Hello everyone, and welcome back 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 show an easy way to identify players to use MLB cash game lineups. While I do provide some player names, the idea is to show what I’m looking for so that you can use some of that same thinking to help aid your research for building lineups.
The basics
Please refer to the original article here if you’re unfamiliar with any of the stats or terminology used in the notes below.
Yesterday’s results
J.A. Happ: 8 FD | .15 DK
Freddy Peralta: 21 FD | 10.45 DK
Joe Mauer: Did not play
Wilmer Flores: 3 FD | 3 DK
Daniel Murphy: 6.2 FD | 4 DK
Juan Soto: 0 FD | 0 DK
Meh, can’t win ’em all. On to today!
Cash players – 7/2/2018
Nathan Eoavldi (TBR P: $6,300 FD | $8,700 DK) – You may be a little surprised that I didn’t start with Max or Kluber, but I wanted to list SP2 options today, and Eovaldi is one such option. He’s not only getting more strikeouts every game, but he’s also got the second-lowest carnage rating today at 2.28. He’s got a fair amount of Vegas love (-130 moneyline), and the only Marlin that has any decent success against him is on the disabled list. The poor guy has only faced Oakland, Washington, Seattle, Houston, and the Yankees this season (yeesh!), but he’s managed to get through every single game, throwing no less than 5 innings in every game. Today’s matchup is cake compared to those, so I think he’ll put on a good show for us today.
Luis Castillo (CIN P: $7,100 FD | $5,700 DK) – He’s cheap, has a good matchup, has overwhelming Vegas support (-200 moneyline and a 3.93 implied total), has a 3.93 carnage rating, and nobody on the White Sox has ever faced him. People will want a cheap pitcher to fit in Max or Kluber today, and Castillo should be a popular choice. Sometimes there’s bad chalk, but this looks to be a case of some good chalk.
Francisco Lindor (CLE SS: $4,500 FD | $5,400 DK) – For whatever reason, whenever Lindor comes to town to face my Royals, he just goes crazy. I would play him even if he were ice cold, but fortunately (well, unfortunately for me) he’s not. He sports a .465 wOBA and .375 ISO against righties recently while only striking out 18.52% of the time. Junis was doing well earlier this year but has started to fade back. He’s giving up .424 wOBA / .207 ISO to the left side of the plate and his strikeout rate is below-average at 21.2%. Add in the fact that Lindor hits Junis very well (4 for 7 with 3 XBH and a home run), and we have a recipe for a fantastic play.
Kevin Kiermaier (TBR OF: $2,300 FD | $3,600 DK) – Kiermaier leads off today against Chen who is giving up .401 wOBA to lefties and is only striking out 16.7% of the batters he’s faced lately. He’s also 4 for 13 with a home run against Chen and has had fantasy production in 8 of his last starts. He’s not scorching hot like some other batters are, but he makes up for with these other qualities. He looks to be a great value play today.
Jake Cave (MIN OF: $2,200 FD | $2,900 DK) – Cave started off pretty slow but has found his groove lately, having fantasy production in his last 5 starts while also hitting for .569 wOBA / .667 ISO against lefties in that timespan. Suter has been getting roughed up by lefties and has a .428 wOBA / .353 ISO to show for it. If he starts today, he looks to be another solid value play to help fit in some studs.
Paul Goldschmidt (ARI 1B: $4,300 FD | $5,200 DK) – If you want to pay up for some power today, Goldy is a fine option. He’s been hitting righties for .394 wOBA and .263 ISO lately while only striking out 12.9% of the time. Martinez has had plenty of struggles lately, and righties are hitting him for .430 wOBA and .286 ISO. I don’t mind taking another Diamondback along with him, such as Murphy if he starts (he’s been a little hotter than Goldy and is a lot cheaper).
And that’s going to do it for today. Cash Academy will be back on Friday, but there will be plenty of other MLB content coming out for the next few days to cover everything. We have all sorts of other goodies on the way too, such as WNBA, soccer, golf, NASCAR, and much more. Of course, there’s always more on the inside, such as our research stations, Domination Station lineup optimizer, and 24/7 access to our Slack channels. If you want to get access to all of what we’re doing, you know what to do. Just remember to use promo code NILLY for that 10% discount!
Good luck today, and have a happy & safe 4th of July!
