Hello everyone, and welcome back to the MLB cash academy at the DFS Army! 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 basics
Please refer to the original article here if you’re unfamiliar with any of the stats or terminology used in the notes below. NEW! If you want to read more about my carnage rating system, you can do so here.
Cash players – 8/17/2018
Max Scherzer (WAS P: $12,200 FD | $12,600 DK) – We have some great options up top today, but I’m giving the nod to Scherzer today for cash games. He has the best carnage rating (2.26), combined wOBA (.215) and VKSCORE (670) of all pitchers today, and his 564 KSCORE is right up there too. His Vegas support is overwhelming (-410 moneyline and 2.42 implied runs), and well..it’s Max Scherzer! Everything looks great for him today and this is a solid way to start your cash lineups today.
Brian Johnson (BOS P: $6,400 FD | $6,800 DK) – If you need a cheap SP2 on DraftKings, Johnson makes a good option. He offers a 2.94 carnage rating (fourth best), a 509 KSCORE, lots of Vegas love (-176 moneyline and 4.06 implied runs), and has the BvP advantage today (the Rays have very little experience against him). That’s a lot of value for a $6,800 pitcher! As usual, I wouldn’t go this low on FanDuel. Instead, I would pay up for a more dominant pitcher for your cash games.
Matt Wieters (WAS C: $2,500 FD | $3,300 DK) – We start off today’s batters with a solid box-checker; is Wieters doing well against his matchup today? Check (.368 wOBA against righties and a 9.52% strikeout rate over the last two weeks). Is he facing a pitcher in a bad spot? Check (Straily is allowing .353 wOBA to the left side of the plate and carries a 6.68 carnage rating along with 5.42 implied runs). Does he have a BvP advantage? Check (he’s 6 for 10 with two home runs and no strikeouts against Straily). Can he be used with another hot hitter from the same team for a mini cash stack? Check (Harper, Murphy, and Soto all make good choices to pair him with). It’s that easy!
Like what you see here, but wish you could quickly find more batters in good spots like these ones are? I upload a list of every batter that meets the requirements I’m looking for, every single day, and today’s list has 40 batters on it. Everybody gets a few here, but our VIPs get the rest! That list also has a breakdown of the Tiers and QuickPick slates.
Kole Calhoun (: $ FD | $ DK) – If you want some affordable power, Calhoun makes a great option today. He’s hitting .460 wOBA and .278 ISO against righties while Hutchison is allowing .376 wOBA against lefties with a hefty 6.29 carnage rating. There’s not much strikeout threat here either (15.52% for Calhoun, 4.90% for Hutchison), so I expect Calhoun to have plenty of chances at a big hit or two today. You can pair him with pretty much anybody else for a mini cash stack, but most notably Upton or Ohtani.
Kolten Wong (STL 2B: $2,700 FD | $3,900 DK) – Wong has started to find himself a nice groove lately, putting up solid fantasy production in 10 of his last 12 games (6 of which were double-digit efforts). He’s hit for .420 wOBA and .263 ISO against righties in that span while only striking out 9.52% of the time. On the other side, Peralta has allowed a whopping .487 wOBA and .333 ISO to lefties and carries a 6.52 carnage rating. If you can afford him, Carpenter makes a great choice to pair him up with, but he can be used as a one-off here too.
Friday bonus!!
I just can’t help myself with these freebies. Tiers or QuickPick….what’s on the menu today? How about…both!
Here’s what we have in T2 today. Nolan vs a lefty is always a popular choice in cash games, but the others might have a better ceiling for tournaments. Interesting…
Over on FanDuel, we can see that Upton is in another great spot, and he’s been on fire recently. That strikeout rate is a little higher than desirable, but sometimes the other benefits outweigh that risk. Could Brantley be the safer cash option?
DFS Army members can see the rest of the tiers (along with the 40 batters in good spots today for classic) right here! Of course, if you have any questions or can’t decide between some players, head on over to my Slack channel #nillys-garage-nas-mlb and discuss it with me or the other members who have been using this system all season long with terrific results.
And that’s going to do it for today. As always, be sure to check out the rest of our MLB content and be sure to check out my NASCAR Xfinity preview article for the race today as well. NFL season is fast approaching, so be sure to check out our free content there too. There are lots of goodies on the inside for our VIP members, and there’s only one way to get access to it all. Just be sure to use promo code NILLY to get 10% off the life of your active membership when you decide to join up. Until then, good luck today!
