings, and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
Graphic by Justin Paradis (@FreshMeatComm on Twitter).