With only a 10-game slate on Monday the options are limited from DRAFT on when you can join your contests. They have two slates to choose from: 10 games (7:05 pm start) and two games (10:07 pm start). Even with the small slate, four of the matchups have an over/under of at least nine total runs. Meaning, offense shouldn’t be hard to come by on Monday.
As for the pitching side of things, there are two teams listed as heavy favorites on Monday: Cleveland (-290) and Houston (-300). Naturally, the starting pitchers on those two teams will lead our rankings.
This article is posted well before lineups are released by the managers. If you have a question, feel free to reach me on Twitter @CharlieSideHstl.
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Pitchers
1. Trevor Bauer, CLE (vs. CWS)
2. Gerrit Cole, HOU (vs. TB)
3. Jacob deGrom, NYM (@ COL)
4. Zack Greinke, ARI (@ LAA)
5. Kenta Maeda, LAD (@ CHC)
6. Andrew Suarez, SF (vs. MIA)
7. Miles Mikolas, STL (@ PHI)
8. Nick Pivetta, PHI (vs. STL)
9. Jaime Barria, LAA (vs. ARI)
10. Jhoulys Chacin, MIL (@ PIT)
We have a tough situation on Monday. Arguably, the best pitcher on the slate is deGrom. However, is he strong enough to sustain a contest at Coors Field? Typically, Vegas gives any matchup in Colorado an over/under of at least ten total runs. For this matchup, the line is 9.5 total runs, with the Mets as slight favorites (-125). In his last ten outings, deGrom has allowed more than one run once. It was a two-run outing. He’s even compiled at least seven strikeouts in six straight performances. Still, Coors Field remains a factor. So, I bump deGrom down to third in my rankings.
Instead of deGrom, Bauer is my top ranked pitcher on the Monday slate. He’s been a strikeout machine this season. Bauer has tallied double-digit punch outs in four consecutive starts (five of the last six games, too). On the down side, he’s allowed at least three earned runs in three of the past four outings, including three runs to the White Sox in his last game. Bauer also produced 12 strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work. The White Sox are fifth in team strikeouts (654) and 26th in runs scored this season (264 runs in 69 games).
Infielders
1. Jose Ramirez, CLE (vs. CWS)
2. Paul Goldschmidt, ARI (@ LAA)
3. Francisco Lindor, CLE (vs. CWS)
4. Jose Altuve, HOU (vs. TB)
5. Edwin Encarnacion, CLE (vs. CWS)
6. Kris Bryant, CHC (vs. LAD)
7. Carlos Correa, HOU (vs. TB)
8. Eric Thames, MIL (@ PIT)
9. Anthony Rizzo, CHC (vs. LAD)
10. Asdrubal Cabrera, NYM (@ COL)
11. Alex Bregman, HOU (vs. TB)
12. Shin-Soo Choo, TEX (@ KC)
13. Todd Frazier, NYM (@ COL)
14. Nolan Arenado, COL (vs. NYM)
15. Jesus Aguilar, MIL (@ PIT)
16. Trevor Story, COL (vs. NYM)
17. Trea Turner, WSH (vs. NYY)
18. Matt Carpenter, STL (@ PHI)
19. Giancarlo Stanton, NYY (@ WSH)
20. Brandon Belt, SF (vs. MIA)
Cleveland leads the slate with a 5.4 implied run total. So, naturally, three of the top five infielders are comprised of Cleveland hitters. Ramirez leads the team with a .302 ISO against right-handed hitters. Lindor leads the team in hits and home runs in the past week. Encarnacion is second on the club with a .264 ISO against righties.
After a lengthy hiatus, Thames is back for the Brew Crew. He broke his hitless slump by belting two home runs on Sunday. He’ll face a Pirates pitcher who has allowed at least three earned runs in five straight starts. Lefties are also batting .278 this season against Trevor Williams (.233 for right-handed hitters).
Outfielders
1. Mike Trout, LAA (vs. ARI)
2. Aaron Judge, NYY (@ WSH)
3. Brandon Nimmo, NYM (@ COL)
4. Michael Brantley, CLE (vs. CWS)
5. George Springer, HOU (vs. TB)
6. Bryce Harper, WSH (vs. NYY)
7. Christian Yelich, MIL (@ PIT)
8. Lorenzo Cain, MIL (@ PIT)
9. Charlie Blackmon, COL (vs. NYM)
10. David Peralta, ARI (@ LAA)
11. Rhys Hoskins, PHI (vs. STL)
12. Tommy Pham, STL (@ PHI)
13. Michael Conforto, NYM (@ COL)
14. Cody Bellinger, LAD (@ CHC)
15. Starling Marte, PIT (vs. MIL)
16. Justin Upton, LAA (vs. ARI)
17. Andrew McCutchen, SF (vs. MIA)
18. Marcell Ozuna, STL (@ PHI)
19. Yasiel Puig, LAD (@ CHC)
20. Joey Gallo, TEX (@ KC)
The Mets travel to Colorado on Monday, so don’t be surprised to see some new faces in the top of the outfield rankings. Nimmo is batting .292 (7-for-24) with two doubles and two home runs in the past week. While he isn’t terrific against left-handed pitchers (.196 AVG) this season, Tyler Anderson is allowing lefties to bat .308 against him this year (.240 for righties).
Even with the fourth-best implied run total on the slate (4.8 runs), Houston is projected as a heavy favorite against Tamp Bay on Monday (-300). I see five runs being the absolute minimum for the Astros. Springer has a .214 ISO against right-handed pitchers since 2017. He’s also batting .305 at home with eight home runs.
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Adam Meyer is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Adam, check out his archive and follow him @CharlieSideHstl.
