The week begins with a relatively quiet Monday evening seven game slate. On this slate we will not be seeing the Braves and Mets playing their double-header up in New York but we will feature games in Soto Bank Park, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Kauffman Stadium, Target Field, Angels Stadium and T-Mobile Park which sounded way cooler when it was SafeCo Field and honestly begs the question who decided that it was no longer a Park and should be re-named to a field? This is up there with the Texas Rangers decision to go from Globe Life Field to Globe Life Park, or was it the other way around? Ah, who cares. But for those keeping score at home it’s a 3 Park, 2 Field, 2 Stadium 3-2-2 PFS slate. So maybe the optimal hitter combination tonight is 3-2-2? Show me another award winning article that can give you that kind of insight and analysis…
WEATHER
All clear again and as I said on Saturday night, let’s enjoy it.
I will start off by saying there is not a single pitcher today that I am totally on board with.
German Marquez
One of the pitchers who has some trade rumors surrounding him is Marquez, but I honestly think the Rockies will be smart to hold onto Marquez as someone who knows how to pitch in Coors and also gives them a nice 1-2 punch with Austin Gomber. So with the thinking Marquez is clear to go, he has to be considered near the top tonight against a really bad and struggling Angels lineup which couldn’t even do much against the weak Twins pitching over the weekend.
- If you are concerned with Marquez being scratched due to trade/protection then DO NOT game stack him with Ohtani, because you would then just pivot over to Ohtani as one of your pitchers. Otherwise you’re gonna need to leave $ on the table to get to Garcia.
Luis Garcia
Garcia could get overlooked tonight with a five figure price tag, but he’s going to pitch very well against the playing really well Seattle Mariners and I expect a good amount of run support as the Astros lineup is one of the better spots tonight. So a win + 6 innings and limited damage makes him one of our 3 pitchers today.
Shohei Ohtani
Should be very popular against the Rockies given that Colorado is away from Coors here. Ohtani’s main problem pitching is mostly with walks and the Rockies lineup isn’t extremely disciplined at the plate, however they do have a relatively low K% split vs his pitch type usage so with Marquez in the same game I would much rather go there as an SP1, but a game stack of pitchers is certainly in play. There’s a lot of risk elsewhere in pitching tonight so I don’t mind eating average chalk.
White Sox
Abreu, Eloy, Moncada, Anderson
Eloy Jimenez is returning from the dead, rejoice! Unfortunately, DraftKings still thinks that he is dead as they’ve kept him at $2,500 and along with $2,600 Andrew Vaughn you have enough value to then just lock in Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu to have what to me is one of the best upside stacks we’ll see in a while. Mike Minor has no shot getting through this lineup twice.
Blue Jays
Springer, Vlad, Bichette, Teoscar
Toronto is returning home later this week but before they go back to Canada, they’re going to their real home in America which is Fenway Park. Springer as long as he continues to hit lead off should continue to be looked at with the Vlad protection behind him. Vlad and Bichette meanwhile completely own Pivetta and Bo has really been locked in the last two days.
Tigers
Candelario, Grossman, Schoop, Miggy
Michael Pineda as documented here has been horrific since they officially started cracking down on external substances and given his history we know that’s the case. Yada, yada, yada, now teams are looking to trade for him? Hahah. So basically once he gets into trouble tonight the Twins management is gonna call down and yell to get his ass off the field ASAP and we’ll have a complete dissarray out of their bullpen vs the Tigers line-up which before a series in KC was hitting fairly well. The Tigers are going to go nuclear in my mind in a really warm and windy Target Field tonight. Minimum 3 HR from Detroit.
Astros
Correa, Alvarez, Tucker, Altuve
Houston is the sleeper team today. Yes, they are facing a young kid which should be obvious but I feel with the other spots available tonight many will overlook one of the best offenses and road teams in Baseball vs a minor leaguer. For the “due” crowd, Carlos Correa is mired in something like a 1-50 slump right now, but has historically hit well up in Seattle and could use a get right game against a minor leaguer.
Teams/Games I recommend avoiding …
- Reds vs Cubs – Contreras (C) and India (2B) are the best plays at weak positions, but otherwise this game is one I am not going on heavy, neither offense looks great to me here but I’m also not in love with the pitching.
- Royals – They had their wins over the weekend and should get back to losing
- Twins – No, but Manning probably has his short leash game tonight, so we’re not on him either.
CATCHER
Considering it’s Monday this is about as bleak of a night for catcher options. If some deep value opens up then take it.
- Willson Contreras
- Alejandro Kirk
- Tucker Barnhardt
FIRST BASE
This along with SS are the top positions for use in UTIL on FD today. No brainer use a 1B in the C/1B spot and my lean is Abreu/Miggy/Yuli as your contrarian picks off Vlad who is basically like Trout right now and we’re not gonna mention him every single day.
- Jose Abreu
- Miguel Cabera
- Yuli Gurriel
SECOND BASE
- Harold Castro
- Jonathan India
- Close your eyes, count to 10 and pick someone. It’s a horrible position.
THIRD BASE
- Jeimer Candelario – Has fantastic pitch type #’s against Pineda’s profile.
- Hunter Dozier
- Alec Bohm
SHORTSTOP
- Bo Bichette
- Tim Anderson – Royal killer and playing better of late. Would be the guy to set the table for Chicago tonight so if you are using Anderson it’s within a stack most likely.
- Trea Turner – Always a threat to steal Soto’s thunder in Philly.
OUTFIELD – Mt Rushmore
- Juan Soto – His park.
- Andrew Vaughn
- George Springer
- Kyle Tucker
OUTFIELD – Tier 2
- Yordan Alvarez
- Jarren Duran
- Robbie don’t call me Rex Grossman
- Teoscar Hernandez – His park, but Pivetta isn’t ideal matchup.
OUTFIELD – Value
- Jorge Soler – Gonna turn it on now that the season is almost over, swinging really well and his timing is clearly there. Good as a one off.
- Michael Brantley
- Eloy Jimenez – He’s back. Had rehab stints and was crushing. Expect chalk but Vaughn safer play.
The Dongers Club
- Juan Soto – OF – Nationals – Chairman of the Dongers Club
- Hunter Dozier – 3B – Royals
- Kyle Tucker – OF – Astros
- Miguel Cabrera – 1B – Tigers
- Andrew Vaughn – OF – White Sox
- Willson Contreras – C – Cubs
- Jonathan India – 2B – Reds
- Bo Bichette – SS – Blue Jays
- BONUS ………….. Jeimer Candelario – 3B – Tigers
BETS
- Blue Jays ML
- White Sox ML
- Tigers ML
HR Parlay
- Soto / Candelario / Vaughn
The Chalkiest Stacks
Boston, Toronto, Minnesota (LOL)
Good Teams Getting Overlooked
Chicago White Sox
Best Leverage Play against Chalk
Tigers
Favorite DK Pitching Combinations
Marquez and Ohtani
FAVORITE HITTERS
Soto
Candelario
Vaughn