Daily Fantasy Baseball is Back: FantasyFeud’s Opening Day Optimal Lineup
Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is just days away, and we all know what that means: daily fantasy baseball is back!
If you’ve yet to get into daily fantasy baseball, now is the perfect opportunity. Our friends at FantasyFeud are running contests each day, and if you make a deposit over there right now, you’ll receive a 100% deposit bonus. Not only that, but you’ll also get a free qualifier entry ($11 value) for the $5,000 Friday contests that FantasyFeud will be running each week in April.
Not sure who to pick? Well, to make the offer even better, you can use numberFire’s Opening Day optimal lineup, which is listed below.
Opening Day Optimal Lineup and Analysis
| Player | Position | Price | Fantasy Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Fernandez | SP | $130,200 | 8.08 |
| Francisco Liriano | SP | $126,100 | 7.44 |
| Sonny Gray | SP | $88,800 | 6.52 |
| A.J. Pierzynski | C | $66,600 | 2.19 |
| Mitch Moreland | 1B | $58,400 | 2.04 |
| Robinson Cano | 2B | $91,500 | 3.17 |
| Jimmy Rollins | SS | $61,200 | 2.43 |
| Aramis Ramirez | 3B | $74,300 | 2.3 |
| Justin Upton | OF | $78,400 | 3 |
| Josh Willingham | OF | $61,400 | 2.43 |
| John Mayberry | OF | $33,600 | 1.61 |
| Corey Hart | Util | $50,900 | 2.37 |
| Carlos Santana | Util | $76,500 | 2.4 |
| Total | Â | $997,900 | 45.98 |
It's always interesting playing daily fantasy baseball at the beginning of the season, as you don't have the same type of data available on players that you would later in the year. So you'll find a little less risk, which is what our algorithms seemed to produce. The numbers like youngster Jose Fernandez in his opener against the Rockies in Miami, even though he's coming off a rough spring training outing. Fernandez is coming off a season with a fantastic 9.75 K/9, and at home last year - where this game will be played - the righty was lights out, pitching to a 1.19 ERA and a .207 wOBA. Expect a big opening day from him.
Another pitcher who was fantastic at home last year was Francisco Liriano, who's getting the Opening Day nod for the Buccos at PNC Park. Last year, Liriano finished the season with a 1.47 ERA at home, and on Monday, he'll be facing a Cubs offense that scored the third-fewest runs in all of baseball. In addition, Chicago struck during more than 20% of their plate appearances, something Liriano should be able to take advantage of.
Hitting-wise, you'll notice that Robinson Cano's debut with the Mariners snuck into our optimized lineup. Any hitter on Opening Day is bound to see a tough time, as team's aces are sent to the mound, but Cano is matchup proof. And he does hit righties better than lefties (Opening Day probable starter, Jered Weaver, is a righty), making him a solid play on Monday.
A few more veterans to note are in the lineup too, as you'll notice the numbers like the values of A.J. Pierzynski, Jimmy Rollins and Aramis Ramirez. Pierzynski will make his Red Sox debut against starting pitcher Chris Tillman, who is the ace of a questionable O's pitching staff. Tillman was actually worse at home last year than he was away from Baltimore, and perhaps A.J. will try and make an instant impact with his new team.
Aramis Ramirez has battled injury over the last season and is going to be 36 years of age this year (yikes!), but that's the beauty of daily fantasy sports - you have ties to that guy for just a single night. Ramirez is the eighth-most expensive option at third base on FantasyFeud for opening day, and will face righty Julio Teheran of Atlanta. While Ramirez has historically batted for a better average against lefties throughout his career, we're more excited about his pitching matchup and salary over other third basemen.
Finally, Jimmy Rollins is a bit of a value play, and this isn't to say that he's the Jimmy Rollins of old. However, Texas, Philly's opponent, will be without their stud hurler Yu Darvish due to a neck injury, and Tanner Scheppers will make his first big league start as a result. I'm sure plenty of folks will go after Phillies, and our man is Jimmy Rollins.
Like our lineup? Go ahead and enter it on FantasyFeud and get your 100% deposit bonus, as well as a free qualifier entry ($11 value) for the site's $5,000 Friday contests.
