Daily Fantasy Strategy — All-Star Break Notes — For Draftstreet

Today, we’ll gather around the TV and watch the All-Star game. Well, most of us will; some don’t care about the event very much. Either way, we’re without baseball for a few days after tonight’s ultimately meaningless home field deciding contest. So let’s take a look back at the Draftstreet All-Stars of the first half. I use wOBA more than anything else when choosing my daily lineup, mostly due to seeing people much better at daily than myself using it. Blake has long used it as a proxy for good daily production. In theory, it should work well. And as you’ll below, it works well in practice, too.

Num	Name	Team	PA	Total Points	Points per PA	wOBA Rank
1	Mike Trout	Angels	408	407.50	1.00	2
2	Andrew McCutchen	Pirates	419	405.00	0.97	3
3	Michael Brantley	Indians	390	394.00	1.01	13
4	Edwin Encarnacion	Blue Jays	375	383.25	1.02	5
5	Paul Goldschmidt	Diamondbacks	419	377.00	0.90	7
6	Troy Tulowitzki	Rockies	368	376.25	1.02	1
7	Nelson Cruz	Orioles	397	373.00	0.94	14
8	Albert Pujols	Angels	409	370.75	0.91	49
9	Giancarlo Stanton	Marlins	413	368.75	0.89	9
10	Miguel Cabrera	Tigers	387	366.50	0.95	19
11	Jose Altuve	Astros	418	360.50	0.86	39
12	Jose Abreu	White Sox	351	352.75	1.00	6
13	Ian Kinsler	Tigers	405	352.50	0.87	43
14	Victor Martinez	Tigers	340	351.00	1.03	4
15	Anthony Rendon	Nationals	397	348.25	0.88	34
16	Jose Bautista	Blue Jays	390	342.75	0.88	10
17	Charlie Blackmon	Rockies	383	341.75	0.89	35
18	Brian Dozier	Twins	424	338.50	0.80	56
19	Todd Frazier	Reds	400	336.00	0.84	23
20	Freddie Freeman	Braves	422	335.00	0.79	17
21	Robinson Cano	Mariners	392	334.00	0.85	25
22	Anthony Rizzo	Cubs	407	333.50	0.82	20
23	Josh Donaldson	Athletics	410	333.50	0.81	67
24	Carlos Gomez	Brewers	388	331.25	0.85	16
25	Yasiel Puig	Dodgers	394	323.25	0.82	8

Using Draftstreet’s scoring system (if I used excel correctly), Nineteen of the top scoring hitters, that are qualified, currently rank inside the top 25. The hitters that fall outside of the top 25 in wOBA each have some extenuating circumstances: Brian Dozier and Jose Altuve each add value by stealing bases at an efficient rate; Albert Pujols and Josh Donaldson are each in the top 16 in both runs scored and RBI, on top of hitting lots of dingers; And Ian Kinsler and Charlie Blackmon just fill their stat lines in whatever way possible. So, wOBA works. That’s not exactly surprising. Victor Martinez averaging more points per plate appearance than anyone in the majors is, though.

Num	Name	Team	IP	Total Points	Points per Inning
1	Felix Hernandez	Mariners	144.1	250.85	1.74
2	Johnny Cueto	Reds	143.2	235.95	1.65
3	David Price	Rays	147.2	232.20	1.58
4	Masahiro Tanaka	Yankees	129.1	220.85	1.71
5	Adam Wainwright	Cardinals	138.0	217.75	1.58
6	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	96.1	209.10	2.18
7	Max Scherzer	Tigers	126.1	208.10	1.65
8	Corey Kluber	Indians	131.2	201.95	1.54
9	Garrett Richards	Angels	123.1	200.60	1.63
10	Jon Lester	Red Sox	129.0	198.50	1.54
11	Yu Darvish	Rangers	115.1	196.35	1.71
12	Stephen Strasburg	Nationals	125.0	194.00	1.55
13	Julio Teheran	Braves	136.1	190.85	1.40
14	Zack Greinke	Dodgers	118.2	190.45	1.61
15	Scott Kazmir	Athletics	117.1	185.35	1.58
16	Tyson Ross	Padres	129.2	180.95	1.40
17	Madison Bumgarner	Giants	127.0	179.75	1.42
18	Ian Kennedy	Padres	124.1	176.10	1.42
19	Sonny Gray	Athletics	125.2	174.45	1.39
20	Chris Sale	White Sox	95.0	172.75	1.82
21	Jeff Samardzija	Athletics	123.0	160.50	1.30
22	Jason Hammel	Athletics	113.2	160.45	1.42
23	John Lackey	Red Sox	123.1	157.35	1.28
24	James Shields	Royals	130.2	156.70	1.20
25	Kyle Lohse	Brewers	127.0	156.25	1.23

