Alright, so you wanna know about my adventures with DraftKings MLB, huh? It’s been a ride, let me tell ya. Not always pretty, but you live and you learn, right?
How It All Started (Mostly With Me Losing Money)
I got into this whole daily fantasy baseball thing a while back. I figured, hey, I watch baseball, I know the players, this should be easy money. Boy, was I wrong. My first few weeks, maybe even months, were just brutal. I was just throwing money away, picking my favorite players, or guys who had a good game the night before. Turns out, that’s a super quick way to drain your account. I was getting absolutely smoked.
I remember one night, I stacked up on all these big-name hitters, spent almost all my salary cap, and they all decided to take a collective nap. Zeroes across the board. It was a wake-up call. I realized if I was gonna keep doing this, I actually needed a plan, not just wishful thinking.
Figuring Out the Pitching Puzzle
So, I started trying to get a bit smarter. The first thing that clicked for me was pitchers. Seriously, your pitchers can make or break your night. I used to just pick a guy with a good ERA or a big name. Nah, that wasn’t cutting it.
- I started looking at strikeout potential. K’s are gold in DraftKings. A pitcher can give up a few runs, but if he’s fanning 10 guys, he can still have a decent score.
- Matchups became huge for me. Who are they facing? A team that strikes out a lot? Bingo. A team that mashes lefties, and I’ve got a lefty on the mound? Probably gonna avoid that one.
- Vegas odds. This was a big one. I started checking what the oddsmakers were saying. If a team is a huge favorite, their pitcher is usually in a good spot. It’s not rocket science, but I wasn’t even looking at it before.
- Park factors. Some ballparks are pitcher-friendly, some are launching pads. Learned to pay a bit of attention to where the game was being played.
It took a while, and a lot of trial and error, but slowly I started having a bit more success, or at least not getting totally embarrassed every night, by focusing on getting my pitchers right.
Tackling the Hitters – More Than Just Big Names
Once I felt a little less clueless about pitchers, I turned my attention to hitters. This was another beast altogether. My old strategy of “pick good players” wasn’t working for batters either.
The biggest thing I stumbled upon was stacking. At first, I thought it was nuts. Why put all my eggs in one basket with hitters from the same team? But then I saw it work. If a team goes off for 10 runs, and you’ve got 3 or 4 guys from that lineup, you’re gonna have a good night. It’s risky, for sure. If that team gets shut out, your lineup is toast. But for those big tournaments, it seemed like the way to go.
I also started looking deeper into stuff like:
- Lefty/Righty splits: Some guys just crush left-handed pitching, others rake against righties. I actually started checking this, instead of just looking at overall season stats.
- Batting order: Guys at the top of the order get more at-bats. Simple, but it makes a difference. Leadoff hitters, guys in the 2, 3, 4 spots – those became my targets.
- Park factors again: Coors Field is the obvious one. If there’s a game in Coors, you gotta at least think about getting some pieces from it. But other parks play differently too.
- Vegas totals: Just like with pitchers, if Vegas expects a game to be high-scoring, it’s probably a good spot to find some hitters.
I can’t say I mastered it. Some nights my stacks would go off, other nights they’d be complete duds. That’s just baseball, I guess.
What I Do These Days (Still Learning, By The Way)
So now, when I look at an MLB slate for DraftKings, I have a bit of a routine. It’s nothing revolutionary, just what I’ve picked up over time.
I usually start with the pitchers. I look for guys with good strikeout upside, in good matchups, and ideally, teams that are favored to win. I try to find one or two I feel pretty solid about.
Then I move to hitters. I look for teams in good spots – maybe facing a weak pitcher, or playing in a hitter-friendly park. I try to identify a few teams I might want to stack. I pay attention to those lefty/righty splits and who’s hitting where in the lineup.
Bankroll management became super important. I learned the hard way that you can’t just go all-in every night. I try to stick to smaller entry fee contests mostly, and only throw a few bucks at the big tournaments. It’s less glamorous, but my account balance thanks me for it.
And I try not to get too high after a win or too low after a loss. There’s so much variance in daily fantasy baseball. You can do all the research in the world, have the perfect lineup on paper, and still get crushed because of a bloop single or a pitcher having an off night. That’s just the game.
Honestly, I’m still tweaking things. Every season is different, players change, strategies evolve. It’s a constant learning process. I don’t win every time – far from it. But it’s a fun challenge, and I feel like I at least have a fighting chance now, instead of just donating my money. It’s a grind, but when you get it right, it feels pretty good.
