After a full weekend of baseball action to open the season, we’re greeted with a nine-game main slate on Monday. We’re starting to get into the back end of most team’s starting rotations so the pitching options are fairly mediocre as all the elite names are missing. However, there is a pair of starters that are priced so low, you can get pretty much any bats you want in your lineup by putting one in your lineups. That’s always fun. Ready? Let’s go!
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Pitcher
Bartolo Colon (TEX): $4,700 @ OAK
Oh yeah! Big Sexy is still with us. He has a good history in pitcher-friendly O.Co Coliseum and faces an A’s team that struck out at a 24.3% clip in 2017. He wasn’t good last year, and he offers low K upside, but he’s dirt cheap and opens up a lot of salary for your roster construction. Expect a quality start, after all, that’s what he did last July in Oakland.
Bryan Mitchell (SD): $5,400 vs. COL
I don’t know a whole lot about Mitchell, but I do know he’s really inexpensive against the worst team against right-handed pitching a year ago. Unless the Rockies have made some major adjustments from 2017, they’ll likely struggle similar to last year and therefore, they’re installed as an underdog for tonight’s game in pitcher-friendly Petco Park.
Other Notables
Hyun-Jin Ryu (LAD): $8,900 @ ARI
Taijuan Walker (ARI): $9,400 VS. LAD
Catcher
Yasmani Grandal (LAD): $3,800 @ ARI
With Justin Turner‘s absence, Grandal is likely to hit 5th in the order against righties. In fact, he’s the only catcher likely to hit higher than 6th in the order for any team. He’s also on the road, so he’ll get more ABs than any other backstop on tonight’s slate, putting his career .210 ISO, .340 wOBA and 117 wRC+ against RHP firmly in play.
Other Notables
Wellington Castillo (CHW): $3,400 @ TOR
First Base
Joey Gallo (TEX): $3,800 @ OAK (also OK eligible)
Gallo put the MLB on notice last year by displaying elite power as he capitalized on Adrian Beltre‘s injury. He offers major upside at a nice price. In fact, his ISO vs. RHP ( .350) nearly matched his wOBA (.364) last year. Aside from mind-blowing power, he’s been hitting in the two-hole lately for the Rangers cementing his status as a great buy.
Other Notables
Justin Smoak (TOR): $3,400 vs. CHW
Second Base
Ozzie Albies (ATL): $3,600 vs. WAS
Albies had a historical debut for the Braves last year, putting himself on a short list of 20-year-old players (or younger) with a 100 wRC+, posting a 112 mark, just ahead of fellow rookie Rafael Devers (111.) Without going through the entire list, just know they’re all Hall Of Fame or career All-Stars. He’s back at it, having gone deep already this season.
Other Notables
Jonathan Schoop (BAL): $3,700 @ HOU
Third Base
Rafael Devers (BOS): $3,700 @ MIA
Speak of the devil, the fellow rookie phenom raked in the minors and gets to face off against a pitcher who has never pitched above AA ball. If you don’t like that angle, you can roll out a guy twice his age with Adrian Beltre. The BoSox however, are projected to score a full run more than the Rangers so I give Devers the slight edge, especially in a stack.
Other Notables
Adrian Beltre (TEX): $3.500 @ OAK
Shortstop
Yangervis Solarte (TOR): $2,900 vs CHW (also 2B eligible)
It’s rough at SS today, however, I’d feel safe “punting” with Solarte against the ChiSox and their atrocious bullpen. He’s a switch-hitting clean-up hitter for less than $3,000…why not take a shot on him? If you need more convincing, he carries a career .332 wOBA and 111 wRC+ versus RHP and Reynaldo Lopez awaits to start things off Monday.
Other Notables
Eduardo Nunez (BOS): $3,600 @ MIA (also 2B eligible)
Outfield
All the Astros!
In addition to a stud like George Springer (HOU) $5,200 vs. BAL, Houston offers some really affordable OF bats in a good spots today versus Chris Tillman who is an equal opportunity gas can. Tillman was abused from both sides of the plate last season as evidenced by his disgusting 7.84 ERA and 5.87 xFIP. He can occasionally have a solid outing, but I wouldn’t expect it against the defending champs after their banner raising ceremony as Houston is heavy (-209) favorite. Therfore, I like the Astros stack a lot and also all three of these against the Orioles:
Josh Reddick $3,300 – Reddick offers a solid value at the top of the order, he should hit right behind the aforementioned Springer.
Derek Fisher $3,100 – Fisher could be a sneaky piece to a wrap-around stack if you choose to get a little contrarian.
Marwin Gonzalez $3,700 – Mar-Gon offers some lineup flexibility by also being 1B eligible, so stack up your Astros, friends!
Other Notables
Manuel Margot (SD): $3,300 vs. COL
Brandon Nimmo (NYM): $3,500 vs. PHI
Avisail Garcia (CHW): $3,800 @ TOR
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Josh Dalley is a DFS correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, follow him on Twitter @JoshDalley72.
