Writer’s FanDuel Challenge Day 5

DFSR has been squaring off with Randy Williams (@devilball420) from Daily Fantasy Sports Network in an impromptu H2H challenge. It’s been fun. DFSR is leading 3-2. When possible, I’ll post results and a look into some of my strategy going in. And just a note, the second to last write up I did was when I lost in case anyone thinks I’m cherry-picking my spots.

For Tuesday's games I never got quite comfortable with my lineups. The weather played a major factor in last night's games and had me mixing and matching almost until lineup lock. Check out our squads below.

Pitchers
Alex Wood did Randy dirty in this one. While the lefty had a decent matchup against the Marlins, the Fish got to him early and Wood got rocked. Last night ended up being odd for pitching. Cain was a late scratch which just added to the madness. Getting a zero out of the pitcher's spot is typically a death knell, though I did my best to keep it close.

I targeted Lance Lynn for a few reasons. His early season returns have been promising and he was facing a Brewer's lineup without Braun, Ramirez and Segura. The second half of the Milwaukee lineup was a true disaster with multiple players having Jose Fernandez was far and away the cash game play to make last night and a mistake I'm regretting. Infield
We got very similar numbers out of our infields until hitting the shortstop spot. Both Posey and Molina went yard, Craig and Morneau had nearly identical games (even both hitting a triple). I hemmed and hawed between Posey and McCann, with the weather ultimately having me choose Posey for a few dollars more. His splits are insane against lefties and he paid.

Pedroia was a high percentage cash game play against Bedard. The Red Sox finally got the Erik, though not because of Dustin or Xander Bogaerts. (Someone has to make the outs). The difference between Bogaerts and Jose Reyes for him helped make up the Wood/ Lynn differential.

Outfield
As soon as lineups locked I regretted having left Beltran in my lineup. The weather in New York wasn't optimal for hitting with a strong headwind blowing in from right, plus a constant drizzle. I had been targeting Yankees all day and really had trouble pivoting when the weather fluctuated. I left Beltran in as a minor hedge against Chris Young. This was a mistake as I had Jayson Werth and Alex Rios as options to slot in. I also strongly considered Carlos Gonzalez (though the money shifting would have taken a little more work).

I targeted A's in a few spots last night because I thought Martin Perez was due for some regression. This came to pass and Cespedes has a nice first night back.

For Randy, Jayson Werth was a great play against Cosart. Werth's splits favor lefties, but he's good against righties too. This was also a strong play because the weather in Houston made for a much safer hitting environment.

Recap:
I squeaked this win out with a lot of luck. This was a wacky night and I never got totally comfortable with my path. This was also a good example of how weather can factor in to decisions with MLB lineup construction. One of the many topics we will be covering in our upcoming e-Book on MLB lineups.