Welcome to the Core 4! My name is Michael aka @MadnessDFS on Twitter, make sure to give me a follow as I’ll occasionally make updates to the article throughout the day as news breaks and lineups come out. But, you’ll mostly find me in our VIP coaching forums where I provide detailed lineup maneuvers and answer all lineup questions. With that said, let’s get it started!
Purpose of the Core 4: These four players are guys that I want to get high exposure to in my cash game lineups and if doing multi-entry, using the Domination Station to either lock them in or set high exposure percentages to them. These are players that I see as underpriced, in great matchups, good conditions, or simply just have a hunch. I also need to mention that these plays are normally geared toward Draftkings pricing and scoring, however, the stats and reasoning behind liking them stay true no matter the site. Be sure to compare this article with the players mentioned on our Coaches Notes/Player Picks every night to get a sense of where you stand and to get multiple coach’s outlooks on the slate. With that said, let’s jump in!
While you’re here, go check out the NFL Draft Kit, which has you covered for all of your draft day needs!
-> NFL DRAFT KIT <-
CORE 4:
Kenta Maeda (SP) – $8,000
This is a weird pitching slate where the high-priced aces are either overpriced, in a tough matchup, or coming off an injury (Scherzer). Not only this, but there is a Coors game that involves the Red Sox and Rockies. This feels like a slate where I will be living in the mid-tier for pitching while paying up for bats, so we start with Maeda. Maeda draws a matchup against the San Diego Padres, in San Diego. Maeda gets a similar ballpark to his home one, in that it is much better for pitchers than batters. The Padres have an implied run total of just 3.9 here and is really an offense that I will look to take pitchers against now that Tatis Jr. is out and Franmil Reyes is out of town. I always talk about how strikeouts are king when selecting a pitcher for DFS, well the Padres are striking out at a 26% rate against right-handed pitching to go along with Maeda’s k rate of 26.8%. Finally, he has made four starts against the Padres this season and in those four starts, he is averaging 18.8 Draftkings points per game. With a watered-down lineup, I expect Maeda to pitch well here and will be the first member of my core. Nilly’s Carnage Report isn’t out at the time I’m writing this, but be sure to give it a look and check out where he ranks!
-> NILLY’S CARNAGE REPORT <-
Rafael Devers (3B) – $5,800
Alright, so we paid down a bit a pitcher so I’m going to spend up for our first position player. He may be popular because he is in Coors field tonight, but I expect his price to keep the ownership down. As I mentioned this game is in Coors field where offenses go to destroy pitching. The Red Sox have an implied run total of 8.1 runs… yes, 8.1. Not too often do you see an implied run total of over 8, but that is the case here. The Red Sox will face Peter Lambert on the mound who has a 6.40 era on the season to go along with his 37.8% hard contact rate given up. It’s hard not to like Devers here, against righties on the season he has a .602 slugging percentage, a .419 wOBA and a .274 ISO. Yes, he’s expensive but I’ll be getting to as much Devers as I can since we will be paying down at pitcher for the most part.
Yuli Gurriel (1B/3B) – $4,400
After going expensive with Devers, we get a little bit of relief here with Gurriel who gets a matchup at home against left-handed pitcher, Ryan Yarborough. Yarborough has pitched extremely well this season, so I am expecting Gurriel to slip through the cracks of most people’s lineup construction. The thing that makes him easy to make a core play is his multi-position eligibility since we already have Devers as a core play, we will have to use him at 1B. Gurriel was on some kind of heater to begin the second half of the season and really hasn’t slowed all the way down. Over his last ten games, he is averaging 7.9 Draftkings points per game and is smoking left-handed pitchers this season. Against lefties, on the season he has a .528 slugging percentage, a .361 wOBA and a .264 ISO. I like him a lot here and will be my home run call of the day!
I’m going to continue to drive home the coaches notes/player picks here, these are something you need to look at before submitting your lineups! Often times we don’t have enough time to write big long write-ups on every single player on our coaching sheets, but trust me the research is there behind every pick! The Coaches Notes have a little bit of everything no matter what type of player you are. They have Draftkings notes, FanDuel notes, Showdown slate notes, and CashKeg’s Main Slate cash notes (see results below). Take these and compare them to the rest of the tools we offer on the site and you have already strengthened your chances of doing something like bobbywow did here when he won $50,000.
Trevor Story (SS) – $5,300
So normally I like to spend down at my fourth and final core spot, but since we went cheap at pitcher and have a cheap option with Yuli Gurriel, we can make this work. Since I will be sticking in the mid-range for pitching, pairing DeSclafani, Civale, or Roark with Maeda, getting these expensive bats shouldn’t be an issue. This will be my second Coors field bat that makes the core, but these guys are just in such great spots it’s tough to ignore. I think Story ends up going under-owned because of the name recognition of Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound, however, Story destroys left-handed pitchers especially at home in Coors. Against lefties on the season, Story has a .570 slugging percentage, a .386 wOBA, and a .285 ISO. Not only this, but he is averaging 4 more Draftkings points per game more at home this season than on the road. Yes, Rodriguez is a good pitcher, but pitching goes to die in Coors, I like getting to a lower owned Trevor Story here.
Simple Coaching = Simple Results
Our coaches build their sheets with their own “Core” plays in them (blue in color). You can use these to form your own foundations, or as a consensus across coaches to solidify your own thoughts. However, I definitely recommend upgrading to a Full VIP member so you can access our coaching discussions in rooms like, #cash-keg-allsports where our coaches explain when and why they change some of their thoughts based on late lineup confirmations. These pivots dramatically increase your edge as a player!
As always I appreciate everyone who gave the article a read! Feel free to mix it up with me in our coaching forums as news breaks and lock approaches. Let’s win some cash, whaddya say?!
