Week after week, day after day, every fantasy sports aficionado tries to find that edge to move to the top of the pack. It is the reason we scour sites like Rotoguys for any tips or picks that slipped our mind, spend hours analyzing injury reports and try to mimic Billy Beane in Moneyball and pick the under appreciated and under valued ‘asset’ that will set us apart. In what we consider a ground breaking initiative, Rotoguys introduces the first in a series of articles that will break down each week’s big fantasy sports winner at Draft Street: analyzing the winner’s picks, line ups and what set him/her apart from the ‘herd’. How many times have we looked at the winner’s line up and thought ‘why didn’t I go for him’ or ‘what was I thinking’. We do the work for you: Check back in what will be a weekly column and sure one of the most useful resources in your fantasy picks.

An Inside Look Into Winning Draft Street Daily Fantasy Sports Lineups

As the mid way mark of the Major League Baseball season approaches it is hard to overlook all of the exciting sports action that has transpired so far. From no hitters by Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers), Josh Beckett (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Tim Lincecum (San Francisco Giants) to Lonnie Chisenhall (Cleveland Indians) going 5-5 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI’s the games have been packed with great baseball moments so far. With the 85th MLB All-Star Game coming to Minnesota on July 15th there is sure to be plenty more baseball highlights on the horizon this year.

Looking to add some All Star touches to your next daily fantasy sports lineup? Breaking down winning lineups is a great way to focus on finding successful edges and angles you may be missing.

When it comes to staying on top of your game in baseball daily fantasy sports watching what the very best are doing is a must. While top scores and leaderboards shift often in daily fantasy sports the general wisdom and insight from studying winning lineups remains the same. By constantly dissecting and reviewing the best daily fantasy sports players and lineups we can increase our levels of understanding on what it takes to win.

This Week we breakdown Draft Street’s top lineup from Friday July 4th 2014. This weeks best Friday Draft Street baseball lineup comes to us from daily fantasy sports player “xandamere” scoring a total of 110.67 daily fantasy baseball points which is also the current monthly record to date.

Pitchers (P) – Pitchers picked were Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox ($24,197), Lance Lynn, Saint Louis Cardinals ($15,555), and Eric Stults San Diego Padres ($7,373). The first key is to notice that the pitchers were picked in a tiered pricing range. You have 1 high, 1 middle and 1 low priced pitcher. Picking a pitcher from tiered price points is clearly a strong strategy. We also can note that the highest priced pitcher is a strikeout pitcher who can go the distance. When picking our highest priced pitcher strikeouts and innings pitched should play a role in our decision making. Finally 2 out of the 3 pitchers were National league hurlers at home. Another angle we will want to consider adding into the arsenal.

Catcher (C) – Catcher was Tyler Flowers, Chicago White Sox ($2,500). This looks like a clear value pick. This is an indication cheap catchers need to be on the radar.

First Base (1B) – First baseman was Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles Dodgers ($7,979). This game was in Colorado against a low rated pitcher. This is the type of situational play we must key in on.

Second Base (2B) – Second baseman was Dee Gordon, Los Angeles Dodgers ($7,595). Another Stadium and pitcher opponent attack. Great player, great lineup spot, great ballpark against an average pitcher is always a solid lean.

Third Base (3B) – Third baseman was Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays ($6,320). Pitching match up and a hot bat most likely dictated this play. Looking for batters who are on nice hitting streaks is a great way to find some value plays that could score big points.

Shortstop (SS) – Shortstop was Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers ($4,783). This pick was a value play on a player with multiple scoring talents in a great lineup position. The Rangers were also a team of focus so it fit perfectly into the plan.

Outfielders (OF) – Outfielders were Dayan Viciedo, Chicago White Sox ($5,084), Andre Ethier Los Angeles Dodgers ($4,973) and Alex Rios, Texas Rangers ($4,464). The outfield consisted of 1 player from each of the focused teams and all were on the lower end of the price range. All players have good lineup hitting positions making these great plays for the money.

Utility (U) – Flex position was Jose Abreu, Chicago White Sox ($8,787). The most expensive pick of the lineup and well worth it as baseballs leading home run hitter. It was one of the best players from the 3 target teams as well.

“xandamere” made an amazing daily fantasy sports lineup this week by utilizing tiered pitching, great pricing balance, star power, situational advantage and team focus. It seemed LAD, CWS and TEX were hot on the radar for player “xandamere” and it paid dividends this Friday.

Now that we have an idea of what it takes to build a current winning daily fantasy sports lineup hopefully we will be better prepared to create our own highly competitive teams. Even though each daily fantasy sports software varies there are still many similar lessons we can take away by looking at how the top daily fantasy sports lineups are being built. What did you find most intriguing about this Friday’s Draft Street high scoring daily fantasy sports lineup?

Your turn: make your picks, make us proud and may we be writing about you in the next installment!  You can dive right into DraftStreet/DraftKings by clicking below:

 


This Week In Baseball History:
Did you know? July 4, 1939 was the day the New York Yankees retired Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig No. 4 jersey in a historical and emotional ceremony at Yankee Stadium attended by the likes of Yankee greats such as Babe Ruth and Waite Hoyt. It is the same celebration where Gehrig spoke the famous words “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”