When we look at starting pitchers, we see mostly familiar names. Masahiro Tanaka (RIP, perhaps), Corey Kluber, Garrett Richards, Scott Kazmir, Tyson Ross, Ian Kennedy, Jason Hammel, and, perhaps, Kyle Lohse probably wouldn’t have been predicted to be in the top 25, but they are. Other than that, it’s the normal pitchers we associate with being great. On a per inning basis, no one has been better than Clayton Kershaw (surprise!). Chris Sale also jumps up the list into second place. And both Jake Odorizzi and Hisashi Iwakuma slide into the back of the top 25. Quietly, they’re both putting together nice seasons.

Num	Name	Team	IP	Total Points	Points per Inning
1	Craig Kimbrel	Braves	37.2	164.45	4.42
2	Francisco Rodriguez	Brewers	45.1	154.35	3.42
3	Kenley Jansen	Dodgers	38.2	151.45	3.96
4	Trevor Rosenthal	Cardinals	43.2	150.70	3.49
5	Greg Holland	Royals	34.2	145.20	4.25
6	Koji Uehara	Red Sox	43.2	143.45	3.32
7	Fernando Rodney	Mariners	36.1	137.35	3.80
8	David Robertson	Yankees	32.2	137.20	4.26
9	Glen Perkins	Twins	39.1	135.10	3.46
10	Aroldis Chapman	Reds	29.2	134.95	4.62
11	Huston Street	Padres	33.0	129.25	3.92
12	Dellin Betances	Yankees	55.1	128.85	2.34
13	Rafael Soriano	Nationals	37.0	127.00	3.43
14	Jonathan Papelbon	Phillies	37.1	123.60	3.33
15	Sean Doolittle	Athletics	43.2	122.45	2.83
16	Zach Britton	Orioles	48.1	115.60	2.40
17	Steve Cishek	Marlins	38.1	115.10	3.02
18	Joe Smith	Angels	42.2	114.20	2.71
19	Cody Allen	Indians	41.2	113.70	2.76
20	Addison Reed	Diamondbacks	37.2	108.45	2.92
21	Sergio Romo	Giants	37.0	108.25	2.93
22	Joakim Soria	Rangers	30.1	102.60	3.41
23	Mark Melancon	Pirates	41.2	102.20	2.48
24	Jake McGee	Rays	41.1	100.60	2.45
25	Wade Davis	Royals	39.2	93.95	2.40

Finally, the relievers. The “value” of the save is still alive and well. Sergio Romo, despite his awfulness is still top 20. Addison Reed, too; although he hasn’t been quite as bad as Romo. They’re undoubtedly on the list due to their saves. Closers dominate the list, and they should, given the scoring setup, but being a full time closer isn’t exactly required to be valuable. Dellin Betances is in the top 25. So is Jake McGee.  Tyler Clippard, Pat Neshek, and Antonio Bastardo don’t miss by much. So let’s have some fun. Outside of the usual names (Trout, Cabrera, Kershaw, etc.), who are your dark horses to perform the best in the second half? I’ll go with: Jayson Werth, Zack Greinke, and Huston Street (after a trade to LAA, anyone?). In case you’re curious about other names, here is a link to each spreadsheet. Enjoy the game/break, and I’ll see you on Friday. This post, covering one of the leading sites for daily fantasy, is sponsored and made possible by the generous support of Draftstreet. FanGraphs maintains complete editorial control of the postings, and brings you these posts in a continued desire to provide the best analytical information on the latest in baseball.