Hello everyone, and welcome to the MLB cash academy! I go by nillyJay in the DFS Army where I coach and contribute content for MLB, NASCAR, and all things cash games related (such as proper bankroll management and cash ladders). You can find me on Twitter or in our Slack channels @nillyJay.
The purpose of these articles is to teach you how to find players to use for cash games, as well as giving out a few that my research has put me on (and why I chose them). The idea here isn’t to just say “lock these guys and run an optimizer.” Rather, I want to encourage everyone to work on their research process and dig a little deeper to find players in good spots instead of just settling on players that fit the salary cap.
One of our winners from this weekend!
The basics
In an effort to keep these articles quick and to the point, I’m going to skip the definitions here. You can refer to the original article here if you’re unfamiliar with any of the stats or terminology used in my notes below. I’ll be writing an article going into more detail about my carnage rating soon, so stay tuned for that!
Yesterday’s results
Max Scherzer: 46 FD, 25.9 DK
Luis Severino: 61 FD, 37 DK
Junior Guerra: 28 FD, 15.8 DK
John Hicks: 9.2 FD, 6 DK
Jesse Winker: 6 FD, 6 DK
Delino DeShields: 15.2 FD, 12 DK
Adrian Beltre: 16 FD, 12 DK
Ian Desmond: 9.2 FD, 7 DK
Solid performances for our early cash lineups!
Patrick Corbin: 24 FD, 12.1 DK
Andrew McCutchen: 3 FD, 3 DK
Anthony Rizzo: 9.2 FD, 7 DK
Jackie Bradley Jr: 0 FD, 0 DK
Justin Turner: 9 FD, 7 DK
The late slate was a little rough for cash, but this is why we preach hedging your cash lineups in tournaments!
Cash players – 6/17/2018
Dylan Bundy ($9,200 FD, $10,500 DK) – Bundy has been pretty solid all season and comes into this matchup with a combined .222 wOBA, .104 ISO, 29% strikeout rate, and a low 2.96 carnage rating. Aside from Starlin Castro, nobody on the Marlins has much (or any) experience against Bundy, which I tend to give as an advantage to the pitcher. Vegas has him as the early favorite at -173 and only gives the Marlins a 3.66 implied run total. Pitching isn’t the best on this slate, but we do at least have Bundy as a solid option.
Blaine Hardy ($6,100 FD, $6,700 DK) – Aside from his start in Boston (which is no easy task), Hardy has put up a solid string of performances lately, especially for his price. He has one of the lowest carnage ratings today at 2.68, and his combined .248 wOBA / .118 ISO are among the best as well. While his strikeout rate isn’t the highest (18.1%), the White Sox do have that honor (31.84%) which should give him a boost. I like him today as an SP2 on DraftKings, but would opt for Bundy on FD.
Francisco Cervelli ($3,000 FD, $3,900 DK) – Cervelli has scored fantasy points in all but 6 games this season (which is simply incredible in a game like baseball), and has a .458 wOBA, .429 ISO, and 10% strikeout rate against righties over the last 10 days. DeSclafani has been hitting hit plenty from both sides of the plate, but is actually doing worse against opposing righties with a .430 wOBA and a combined .180 ISO. This looks to be a good day for Cervelli to continue his hot streak, and Jordy Mercer looks to be a good option to pair him with for a mini cash stack.
Freddy Galvis ($2,400 FD, $2,900 DK) – I wrote Galvis up last week, and while he did produce, it wasn’t anything special. I stuck with him though, and was rewarded with his huge night on Friday. He’s still running hot (.371 wOBA / .310 ISO against righties), is avoiding the K’s (13.79% strikeout rate), and faces Teheran who is getting roughed up by righties (.420 wOBA,.351 ISO, and 7.58 carnage rating). Galvis makes a fine value option again today and could be paired up with Spangenberg for another mini cash stack.
Yan Gomes ($2,900 FD, $3,200 DK) – The Indians have another 5+ implied runs today, and most of the batters are rather expensive. Enter Gomes, an inexpensive option who is actually one of the hottest Indians right now. His .458 wOBA and .450 ISO against righties is the highest on the team, and Odorizzi is struggling against fellow righties with a .404 wOBA / .220 ISO.
Curtis Granderson ($3,000 FD, $3,900 DK) – Granderson’s 6-game hitting streak is backed by his .576 wOBA and .381 ISO against righties, while Roark has been a decent target with his .363 wOBA and .216 ISO to lefties recently. Add in low strikeout rates on both sides (16.67% for Granderson, 18% for Roark) and we have a good matchup for Granderson to make it a 7-game hitting streak.
That’ll be all for today. As always, be sure to check out or other MLB content here, and check out my NASCAR Xfinity preview article as well. Be sure to check out our free trial offer too, and come join our winning team! Just be sure to use promo code NILLY to get that 10% discount for the life of your active membership. Good luck today!
