ShowMeTheMoney84 (SMTM84) took down the 23rd DSBC qualifier with a high score of 104.55. His winning lineup was a semi-Texas Ranger stack with three starting pitchers and one reliever. The Ranger offense scored 9 runs against Houston on Sunday and locked up the victory for SMTM84. His starting pitchers all put up solid performances and he got 2.35 points out of his relief pitcher. He’ll compete against the other 39 qualifiers for the chance to win the first place prize of $35,000!

My lineup structure was similar to SMTH84’s except I used cheaper starting pitchers and had a hybrid Texas Ranger/Milwaukee Brewer stack. I really like both team’s matchups and wanted to maximize my at-bats. The Ranger’s infielders bat towards the top of their lineup and are the heart and soul of their offense (Josh Hamilton was laying in a hospital bed). They were also surprisingly affordable! On the flip side, the Brewers offense is anchored by their hard-hitting outfield (now that Prince has jettisoned to Detroit) and they also hit towards the top of the batting order. I added the Ranger’s infield and Brewer’s outfield to my lineup and still had a lot of cash to work with. Then I added Joey Votto for good measure because he’s the most consistent daily fantasy baseball player in the game and I wasn’t a fan of either starting first basemen on the Rangers or Brewers.

I went cheap on starting pitching for three reasons:

(1) I didn’t think the higher priced starting pitchers had great matchups

(2) I really liked the Rangers and Brewers offenses that day

(3) I thought there was a lot of value in the cheaper starting pitchers on Sunday

It ended up working out, but I still fell short of 1st place. I had a shot going into the final Sunday night game between the Red Sox and Cubs because I had both starting pitchers. Yes, I took two SP that were facing each other and I’ll do it again if the price is right. Wins are worth 1.5 points on DraftStreet and a loss only sets you back .75, so if two starting pitchers have favorable matchups I don’t shy away from them in GPPS, especially when they are two of the lower priced pitchers on the board. Predicting wins and losses is extremely difficult and I was more concerned with their innings pitched, matchups, and strikeout potential. I was really high on Franklin Morales and hoped to get 6 IP out of him against the anemic Cubs offense. I knew he wouldn’t go more than six because he’s transitioning from the bullpen, but I read that the Red Sox had been stretching him out for a few weeks. He only went five innings, but still returned good value. Maholm had a rough start giving up a pair of runs in the first inning, but turned it out around and had a solid performance striking out 6. My third starting pitcher Quintana came through as well (with a little help from a blown call on an early tag) although the baseball gods intervened and the Dodgers came back to win costing Quintana a W.

To cut a long story short, I came in 7th place and didn’t win my seat in the DSBC main event…yet! I had a shot at it and needed the Brewers outfield to string together a couple hits and runs, but it didn’t happen despite the numerous chances they had in extra innings.

No worries though, there are still 4 more $11 qualifiers on the schedule. And I’ll probably jump in a couple $22 qualifiers as long as I don’t have plans to go out and celebrate a fake holiday the night before!

Want to play in the next DraftStreet Baseball Championship Qualifier?