Many daily fantasy players profited from Clayton Kershaw’s dominance on Sunday
This article will be posted each week to document success in cash games on FanDuel so that we can try to discern what is important when constructing rosters. For this article, I am going to enter a $2 double up on FanDuel, and I will highlight each day of the week that I play and trends that I noticed.
This is my fourth season playing DFS MLB and it is by far my favorite to play. The grind can get to you in the middle of the summer, but it’s key to keep a level head as DFS baseball is the most volatile fantasy sport.
Win your first contest on FanDuel or get your entry fee refunded! 
Before I break down the how final week of April went, I want to recap the prior week:
Week of April 18: $14 entries, $16 winnings, net profit: $2
Average Cash Line: 122.71 fantasy points
My Average Score: 134.43 fantasy points
I will keep a running total in this spot each week.
Data through April 24:
$42 entries, $48 winnings, net profit: $6
Average Cash Line: 129.13 fantasy points
My Average Score: 135.96 fantasy points
***NOTE – I was unable to participate Wednesday through Friday due to personal reasons/travels***
Monday (4/25)
The final Monday in April greeted us with a healthy 13 game schedule and boy did I flop miserably. Rather than target the anemic Atlanta offense with Rick Porcello, I utilized Danny Salazar against a strikeout prone Minnesota team, and that backfired. This alone kept me from cashing despite absorbing two zeroes from my hitters as there was a 35 fantasy point difference in output between Salazar and Porcello. To add insult to injury, Porcello cost $1,800 less, which kept me from being able to spend more than $3,500 on any of my hitters.
$2 double up, 568 entries
Cash line: 108 FanDuel Points
My score: 89 FanDuel Points, 438th place finish, $0 winnings
Weekly Totals: $2 entries, $0 winnings, net profit: $-2
Overall Totals: $36 entries, $36 winnings, net profit: $0
Tuesday (4/26)
I preach it a lot, but having a short memory is key in daily fantasy sports, especially a sport as volatile as baseball. I immediately targeted David Price against an Atlanta offense that has been awful to historic proportions through the first month of the season. The common theme around them was to avoid as they are contact oriented, but the opposite is proving true, especially against lefties.
They sport a dreadful 49 wRC+ versus left-handed pitching while whiffing at a high clip of 26.3%. Price spun a gem, posting 72 fantasy points, or nearly 40% of my total score.
Andrew McCutchen was my other hit, as he hit three home runs in Coors Field to produce 60 fantasy points! The rest was gravy as I nearly eclipsed the cash line with just two players.
$2 double up, 568 entries
Cash line: 160 FanDuel Points
My score: 189 FanDuel Points, 126th place finish, $4 winnings
Weekly Totals: $4 entries, $4 winnings, net profit: $0
Overall Totals: $38 entries, $40 winnings, net profit: $2
Saturday (4/30)
Once again I eschewed Porcello for a Cleveland pitcher, and once again, I was wrong. It didn’t hurt me this time, though, as I was carried by Rougned Odor ($3.600/24.4 fantasy points), Derek Dietrich ($2,100/25.2 fantasy points) and Giancarlo Stanton ($4,800/24.7 fantasy points).
This underscores the importance of starting pitching and hitting the right one, because even though I cashed, I made it far more interesting than it needed to be. Hitters are always more volatile and thus harder to predict, but I did target batters in good situations to increase the odds of being right.
$2 double up, 568 entries
Cash line: 113.2 FanDuel Points
My score: 122.8 FanDuel Points, 170th place finish, $4 winnings
Weekly Totals: $6 entries, $8 winnings, net profit: $2
Overall Totals: $40 entries, $44 winnings, net profit: $4
Sunday (5/1)
May started just like April finished for me, and I’m starting to generate a bit of a gap in the average cash line and my average score when compared to the start of the season. Clayton Kershaw went the distance while striking out 14 San Diego hitters as he scored 81 fantasy points. He was 55.5% owned, but ownership levels don’t matter nearly as much in cash games.
It still doesn’t hurt to have 40% of my scoring taken care of, and I’m quickly supporting the theory that you need to hit on your starting pitcher to put yourself in a position to cash in double up games. Dietrich remained at $2,100, and he again scored big, logging 28.2 fantasy points. In that same game, Domingo Santana led off and scored 25.2 fantasy points.
Lastly, Carlos Gonzalez’s price was too good to ignore at $3,600, and the value came through as he posted 15.4 points. All in all, it was a short, but profitable week
$2 double up, 568 entries
Cash line: 168.3 FanDuel Points
My score: 201.9 FanDuel Points, 115th place finish, $4 winnings
Weekly Totals: $8 entries, $12 winnings, net profit: $4
Overall Totals: $42 entries, $48 winnings, net profit: $6
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Adam Sutton is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Adam, follow him @DraftStars_Adam. You can find more of Adam’s work at DraftStars.net.
