What would you do if you won 5.7 million dollars? This is something many people fantasize about and it can become a reality without coming up with the next social media site or inventing the latest app. Beat The Streak is a fantasy game on MLB.com where users select one or two hitters a day to get a hit and keep their virtual streak alive. The concept seems simple but the results thus far have proved it to be anything but. Nobody in the games 15 year history has reached a streak of 57, which is one more than Yankees legend Joe Dimaggios real streak set back in 1941. Think you have what it takes? Let's find out.
Your first thing to decide is whether to take one hitter or get greedy and, "double down" with two players for the days slate. Personally, it varies for me. On days where I am feeling confident, or starting back from 0, I most always double down. Once I achieve a streak of around 10-15, I start getting more selective with my picks and stay, "safe" with one. You can take days off now, which is something you weren't able to do, and maintain your streak. A feature called the mulligan saves your streak if a player doesn't get a hit that day. This only works when your streak is between 10-15. You can only use the mulligan once, and it is automatically used the first time you miss between 10-15.
The second thing to do is to pick a player or players. Some of the best hitters to choose for the game this year include Astros second baseman, Jose Altuve, Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and his teammate, outfielder, Mookie Betts. Remember all you need is one hit, so it makes sense to pick players who will have the best chance to get more at-bats, increasing their chances of getting a hit. Picking players who bat in the top 2 of the lineup are solid bets, as they are usually players who don't usually walk and see the most plate appearances on the team. You will find many useful stats on sites like baseballalmanac.com and ESPN.com. Stats like splits vs righties/lefties, batting average at home/away and how the player is hitting in their last 10 games. Also, using Vegas odds and totals as an indicator of higher scoring games to pick hitters has become a sound theory for the contest.
Lastly, have fun. While it is highly unlikely you will the grand prize, you can still win cool prizes from attaining smaller streaks of 5 and 10. Some prizes include a discount to MLB.shop merchandise and tickets to games. The game brings out my inner sports nerd with all of the stats and strategy, but it also is a fun thing to do during the dog days of summer.
