At FantasyLabs, we believe that we have the best tools and data available for those who play daily fantasy sports. We also realize that these tools and data are only as beneficial as our ability to communicate their functionality and worth.
With this in mind, our Trend of the Day series features articles that each weekday walk subscribers through an important trend, created with our Trends tool. Also, shortly after you create a trend, you will be able to see it under the “My Trends” column in our Player Models.
Trend of the Day: Salary Decrease Combined With High Consistency and High Upside
Pairing high Consistency with high Upside is preferable to choosing one. When a player’s salary decreases yet recent Consistency and Upside are inflated, should you look to pounce or is it a sign of a potentially difficult matchup? Since I’m not enamored with any of the pitching options on the main slate, let’s bank on the former.
Step 1: Fantasy Month Filters > Month Salary Change > -1000 to -100
Targeting players with a salary decrease is preferable to overpaying for players facing a salary hike. For reference, the Plus/Minus decreases to -0.07 when the sliders are shifted to $100 to $1,000.
Step 2: Fantasy Month Filters > Month Count> 10 to 31
I want to focus on everyday hitters, so we’re filtering out infrequent platoon players.
Step 3a: Fantasy Month Filters > Month Upside > 25 to 50
Step 3b: Fantasy Month Filters > Month Consistency > 40 to 60
The final result isn’t spectacular, but when compared to the inverse salary change ($100 to $1000) this trend supplies an increase on the Plus/Minus of +0.63.
Let’s add one more filter as a bonus.
Step 4: Player Filters > Lineup Order > 1 to 4
Focusing on top-of-the-order hitters is always a good fallback. When they’ve been dealt a salary decrease while maintaining high Consistency and Upside, they’ve been valuable on FanDuel.
Current Matches
Freddie Freeman currently leads all non-Coors hitters with 10 Pro Trends on FanDuel and costs $3,600 due to a $1,000 decrease in salary. In the same game, Brian Dozier and his 33 percent Upside over the last month settle in at $3,800 — a $300 reduction. Rain is expected to play a factor in this game, and that should allow both sides to exploit the bullpens early.
Tommy Joseph is expected to start for the first time since Saturday, and even though his salary has decreased it’s warranted based on his recent performance: He’s had one extra-base hit and negative advanced stats over the past 15 days. Left-handed pitcher Scott Kazmir opposed the Phillies in his last start on August 10th, and in that matchup Joseph went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and two groundouts.
Rajai Davis isn’t in the projected lineup after playing in four of the last five games. In the event he does play, it will probably be as the leadoff hitter. Over the last week, Davis has recorded five steals and a home run.
Ryan Braun exited the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader with a left knee injury, but should he suit up it would be against left-handed pitcher Jon Lester, who surrendered 17 stolen bases this season and five steals the last time he faced the Brewers.
