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!
I just want to give a quick shoutout to BoomersDaddy for the Gio Urshela core call last night, the man ended with 39 Draftkings points at sub 10% ownership! —-> Coaches Notes/Player Picks
Core 4:
Aaron Nola (SP) – $10,600
Nola has been a bit up and down this year but has been great as of late. Over his last three games, he has at least 21 Draftkings points in each of them and is averaging 23.82 Draftkings points over his last ten games. He gets to travel to San Francisco here to take on the Giants who have an implied run total of just 3.8. This ballpark is a pitchers dream because of the size of it and to help his cause he gets a nice matchup with a below-average offense. The Giants are striking out at a 23% rate on the season to go along with Nola’s 26.9% k rate. Strikeouts are king when it comes to selecting pitchers for DFS and this matchup has a lot of them in it. Aaron Nola is a core play for me and likely my SP1 on both Draftkings and FanDuel. 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 <-
J.D. Martinez (OF) – $5,300
Yes, he’s expensive. But any time J.D. draws a matchup with a lefty I will sure be interested. Against lefties on the season he has an insane .837 slugging percentage, .525 wOBA, and .452 ISO, I mean these numbers are just off the charts. Not only does he get matched up with a lefty, but is playing in his home ballpark where home runs are fairly easy to come by. Speaking of home runs, J.D. homered last night to give him double-digit fantasy outings in three of his last four and four of his last six. Dillon Peters throws a 91 mph fastball about 48% of the time to right-handed pitching and J.D. has a .462 ISO, and a .631 xwOBA against similar pitches. There really isn’t much more to be said here, J.D. is a great hitter and tears up lefties. This is a great spot for J.D. and I will do my absolute best to find the money to get him in my lineup.
Aaron Judge (OF) – $4,500
This is more of a pricing play more than anything. This is simply too cheap for the upside that Judge provides. He is one of the cheaper bats in the Yankees lineup which just does not sound right. The Yankees have an implied run total of 6.2 here in Toronto and Judge will likely be hitting second in this stacked lineup. So, he’s cheap (ish) considering his talent, is in the top of the order, against a bad pitcher, in a lineup with an implied run total over 6, what else could you ask for? Oh, and the pitcher is a lefty, who he absolutely crushes. Against lefties this season Judge has a .620 slugging percentage, .467 wOBA, and a .282 ISO. Thomas Pannone has given up at least four earned runs in three of his last four starts and I suspect that continues here tonight, give me some Aaron Judge here.
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.
Jose Peraza (2B/SS) – $2,900
You’re probably reading this and thinking… JOSE PERAZA?! Well here me out, I always like to provide a nice cheap option as the final spot into the Core 4 especially when I have an expensive pitcher and two expensive bats as the other three pieces. Peraza will likely be hitting six or seven in this Reds lineup tonight, but it is a home game meaning a small ballpark that isn’t great at containing fly balls. Peraza does have some pop in his bat and is able to put one over the fence every once in a while. Not only this but he has some speed too when it comes to cheap guys I look for a number of ways that he could possibly get to value, and Peraza certainly has a few. The matchup against Cole Hamels looks like a tough one on the surface, but Peraza actually has a small amount of BvP here. In his career against Hamels, Peraza is hitting 4-9 with a home run. With a .353 wOBA and a .472 slugging percentage against lefties this season, I’m willing to take the discount and get me some cheap upside 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?!
