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!
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CORE 4:
Sonny Gray (SP) – $10,600
Similar to yesterday, I’m going to make the Reds pitcher a core play. Last night was Trevor Bauer and currently has not allowed a hit thru four innings as I write this, so I’m feeling pretty good about it. Gray has had a phenomenal season so I’m pretty excited for this cake matchup with the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners have an implied run total of just 3.7 runs here and are not a team that scares me one bit. Seattle has a strikeout rate of 23% on the season against right-handed pitching while Gray has an elite 28.5% k rate this year. Gray has been in great form lately, averaging 21 Draftkings points per game in his last ten games. This is a big ballpark which is the complete opposite of his home park, give me some Sonny Gray in this matchup. 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 <-
Jordan Luplow (OF) – $4,000
We start off the hitter’s portion of tonight’s core with Jordan Luplow. Luplow gets a nice matchup with Dillon Peters tonight, who has struggled this season to say the least. Peters has given up a 43.7% hard contact rate on the season along with a 4.45 era. Not only has Peters been bad, but Luplow absolutely destroys left-handed pitching. He homered last night against lefty Jose Suarez and will look to increase his .634 slugging percentage, .424 wOBA, and .341 ISO against left-handed pitching on the season. I love the Indians in this spot and Luplow is a reasonable enough price for me to really like on this slate.
Jose Altuve (2B) – $5,000
We went cheap at our first core bat, so we can spend a little money at second base here with Jose Altuve. Altuve and the Astros will get a matchup with lefty-handed pitcher, Brett Anderson. Anderson has given up a 40% hard contact rate on the season and runs into a buzzsaw of an offense in the Houston Astros. Altuve is a guy that I love attacking when he is facing a left-handed pitcher. Against lefties this season, Altuve has a .731 slugging percentage, .486 wOBA, and a .365 ISO, these are some insane numbers. Not only this, but he has been very good as of late as well averaging 8.6 Draftkings points per game over his last ten games. Second base can be a tough position to feel great about, but Altuve changes that on this slate.
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.
Yasmani Grandal (C) – $4,400
This may be a first, a catcher as a core play for me. I normally just punt catcher and spend up at other positions, but Grandal is simply just too cheap here. He has been crushing the ball lately, averaging 12.5 Draftkings points per game over his last ten games and has gone for at least 12 Draftkings points in seven of his last eight games. This team lost Christian Yelich for the season last night and will look to another player to lean on, Grandal maybe that guy. He has slightly worse splits against righties on the season, however, he has much more power against them in his career. Over his career, he has 113 home runs against righties and just 26 against righties. With a .365 wOBA against righties this season, I expect his hot streak to continue. Locking him in as a solid catcher option will allow you to focus on the rest of your lineup, I like Grandal a lot tonight.
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?!