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) – $9,900
This feels like the 45th time that I’ve included Sonny Gray in my Core 4, but he’s in another good spot tonight and he continues to pitch effectively. He draws a decent matchup against the Chicago Cubs, we don’t have an implied run total for this game yet, as we normally don’t on the night before when it comes to Chicago games because of the wind. However, it looks like the wind will be blowing in from right field here which will help these pitchers. The Cubs are striking out at a 23.6% rate on the season while Sonny Gray is sitting at a solid 28.8% against opposing batters. I like the sample size with Gray against the Cubs, as he has faced them four times this season already and is averaging 22.8 Draftkings points per game. This to go along with his 21.1 Draftkings points per game over his last ten, I like Gray a lot here at a sub $10k price tag. 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 <-
Nelson Cruz (OF) – $4,700
Nelson Cruz will draw a matchup with left-handed pitcher Ross Detwiler and the Chicago White Sox. I’m really not sure why Detwiler is priced so high, but that’s beside the point. Cruz draws a great matchup here and is right in the middle of one of my favorite stacks on the slate. Cruz has crushed lefties this year, as he normally does. Against Southpaw’s on the season Cruz has a .691 slugging percentage, .455 wOBA, and a .398 ISO. With an implied run total of 5.2 runs and Detwiler having an era of 6.79 and a bad bullpen behind him, I like the Twins offense on this slate and Nelson Cruz should be an integral part of it.
Samuel Hilliard (OF) – $3,400
Alright, so you may be wondering why I have a guy that is hitting .154 in my core but hear me out. This kid has huge power, he hit 35 home runs in AAA Albuquerque this season before getting the call to the big leagues. We all know how kind Coors Field is to power bats and at $3.4k it’s hard to beat. This game will be very popular, as both sides have an implied run total of over 6 runs. Getting cheap exposure to Coors Field normally comes in the form of Tony Wolters or another punt catcher along those lines, but we have legit upside here with this guy at an incredibly cheap price tag. Not to mention that he is hitting a .257 ISO and has a .429 slugging percentage against righties in the majors this season. I really like Hilliard as a nice value option.
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.
Miguel Sano (3B) – $4,300
We’re going to go right back to that Twins offense to round out the core here. We went cheap with Hilliard and Sano isn’t terribly expensive so you should have a good amount of money to fill the rest of your roster out. Sano will likely hit fifth here for the Twins and makes as a nice correlation play with Nelson Cruz. Sano has been crushing the ball as of late and is averaging 9.2 Draftkings points per game over his last ten and has also homered in two straight games. Not only this but he has hit left-handed pitching very well this season. Against lefties, he has a .568 slugging percentage, .382 wOBA, and a .305 ISO. As I mentioned with Cruz, Detwiler is way overpriced here and is someone that I want to target with bats, load up on Cruz and Sano, along with the rest of the Twins offense. Starting your lineups with these four players gives you $4616 per player to finish your lineup with, which is a pretty nice number that will let you get a solid SP2 or a nice team stack.
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?!