After the standalone, early-afternoon — really, morning — contest, Monday has a nice, 6-game set for the main slate. It actually was a 7-game slate, but the Minnesota Twins have already postponed their third consecutive game due to COVID-related issues. Most DFS sites will either exclude this game entirely or indicate that the players will not accrue fantasy points, but obviously, make sure to not use anyone from the Twins or Athletics on Monday.
Otherwise, we have a group of pitchers on the mound without any clear “ace.” That doesn’t mean someone won’t pitch like one, but it will likely lead to people prioritizing bats over arms. That is, as long as the pricing allows. Keep this in mind as you read through the remainder of this article. There is an edge to be found in how we can expect most people to build their lineups, but it varies by DFS website.
Check out today’s MLB Grand Slam contest at FanDuel 
After the standalone, early-afternoon — really, morning — contest, Monday has a nice, 6-game set for the main slate. It actually was a 7-game slate, but the Minnesota Twins have already postponed their third consecutive game due to COVID-related issues. Most DFS sites will either exclude this game entirely or indicate that the players will not accrue fantasy points, but obviously, make sure to not use anyone from the Twins or Athletics on Monday.
Otherwise, we have a group of pitchers on the mound without any clear “ace.” That doesn’t mean someone won’t pitch like one, but it will likely lead to people prioritizing bats over arms. That is, as long as the pricing allows. Keep this in mind as you read through the remainder of this article. There is an edge to be found in how we can expect most people to build their lineups, but it varies by DFS website.
Check out today’s MLB Grand Slam contest at FanDuel
Monday’s Starting Pitcher Strategy
The starting pitching discussion begins and ends with Joe Musgrove on Monday. Why? Because he is not only the most expensive pitcher on the slate but also now one game removed from throwing his no-hitter. This is important because Musgrove was an “easy sell” in the game that immediately followed his historic outing, and he will now almost certainly be one of the top targets. I’m buying, as well, but just note that his popularity will be through the roof.
In terms of team matchups, however, Dylan Bundy is the pitcher to consider. He will face a Texas Rangers team with the highest strikeout rate of any squad playing on Monday and one of the lowest team averages for runs-per-game. It’s the perfect combination and, while sports rarely follow a set script, we can’t ignore this setup. He’s a cornerstone for me, where I will use Bundy as both a standalone pitcher in FanDuel and one of my two pitchers in DraftKings.
The other half of the pair is a bit trickier to fill. Not surprisingly, most of the lower-priced options carry too much risk for my liking, but using one is a necessity — especially since I’m paying up for my SP1. According to the matchups, I’ll simply lean on the pitchers with the best strikeout potential — and rotate through the likes of Danny Duffy and Kevin Gausman. If money allows, I will also use Dustin May.
Cash Game Recommendations: Joe Musgrove, Dylan Bundy
GPP Recommendations: Joe Musgrove, Dylan Bundy, Dustin May, Danny Duffy, Kevin Gausman
View the best player prop bets for today’s slate with our MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Top Lineup Stacks:
Angels
Giants
Cardinals
It’s not the first time — and it certainly won’t be the last — but it was more difficult to come up with “Core Studs” for Monday than anything else. This is clearly due to the teams I am stacking, where there are plenty of less expensive options on each. For the fantasy dollar, I am gravitating toward the “Value Plays.” With that, Mike Trout and Tommy Edman are two of the core players for me.
I mentioned how much more I liked the “Value Plays” than the “Core Studs,” and it’s largely due to the aforementioned stacks. With only six games on the slate, targeting three different teams gives us the ability to grab pieces of offense from half of the matchups. As long as the listed players start, we have an inexpensive exposure to the same offenses I would target via studs.
Monday’s Hitter Strategy
There was an undeniable discrepancy between building a lineup on DraftKings compared to building on FanDuel for Monday. Because of pricing, it was much easier to fill my FanDuel lineup with top hitters than on DraftKings — where I actually had to dip more into the “Value Plays.”
As I mentioned in both the introduction and “Pitcher Strategy” section, this also leads to an edge. Based on your preferred DFS website, the roster requirements — two starting pitchers on DraftKings and one on FanDuel — allows us to loosely project the common plan-of-attack. On DraftKings, starting with Musgrove and a mid-to-low-priced SP2 is fine, but the hitters’ salaries are elevated. The edge there is in either fading Musgrove — and going all-out with hitters — or leaning heavily on the “Value Plays” with Musgrove as I am. On FanDuel, Musgrove does not prohibit the use of a fairly expensive lineup, which means that essentially any pitcher is fair game — if the most expensive one doesn’t limit you, then none will. If Musgrove is your top target, start him in FanDuel and comfortably fill your roster with solid hitters.
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Mario Mergola is a featured writer at FantasyPros and BettingPros and the creator and content editor of Sporfolio. For more from Mario, check out his archive and follow him @MarioMergola.
