The Sicko Survey is a series of questions we have posed to our team of experts to gather their advice and opinions on MLB Best Ball. These questions allow them to add a little extra nuance rather than just straight picks or rankings. New surveys will be released throughout the offseason to discuss contests, draft strategies and the best ball landscape as a whole leading up to the MLB regular season.

 

Question 1

 

What is a site specific strategy you are using to help build good teams?

 

Erik: The difference in pitching between Underdog and DraftKings is the biggest difference, outside of scoring settings, by far. Your starting lineup only requires 3 pitchers on each site, but Underdog requires one extra hitter via a flex position. That is a big difference in how important hitters are on Underdog, particularly combined with the scoring being hitter friendly. So, I don’t necessarily want to target pitchers earlier on DK, but I do want to lean into more quantity of pitchers there.

 

Bernie: On DraftKings, I believe there is a massive advantage to understanding the rules. You start 3 pitchers, 3 infielders, 3 outfielders and no flex spots. This is 9 starters compared to 10 on Underdog and Drafters. This increases the proportion of pitchers in your starting lineup, which leans me to allocating more of the 20 roster spots towards it. It also means you can never start 4 IF or OF in any week, no matter how larger their spike weeks are.

 

I am almost always drafting 7 or 8 pitchers on each team. 

 

Billy: On Underdog, I am quite aggressively deploying the zero pitcher. Last year’s data shows it was optimal to go zero through 5 and all zero pitcher builds through 10 rounds operated above the standard tournament advance rate. The zero pitcher build gives us access to drafting more volume of pitchers, which is the most fragile of the three positions. Pitcher really is a war of attrition.

 

Question 2

 

What is your general opinion on stacking hitters?

 

Erik: Stacking is a super underrated element for MLB Best Ball. There are several different forms of correlation that come from a stack in MLB. In any individual game, the hitters on the same offense benefit from one another. If the leadoff hitter gets on base, then the next hitter drives them in, you’re adding points for runs and RBIs for multiple hitters from one event. But you also have the correlation from the entire season. You also have the benefits of game environment – a juicy pitching matchup, a hitter friendly park or weather – from multiple players in your team. Then, if an offense explodes over the course of a season and exceeds expectations (I.E.  2023 Braves and Rangers), you get that added benefit long term, plus all these benefits during the most important week(s) in the playoff rounds. I’m all about making it easier on myself in a given team, and that’s what stacking does.

 

Bernie: I am very pro stacking hitters. If I stack it’s usually 2-3 hitters from a team but I’m not against more at the right price. I am not focused on where the batters hit in their teams lineup, just give me 3+ stacks on every team and I’m happy. 

 

Billy: I am absolutely stacking my hitters. It is very clear to see the benefits of how stacking an offense, more at bats and scoring a boat load of runs, can have for a single week or across the season. I do think stacking an offense for the sake of stacking can be dumb though. The bigger stacks, greater than 2 players from the same team, should ideally be done through high powered offenses and/or good ballparks and players do not all of a sudden became a good pick because it is stacked with an earlier pick, looking at you Jason Heyward drafters building out Los Angeles Dodgers stacks.

 

Question 3

 

What is a stack that you are targeting in your drafts?

 

Erik: I’ll cheat and go with two. One is a bit of a homer take, and that’s my St. Louis Cardinals. But this is one of the sneakier elite offenses with a great mix of high level stable vets (Goldschmidt, Arenado) with exciting young players (Walker, Gorman), but also affordable OF like Nootbar and late or undrafted value options (Contreras, Donovan, etc). Second is my favorite stack from last year, and I’m running it back, in the Reds. The Reds have gotten more expensive this year, but their depth and semi murky playing time situation(s) are giving us a lot of potential value on a stack that has the perfect blend of youth, stability, power upside and my personal favorite – tons and tons of stolen bases.

 

Bernie: I find myself drafting Ian Happ (Cubs – OF) and then either Nico Hoerner (Cubs – IF) or Dansby Swanson (Cubs – IF) in many drafts. This combination fits my overall drafting strategy and their best prices are on DraftKings.

 

Billy: Here are two stacks of premium players, one that is pretty clean to build, and another that takes getting outside the confines of ADP a bit. The Houston Astros stack, Yordan Alvarez or Kyle Tucker (in a perfect world both) + Jose Altuve + Alex Bregman, is very clean. The New York Mets stack, Pete Alonso + Francisco Lindor + Brandon Nimmo, isn’t as clean as Alonso and Nimmo sit on one side of the board while Lindor is currently on the other. 

 

Question 4

 

Who is a mid-round pitcher you have found yourself gravitating towards?

 

Erik: Freddy Peralta. Strikeouts are king in Best Ball, and they’re where I focus 90% of my efforts at pitching. Peralta had a breakout campaign last year where he was 4th in MLB in strikeout rate, behind just Strider, Snell and Gausman. Yet, he goes around pick 70, which fits perfect into my ‘wait on pitching’ general approach.

 

Bernie: Christian ‘El Reptil’ Javier (HOU – P) is my guy currently, I find him on 45% of my teams. He is only 26 years old, has the ability to rack up a lot of K’s, and even lost 15 pounds this offseason. At ADP’s of 124 DraftKings/141 Underdog/147 Drafters, he is an easy pick for zero and hero pitcher strategies.

 

Billy: Cole Ragans is my dude. A Tread Athletics pitcher with immense upside and a second half breakout last year. In his first outing of spring training he had 5 strikeouts in 2 innings. 

 

Question 5

 

Who is a mid-round outfielder that you have been drafting?

 

Erik: TJ Friedl – he’s the leadoff hitter on my aforementioned Reds, and he brings the perfect combination of reasonable price, the most expensive position and power/speed upside. He posted a 116 wRC+ with 18 HRs and 27 steals over 138 games in 2023, and he plays in an elite park atop a high upside offense again in 2024.

 

Bernie: I click James Outman (LAD – OF) every chance I get. Outman is on a loaded Dodgers team, and while he may not be at the top of the order, he will have spike weeks with his home run ability. Outman is a great stacking partner with an early Betts, Ohtani and/or Hernandez.

 

Billy: Brent Rooker (OAK – OF). Home runs, runs, and RBIs are the core of a spike week and Rooker’s home run profile from the later parts of the draft has made him a top target for me. For those on Twitter, Rooker is also a must follow.