Before I get started, I should mention I set a $2 lineup in a winner-take-all Satellite for one seat in a $300 entry tournament next Monday. I didn't bother posting it because it was for the early games, and I set it during the SXM show. In any event, I did not finish first among the 172 people, and the loss reduced my bankroll to $1719.11.
It was actually a dumb contest to enter because when you do the math $344 was taken in for a payout of $300, but that $300 payout isn't cash, it's a $300 entry which also has a rake. So let's say that's worth roughly $250 (assuming a 14-plus percent cut for FanDuel if the contest fills), the field collectively paid $344 for a $250 value.
Moving on to tonight's slate, I set 15 lineups - 13 $5 Rallys, one $25 Grand Slam and one free roll for Tout Wars:
| Pos | $5 Rally | $ | $5 Rally | $ | $5 Rally | $ | $5 Rally | $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Jimenez | 7600 | Lamb | 4600 | Scherzer | 11400 | Scherzer | 11400 |
| C | Gattis | 2800 | Hundley | 3400 | Lucroy | 2300 | Lucroy | 2300 |
| 1B | Alvarez | 2700 | Alvarez | 2700 | Alvarez | 2700 | Cron | 2600 |
| 2B | Altuve | 3500 | Gyorko | 3100 | Gyorko | 3100 | Infante | 2200 |
| 3B | Longoria | 3100 | Arenado | 4700 | Longoria | 3100 | Longoria | 3100 |
| SS | Correa | 4200 | Segura | 2200 | Segura | 2200 | Segura | 2200 |
| OF | Gomez | 3400 | Gonzalez | 5000 | Braun | 4000 | Braun | 4000 |
| OF | Trout | 4900 | Upton | 4800 | Davis | 3000 | Trout | 4900 |
| OF | Castillo | 2800 | Kemp | 4300 | Polanco | 3200 | Reddick | 2300 |
| Total | 35000 | Total | 34800 | Total | 35000 | Total | 35000 |
| Pos | $5 Rally | $ | $5 Rally | $ | $5 Rally | $ | $5 Rally | $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Scherzer | 11400 | Scherzer | 11400 | Wood | 8000 | Garcia | 8200 |
| C | Lucroy | 2300 | Lucroy | 2300 | Lucroy | 2300 | Lucroy | 2300 |
| 1B | Montero | 2300 | Davis | 4900 | Ortiz | 4500 | Paulsen | 3300 |
| 2B | Gyorko | 3100 | Schoop | 2400 | Gyorko | 3100 | Forsythe | 3300 |
| 3B | Moustakas | 2300 | Machado | 3900 | Longoria | 3100 | Longoria | 3100 |
| SS | Segura | 2200 | Segura | 2200 | Bogaerts | 3400 | Cabrera | 3400 |
| OF | Kemp | 4300 | Jones | 3200 | Betts | 3400 | Guyer | 2400 |
| OF | Upton | 4800 | Guyer | 2400 | Castillo | 2800 | Gonzalez | 5000 |
| OF | Victorino | 2200 | Reddick | 2300 | Kemp | 4300 | Braun | 4000 |
| Total | 34900 | Total | 35000 | Total | 34900 | Total | 35000 |
| Pos | $25 GS | $ | $5 Rally | $ | Tout | $ | $5 Rally | $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Kluber | 12000 | Lamb | 4600 | Scherzer | 11400 | Kluber | 12000 |
| C | Gomes | 2800 | Lucroy | 2300 | Lucroy | 2300 | Lucroy | 2300 |
| 1B | Alvarez | 2700 | Morrison | 2300 | Alvarez | 2700 | Montero | 2300 |
| 2B | Gyorko | 3100 | Altuve | 3500 | Gyorko | 3100 | Cano | 3700 |
| 3B | Longoria | 3100 | Machado | 3900 | Longoria | 3100 | Seager | 3400 |
| SS | Peralta | 2600 | Correa | 4200 | Segura | 2200 | Segura | 2200 |
| OF | Braun | 4000 | Gonzalez | 5000 | Braun | 4000 | Jackson | 2600 |
| OF | Asche | 2500 | Trout | 4900 | Davis | 3000 | Braun | 4000 |
| OF | Lake | 2200 | Kemp | 4300 | Polanco | 3200 | Cuddyer | 2500 |
| Total | 35000 | Total | 35000 | Total | 35000 | Total | 35000 |
| Pos | $5 Rally | $ | $5 Rally | $ | $5 Rally | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Garcia | 8200 | Garcia | 8200 | Kluber | 12000 | ||
| C | Lucroy | 2300 | Grandal | 3100 | Gomes | 2800 | ||
| 1B | Montero | 2300 | Fielder | 3700 | Santana | 3200 | ||
| 2B | Utley | 2400 | Wong | 2900 | Schoop | 2400 | ||
| 3B | Moustakas | 2300 | Turner | 3500 | Machado | 3900 | ||
| SS | Correa | 4200 | Peralta | 2600 | Hardy | 2200 | ||
| OF | Trout | 4900 | Puig | 3000 | Jones | 3200 | ||
| OF | Kemp | 4300 | Heyward | 3500 | Guyer | 2400 | ||
| OF | Braun | 4000 | Blackmon | 4500 | Castillo | 2800 | ||
| Total | 34900 | Total | 35000 | Total | 34900 |
These are a bit all over the place. I liked Max Scherzer initially, but when I saw Brian Dozier (the Twins best hitter) was scratched, I added some Corey Kluber. I also liked Jamie Garcia against the Marlins, and I thought it would be fun to have a couple cheap shares of Jake Lamb (decent pedigreed prospect finally getting a shot and facing an NL team in a tolerable park) and stacking big hitters. Finally, I had a Red Sox stack I liked with Garcia, but I was $100 over budget, couldn't bring myself to cut any of the hitters, so I switched to the cheaper Alex Wood. I have a feeling I'll regret that - I probably should have axed a hitter instead - but it's too late to go back now. I also have two shares of Ubaldo Jimenez who's a big favorite and facing a team that hasn't hit at all the last month.
Players in whom I have the biggest investments are: Jonathan Lucroy (9), Scherzer (7), Evan Longoria (7), Jean Segura (7), Ryan Braun (7), Jedd Gyorko (6), Pedro Alvarez (5), Matt Kemp (5), Jesus Montero (3), Garcia (3), Kluber (3), Manny Machado (3), Carlos Correa (3), Mike Trout (3), Rusney Castillo (3), Carlos Gonzalez (3) and Brandon Guyer (3).
I also set a few unstacked lineups as I've starting wondering whether forcing stacks is always worth the payoff in big tournaments. I get the concept of correlating production between your players, but when you use a cheap pitcher, for example, it might be worth loading up on sluggers from a variety of teams.