We’ve got a 10-game featured slate this Monday night on DraftKings, which is pretty hefty for a Monday, which can at times be slim due to MLB travel days. There are some lower totals on the slate tonight as four games have an O/U lower than eight. SEA @ BAL and SD @ TEX are expected to be the two highest scoring games, each with a 9.5 O/U, and NYY @ PHI slots in behind it with a 9 O/U. On a slate like this with a lot of games, but a lot of low scoring expected, we want to focus on the few good hitting environments. The hitting options are deceptively shallow.
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Pitchers
Blake Snell (TB): $10,100 vs. WAS
Snell takes on the Washington Nationals, who have been surprisingly bad against left-handed pitching this season. They have a .302 wOBA, 87 wRC+, and 22.4% strikeout rate versus southpaws. Granted, many key Washington hitters have missed time on the disabled list, but this has still been a team that hasn’t lived up to their name value. Snell has been unreal at home, with a 0.96 ERA and 3.88 K/BB ratio at Tropicana Field this season. The Nationals don’t fall in the category of a cakewalk matchup, but Snell’s price on DraftKings overestimates their strength against left-handed pitching.
We’ve got a 10-game featured slate this Monday night on DraftKings, which is pretty hefty for a Monday, which can at times be slim due to MLB travel days. There are some lower totals on the slate tonight as four games have an O/U lower than eight. SEA @ BAL and SD @ TEX are expected to be the two highest scoring games, each with a 9.5 O/U, and NYY @ PHI slots in behind it with a 9 O/U. On a slate like this with a lot of games, but a lot of low scoring expected, we want to focus on the few good hitting environments. The hitting options are deceptively shallow.
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Pitchers
Blake Snell (TB): $10,100 vs. WAS
Snell takes on the Washington Nationals, who have been surprisingly bad against left-handed pitching this season. They have a .302 wOBA, 87 wRC+, and 22.4% strikeout rate versus southpaws. Granted, many key Washington hitters have missed time on the disabled list, but this has still been a team that hasn’t lived up to their name value. Snell has been unreal at home, with a 0.96 ERA and 3.88 K/BB ratio at Tropicana Field this season. The Nationals don’t fall in the category of a cakewalk matchup, but Snell’s price on DraftKings overestimates their strength against left-handed pitching.
Jameson Taillon (PIT): $7,900 vs. NYM
Taillon faces the New York Mets, who have a .648 OPS as a team in June and a .311 wOBA as a team all season against right-handed pitching. Taillon has had his share of ups-and-downs this season, but since debuting a new slider in late May Taillon has a 3.16 ERA, 3.01 FIP, and 5.0 K/BB ratio. He’s also increased his strikeout rate to 23.6% in that span, which would be the highest of his career. Tonight he gets a favorable matchup in pitcher-friendly PNC Park. He’s the go-to SP2 tonight.
Other Notables:
Seth Lugo (NYM): $7,100 @ PIT
Catcher
Austin Hedges (SD): $3,000 @ TEX
We should be looking at cheap catchers tonight, and Hedges fits the bill against lefty Cole Hamels. Hedges has missed a lot of time with injury this season and just came back yesterday, but last season had a power breakout as he smacked 18 home runs with a .183 ISO in 417 plate appearances. He gets a positive park shift in Arlington and faces lefty Cole Hamels, who has surrendered 18 home runs so far this season, second-most in the majors.
Other Notables:
Mike Zunino (SEA): $3,400 @ BAL
Robinson Chirinos (TEX): $3,300 vs. SD
First Base
Yonder Alonso (CLE): $3,900 @ STL
Alonso gives us a cheap power bat against John Gant, who has struggled as a starter during his career. Gant owns a 5.26 ERA, 4.15 FIP, and 2.2 K/BB ratio in twelve career starts. The Indians are a tough team to stack as a whole tonight, both because their big hitters are prohibitively expensive and because Gant has a 2.61 FIP and has only allowed one home run this season. Gant has a track record of poor pitching, but he’s been good enough that I don’t want to go all-in on the Indians tonight, especially on the road without a DH in a pitcher’s park like Busch Stadium. Alonso gives us some exposure without breaking the bank.
Other Notables:
Ryon Healy (SEA): $4,100 @ BAL
Second Base
Dee Gordon (SEA): $4,300 @ BAL
The Mariners are the team I’m looking to stack tonight as they take on Andrew Cashner in Baltimore. Cashner has been atrocious this season with a 4.72 ERA, 5.01 FIP, and 1.88 K/BB ratio in 14 starts. He’s also given up 13 home runs in 76.1 innings. Gordon obviously doesn’t have home run power, but he’s the Mariners’ leadoff hitter and is always a threat to steal a base. He can run on Caleb Joseph too, who has caught just 26% of base stealers over the last two seasons.
Other Notables:
Jonathan Schoop (BAL): $3,400 vs. SEA
Jose Pirela (SD): $3,100 @ TEX
Third Base
Kyle Seager (SEA): $4,100 @ BAL
Seager is just another Mariner to play against Cashner, and against right-handed pitching, Seager is hitting .267 with an .801 OPS and .191 ISO for his career. Seager is relatively cheap given the matchup and park shift and should have plenty of opportunities as the Mariners’ No. 5 hitter tonight.
Other Notables:
Adrian Beltre (TEX): $4,300 vs. SD
Christian Villanueva (SD): $3,800 @ TEX
Shortstop
Elvis Andrus (TEX): $4,200 vs. SD
The Rangers are in a good spot against lefty Joey Lucchesi on Monday. Lucchesi must leave the friendly confines of Petco Park and enter the hitter’s paradise known as Globe Life Park. In his last six starts, Lucchesi has a 5.60 ERA, 7.20 FIP, and has allowed nine home runs. Andrus has been hitting second for the Rangers and has handled left-handed pitchers well throughout his career with a .287 AVG and .776 OPS.
Other Notables:
Jean Segura (SEA): $4,900 @ BAL
Manny Machado (BAL): $5,000 vs. SEA
Outfield
Nelson Cruz (SEA): $5,200 @ BAL
Mitch Haniger (SEA): $4,900 @ BAL
These two are the heart of our Seattle stack, and they pair nicely as high-end options together. Cashner has been throwing softballs to right-handed batters this season, and righties have smoked him for a .331 AVG, .946 OPS, and .405 wOBA this season. Cruz is among the hottest hitters in baseball right now. Over the last seven days, Nelson Cruz is hitting .481 with four home runs and a 1.533 OPS. Haniger fits in behind him and has already tied a career high with 16 home runs and has a career-best .231 ISO this season.
Lonnie Chisenhall (CLE): $3,300 @ STL
Chisenhall has been crushing the ball since his return from the disabled list. Since he came back on June 5th Chisenhall is hitting .341 with a .875 OPS and 144 wRC+. Chisenhall is another cheaper Indian to give us exposure against John Gant without devoting too much of our salary. He’s usually hitting sixth behind Alonso, so those two are a good pair to have in our lineup.
Other Notables:
Michael Brantley (CLE): $4,600 @ STL
Wil Myers (SD): $4,500 @ TEX
Hunter Renfroe (SD): $3,600 @ TEX
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Elliott Baas is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Elliott, check out his archive and follow him @elliottbaasbb.
