With the Marlins and Braves playing a doubleheader on Monday, we’re forced to look at the first game and ignore the second one, if you want to use them on DRAFT. There are three time slots to play on Monday: 1:35 pm EST start (10 games), 7:05 pm EST start (nine games), and 10:05 pm EST (three games).
Removing the late MIA/ATL game, we have five games with an over/under of at least nine total runs. The ARI/TEX matchup leads the way at 10 projected runs on Monday night. As for pitching, only two teams are considered heavy favorites (-200 odds, or greater) according to Vegas: Dodgers and Yankees. Their pitchers will certainly top our rankings on Monday.
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. Clayton Kershaw, LAD (vs. SF)
2. Luis Severino, NYY (vs. NYM)
3. Zack Greinke, ARI (@ TEX)
4. Andrew Heaney, LAA (@ SD)
5. Jacob deGrom, NYM (@ NYY)
6. Mike Clevinger, CLE (@ CIN)
7. Madison Bumgarner, SF (@ LAD)
8. Sean Manaea, OAK (vs. SEA)
9. Miles Mikolas, STL (vs. WSH)
10. Marco Gonzales, SEA (@ @ OAK)
King Kershaw returns to his throne on Monday night as his Dodgers host the Giants in an NL West rivalry matchup. Kershaw has allowed two earned runs, or less, in eight of the last nine starts. While Kershaw only K’d one batter in his last outing, he’s tallied at least seven punch outs in three of the last five appearances. In his career, Kershaw has dominated the Giants. He’s 22-10 with a 1.60 ERA and 320 strikeouts in 310.1 innings of work against San Francisco.
Getting those all-important four points for a win are crucial in your DRAFT contests. The presence of Kershaw bumps Bumgarner down. Also, Severino on the mound hinders the value of deGrom. Enter Heaney. Even though he’s allowed at least three earned runs in three consecutive outings, Heaney will face the Padres in pitcher-friendly Petco Park on Monday night. Heaney has notched at least five strikeouts in six of the past seven contests. San Diego is third in team strikeouts (1,117) and 26th in runs scored (455 runs in 119 games) this season.
Infielders
1. Jose Ramirez, CLE (@ CIN)
2. Francisco Lindor, CLE (@ CIN)
3. Matt Carpenter, STL (vs. WSH)
4. Rougned Odor, TEX (vs. ARI)
5. Freddie Freeman, ATL (vs. MIA)
6. Trea Turner, WSH (@ STL)
7. Ozzie Albies, ATL (vs. MIA)
8. Paul Goldschmidt, ARI (@ TEX)
9. Khris Davis, OAK (vs. SEA)
10. Eduardo Escobar, ARI (@ TEX)
11. Jose Martinez, STL (vs. WSH)
12. Whit Merrifield, KC (vs. TOR)
13. Jose Abreu, CWS (@ DET)
14. Manny Machado, LAD (vs. SF)
15. Joey Votto, CIN (vs. CLE)
16. Justin Smoak, TOR (@ KC)
17. Paul DeJong, STL (vs. WSH)
18. Kike Hernandez, LAD (vs. SF)
19. Christian Villanueva, SD (vs. LAA)
20. Nelson Cruz, SEA (@ OAK)
Now that the starting pitchers have been established for the MIA/ATL doubleheader, we can confirm that the Braves lead the slate in their second game for MIA/ATL (5.6 implied runs). However, we won’t be able to use that matchup on DRAFT. Have no fear as the Braves are also the third-highest implied run total for their early game (5.3 projected runs). Both Freeman and Albies are in the top seven for our infield rankings. In the past week, Freeman is 10-for-26 (.385) with five doubles (four walks). He’s tallied at least one hit in 14-straight games.
As I mentioned before, Arizona is second to Atlanta in terms of implied run total. We have two DBacks in our top-10 infield rankings on Monday night. Goldschmidt is 10-for-28 (.357) with four doubles and two home runs in the past seven days. He’ll face Bartolo Colon on Monday. Colon has allowed at least four earned runs in four straight starts. In Goldy’s career, he’s 4-for-14 (.286) with three extra-base hits against Colon.
Outfielders
1. Mike Trout, LAA (@ SD)
2. David Peralta, ARI (@ TEX)
3. Michael Brantley, CLE (@ CIN)
4. Bryce Harper, WSH (@ STL)
5. A.J. Pollock, ARI (@ TEX)
6. Nick Markakis, ATL (vs. MIA)
7. Ronald Acuna Jr., ATL (vs. MIA)
8. Mitch Haniger, SEA (@ OAK)
9. Shin-Soo Choo, TEX (vs. ARI)
10. Joey Gallo, TEX (vs. ARI)
11. Juan Soto, WSH (@ STL)
12. Justin Upton, LAA (@ SD)
13. Randal Grichuk, TOR (@ KC)
14. Teoscar Hernandez, TOR (@ KC)
15. Curtis Granderson, TOR (@ KC)
16. Adam Eaton, WSH (@ STL)
17. Yasiel Puig, LAD (vs. SF)
18. Brandon Nimmo, NYM (@ NYY)
19. Mark Canha, OAK (vs. SEA)
20. Harrison Bader, STL (vs. WSH)
Goldschmidt might be the most popular Diamondback, but Peralta has had the better bat in the past week. Peralta is 12-for-27 (.444) with one double, one triple, and four home runs in the past seven days. Peralta has also homered in back-to-back contests.
The only bat hotter than Peralta’s, who’s also playing on Monday, is Markakis. In the past week, Markakis is 12-for-27 (.444) with four doubles, one triple, and one home run. While he has an eight-game hitting streak, Markakis has also notched at least two hits in three of the last four contests.
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Adam Meyer is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Adam, check out his archive and follow him @CharlieSideHstl.
