Daily Fantasy Baseball Rules

Daily Fantasy Baseball Scoring Rules and Formats: Strategies for FanDuel and DraftKings

By Adam, DFS Player, Rotopicks.com

DraftKings, FanDuel, and the other daily fantasy gaming sites have different scoring rules and formats. Knowing the differences is important for building a proper lineup. Let's take a look at DraftKings and FanDuel's scoring rules and see how we can use them to our advantage to win some leagues!

Hitting

FanDuel has a typical 1, 2, 3, 4 point system for singles, doubles, triples, and homeruns, respectively. Also, runs batted in (RBI) and runs scored (R) are 1 point, and FanDuel deducts 0.25 points for each out. A stolen base (SB) is a common 2 points, and scoring is relatively common on walks (BB) at 1 point.

The 1, 2, 3, 4 point system for singles, doubles, triples, and homeruns is analogous to the weighted stats used in slugging percentage. It is simply the total bases that calculates the points (a triple is 3 bases, thus 3 points). Runs batted in and runs are equally weighted to singles on FanDuel which should lead us to a few conclusions. It is always better to use players on good teams. Good teams provide runners to knock in for an RBI, and also provide hitters to knock you in for your run. You should also focus on the top of the order for runs and the middle of the order for runs batted in. Over the course of a year, the cumulative total of runs as well as runs batted in for each of the seventh eighth and ninth batters is about 1,700. This is compared to over 2,700 runs from the leadoff hitter and number two hitter, and almost 3,000 runs batted in from the cleanup hitter (4th) spot.

Another factor to note is that since DraftKings deducts a point for a caught stealing and provides two points for a stolen base, I argue you should not target stolen bases. A 70% stolen base rate is pretty good. That would mean a speedster can get 7 stolen bases (14 points) and 3 caught stealing (-3), which would usually take two weeks at least. That equates to 11 points over two or three weeks, and you cannot predict when stolen bases will occur (Yes, they're more likely when going up against a catcher who can't throw runners out). Runs batted in and runs are much more reliable.

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Penalizing strikeouts -0.75 is a pretty big deal. Many power hitters tend to strike out a lot, so if you do not get that homerun, you may be stuck with an 0-4 day with 4 strikeouts, which is -3 points. That hurts! Power hitters of this sort are best left for tournaments and not double ups where you need consistent, reliable points from everyone. However, walks are awarded the inverse, 0.75 points. So, a nice little strategy would be to find players with good walk to strikeout ratios, since every walk cancels out the points you would lose from a strikeout. Sacrifices are not predictable so do not worry about them.

Pitching

Draftkings has pretty common scoring on Innings Pitched (1 point), Strikeouts (1 point), and earned runs (-1 point). You want a pitcher with a lot of quality starts, which are outings of 6+ innings, allowing 3 or fewer runs. You also want a high strikeout pitcher.

Hits and walks are -0.6 on DraftKings but are not deducted on FanDuel. This is a stat we can predict by looking at a pitcher's WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched). Be careful choosing low ERA pitchers with high WHIPs as those hits and walks could hurt your score on DraftKings.

Wins are relatively lowly scored at less than twice the amount of points for an inning pitched on DraftKings, and a loss is no deduction. This means searching for the favorite is not as important as finding someone who can strikeout a lot of batters. Only two strikeouts equals a win in terms of DraftKings scoring. So you'd rather a 7 strikeout pitcher with a loss than a 3 strikeout pitcher with a win (14 points vs. 10 points).

Lastly, DraftKings offers bonus points like 2.5 points for a complete game. This is just a bonus stat that you should not pay much attention to. You cannot predict a complete game nowadays, with pitch counts and injuries, bullpen matchups, etc.

Conclusion

When choosing hitters, pick players who play for a good offense and hit at the top or middle of the order. A good walk to strikeout ratio helps. Choose pitchers based on their ability to go deep into games and strike people out. (use quality starts as a nice barometer). It's also a bonus to select a pitcher who is throwing in a ballpark that is notorious for low scoring games (Petco, Dodger Stadium, Citi Field, etc).

Good luck and as always, thanks for reading!

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