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:
Justin Verlander (SP) – $12,400
Alright, so I hate making the highest-priced pitcher our core pitching option, but the truth is you’re going to want to start your cash games with him and don’t look back. He’s coming off of a no-hitter in which he scored 61.7 Draftkings points and is averaging 34.3 Draftkings points per game in his last ten games. The form is hard to argue right now, but he also gets a phenomenal matchup with the Seattle Mariners who have an implied run total of just 2.9 runs here in Houston. As you should know by now, strikeouts are king in DFS when selecting a pitcher and there should be no shortage of them here. The Mariners are striking out at a 24.7% rate on the season to go along with Verlander’s elite strikeout rate of 35.1%. He’s expensive and will be popular, but we will try and get different with some value guys in the rest of the core, but this is a spot where I’m just plugging him in and moving on. Nilly’s Carnage Report is something that I love using when selecting my pitchers and look who’s at the top… Mr. Verlander and it’s really not close.
-> NILLY’S CARNAGE REPORT <-
Eric Hosmer (1B) – $4,100
We’re going to have to go a little cheaper with the core than usual today because we have a $12k pitcher leading the way, but that’s alright there are plenty of options including Eric Hosmer. Hosmer gets a matchup with Jeff Hoffman in tonight’s game. Hoffman is giving up a hard contact percentage of 37.1% on the season and has a 7.35 era on the season, so he’s a guy I will look to get hitters against. Hosmer is on the right side of lefty/righty splits here as he has hit right-handed pitching extremely well this season. Against righties, he has a .524 slugging percentage, .377 wOBA, and a .211 ISO. He’s averaging 7.5 Draftkings points per game over his last ten games, so he’s in good form. At a very reasonable price, I like getting to Hosmer here.
Corey Seager (SS) – $4,000
We continue our search for mid-range “value” here with Corey Seager. Seager will likely hit in the top half of the order for this Los Angeles Dodgers team that draws a matchup with Tyler Beede and the Giants. The Dodgers are one of my favorite stacks on the slate and have an implied run total of 5.8 runs here. Beede is giving up a massive hard contact percentage of 46.4% this season and Seager is hitting right-handed pitching very well. Against righties on the season, Seager has a .502 slugging percentage, a .357 wOBA, and a .230 ISO compared to his .326 slugging percentage, .288 wOBA, and .092 ISO against lefties. He clearly is hitting far better against right-handed pitching and will see a pretty bad one here. This offense has been clicking on all cylinders and normally goes under-owned at home, Pollock may get some ownership tonight because he went nuts last night, we will get different and go with Seager at a very nice price point.
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.
Nicholas Castellanos (OF) – $4,600
Alright, so we’re going to spend a little money here for Castellanos. I normally go super cheap with the last piece of the core but with two low $4k pieces paired with Verlander, we will have room for Castellanos especially with rosters expanding there will be some value guys we can jam in later. As a Brewers fan, it hurts me to have Castellanos in my core, but the truth is he’s crushing the ball for the Cubs and more importantly, against the Brewers. He homered again last night to give him three on the year against Milwaukee and is averaging 11.4 Draftkings points per game in his last ten games, the guy is white-hot. Not only this, but he gets a matchup with a left-handed pitcher, which he has destroyed this season. Against lefties, on the year he has a .647 slugging percentage, .446 wOBA, and a .293 ISO. Miller Park is susceptible to home run balls and Castellanos has been crushing, I like him a good deal 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?!
