Johnny Cueto has a great matchup Monday against his former team
We have a nice mid-sized, 10-game slate on DraftKings today. There are a few powerhouse offenses like Toronto and Colorado on the docket, but for the majority, we have a lot of weak-hitting teams which will benefit the starting pitchers. Let’s get right into looking at how I constructed my roster for today.
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Pitchers
Johnny Cueto (SF): $10,800 @ CIN
This will be a homecoming of sorts for Cueto, as he is coming back to the city where he started his career. Cueto has never pitched as an opponent at Great American Ballpark. Cueto has a career 2.91 ERA in 98 starts at Great American Ballpark. He obviously faced an array of opponents over the years and still managed to have an ERA under 3.00. In this matchup, he faces a pretty weak Reds’ offense who he should be able to dominate. They don’t score a lot of runs, they don’t walk a lot, and they strike out at a decent clip. Also, most of the Reds’ hitters are righties, so Cueto really has the best matchup of the day.
Dallas Keuchel (HOU): $9,900 vs MIN
I really don’t care that Keuchel is coming off two really sub-par, even terrible, starts. His ground ball rate is just too good to not like here. The Twins also strikeout at an alarming rate which will help Keuchel rack up the fantasy points. I’m pretty confident in Keuchel here, despite the Twins being filled with mainly righties. In his one start against Minnesota last season, Keuchel got the win over eight innings while allowing three runs.
Also Consider:
- Nathan Karns (SEA): $7,600
- Edinson Volquez (KC): $7,300
Catchers
Jason Castro (HOU): $2,800 vs MIN
I like to punt a lot with my catcher’s position, and that’s exactly what I’m doing here. The only catcher who is in a premium matchup is Posey, but I just don’t like paying that much for him. Castro gets to face a guy in Jose Berrios who is making is second MLB start. You’re really not sure what you’re going to get here. If the Astros’ top hitters hit him hard, Castro could see a few at-bats against an inexperienced pitcher with the opportunity to drive in runs.
Also Consider:
- Buster Posey (SF): $4,400
- Francisco Cervelli (PIT): $3,100
First Base
John Jaso (PIT): $3,100 vs CHC
I hate the fact that Jaso has hit home runs in back-to-back games, mainly for the fact that he will probably be highly owned today. It is somewhat of a tough matchup against Jason Hammel, but Hammel has been playing way above his career averages, so I’m expecting regression at some point. Against a pesky Pittsburgh lineup, with Jaso leading things off, I think Hammel could get hit hard in this one. Jaso’s price tag is just too low to pass up on with a guy who is the leadoff hitter of a strong offense.
Also Consider:
- Anthony Rizzo (CHC): $4,400
- Lucas Duda (NYM): $4,000
Second Base
Jose Altuve (HOU): $5,000 vs MIN
After watching Jose Berrios’ first start, it was evident that he can’t hold runners on at all. His delivery is so slow to the plate that if he allows the top three Astros to get on base, he could be in a lot of trouble due to their speed. I like Altuve because he’s the table setter for this offense and has been on fire of late. He’s displayed a lot of power with seven home runs, but he is still hitting over .300 on the season and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Also Consider:
- Neil Walker (NYM): $4,100
- Daniel Murphy (WAS): $4,000
Third Base
Josh Donaldson (TOR): $4,500 vs TEX
I’m really not sure what DraftKings was thinking with A.J. Griffin’s price. Due to his high $9,200 price, the algorithm has really lowered a lot of the Toronto bats, who probably should be at least a couple hundred more. I know at $4,500 Donaldson is still considered “expensive,” but I will take that price for Donaldson everyday. He has been so consistent as a DFS player this season, whether it’s hitting home runs or just collecting a few hits, he’s been fantastic. I really think Griffin is due for some serious regression, and it’s a terrible matchup for him.
Also Consider:
- Matt Duffy (SF): $4,000
- Adrian Beltre (TEX): $3,600
Shortstop
Alcides Escobar (KC): $3,100 vs WAS
This is more of a punt play. There really aren’t too many shortstops I like, so I decided to drop down to Escobar who leads off for the Royals. He’s been pretty bad this year, but I’m really not expecting much. It’s an okay matchup with the lefty Gio Gonzalez, but Gonzalez is throwing well right now. I really focused on pitching and a few big bats for this Monday slate, so I had to sacrifice some offense here.
Also Consider:
- Carlos Correa (HOU): $4,200
- Asdrubal Cabrera (NYM): $3,300
Outfield
Michael Saunders (TOR): $3,300 vs TEX
I love that Saunders now leads off for the Blue Jays. As I stated earlier, Griffin has a good chance of getting rocked in this matchup. I know the Toronto bats were a little quiet over the weekend, but that was at Tropicana Field. Back at Rogers Centre, I think things are going to be very different for them. Saunders is still hitting over .300 on the season. Before his two-game hitless stretch, he recorded hits in eight of his past nine games.
Dexter Fowler (CHC): $3,900 @ PIT
Fowler has been playing at a $4,500 level this season on DraftKings. His price is down here because of the matchup against Gerrit Cole. Cole has pitched pretty well this year, but his strikeouts are down and his walks are up. Against this Cubs team, that’s not going to end well. Fowler has been hot, collecting at least one hit in eight of his past 10 games. Fowler doesn’t have good career numbers against Cole, but I’m not sure that this is the same Cole we saw last season, despite currently having a lower ERA.
Charlie Blackmon (COL): $3,600 @ SD
I feel like almost all my hitters are leadoff today, which is for good reason. Being able to roster a leadoff hitter gives you more opportunities for something to happen, as well as more at-bats. At-bats are critical in DFS, and if you’re able to snag extra ones, good things will happen. With that said, I love Blackmon in this spot just because he’s performing so well. Blackmon has had three straight double-digit fantasy point games on DraftKings since returning from an injury. The injury really lowered his price tag. In addition, because this game is at Petco Park, his price is even less than usual.
Also Consider:
- Bryce Harper (WAS): $5,100
- Hunter Pence (SF): $4,800
- Jose Bautista (TOR): $4,100
- Billy Burns (OAK): $3,900
- Colby Rasmus (HOU): $3,800
My Lineup
- SP-Johnny Cueto
- SP-Dallas Keuchel
- C-Jason Castro
- 1B-John Jaso
- 2B-Jose Altuve
- 3B-Josh Donaldson
- SS-Alcides Escobar
- OF-Michael Saunders
- OF-Dexter Fowler
- OF-Charlie Blackmon
Check out our DraftKings MLB Lineup Optimizer
Nick Tasso is a correspondent at FantasyPros. Find his other work at FantasyPros here. He also contributes to Daily Fantasy Cafe. Follow him on Twitter @theinefficient2.
