Welcome to Monday baseball! With LeBron James bringing a championship to Cleveland, it is all baseball from here on out until the NFL rolls around. Make sure to check out our other articles as they will touch on some more pitching options, tournament stacks and some long ball targets. Let's get right into our top picks at each position.
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Opponent - WSH (Strasburg) Park - @LAD
FD - 47.03 DK - 27.16
Kershaw is a lock and load for me in cash games every time he takes the mound, and tonight is no different. He has sported the best numbers in the majors with a 2.08 SIERA, 11.08 K/9 and a 0.66 WHIP. WOW! He takes on a Washington Nationals team tonight that is consisted of an even mix of righties and lefties, however, the top bats in this lineup are lefties. Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy, the two best Nats bats, are much worse against left handers than they are righties. While the temperature is getting a bit higher in Los Angeles, it still plays as a pitchers ballpark. The one thing that will scare off some ownership is the price, however, I am comfortable paying the high price due to the Mariners bats being pretty cheap. Once again, Kershaw is the top option in all formats, on all sites.
Opponent - LAD (Kershaw) Park - @LAD
FD - 35.19 DK - 20.15
If you want to get off of Kershaw, you can look at the opposite side of the ball in Stephen Strasburg. I want too make one thing clear, and that is the fact that I prefer Strasburg on DraftKings. The reason for that is because of the win, which is much more important on FanDuel. Strasburg has started the year on fire with a 2.88 SIERA, 48.8% Swing and a 25.7% hard contact rate allowed to opposing batters. This dodgers offense on the other hand, has struggled against right handers this season as they have ranked in the bottom third in wOBA, K% and wRC+. Strasburg makes for a terrific play if you are looking to pivot off of Clayton Kershaw. Make sure to check out our pitching article as it will touch on 3 more options to consider.
Opponent - SEA (Karns) Park - @DET
FD - 10.85 DK - 8.36
Opponent - SEA (Karns) Park - @DET
FD - 7.15 DK - 5.44
While I was going to just list Victor Martinez here, I figured it was worth mentioning Salty as he hits righties well and has some upside at a low price. The Tigers are taking on an average right hander in Nathan Karns. Karns has struggled against righties this season as he has given up a .351 wOBA and an opposing hard contact rate of 33.7%. V-Mart on the other hand, has hit righties extremely well this season as evident by his .382 wOBA. Martinez is a great play in all formats and Saltalamacchia is a strict tournament play, preferably on FanDuel as he is minimum priced.
Opponent - PIT (Locke) Park - @PIT
FD - 10.89 DK - 8.47
Moving on to my favorite cash game option at catcher, we have Buster Posey. Posey and the Giants will be taking on Jeff Locke, a left handed soft tosser that struggled against righties as evidenced by the .377 wOBA he has given up this season. Buster Posey, believe it or not, has been one of the best hitters in the league against righties over the last few seasons. Dating back to 2013, Posey has sported a .382 wOBA against lefties that is backed up by a very sold BABIP and hard contact rate. While PNC Park is rather tough for right handed power, Posey can exceed value on extra base hits and RBI's. Posey is a terrific play in all formats and will be lower owned than he should be with cheaper options available in good spots.
Opponent - CHW (Gonzalez) Park - @BOS
FD - 15.29 DK - 11.49
While Ortiz is almost certainly going to slow down, I think we keep playing playing him against righties who have a problem of giving up the long ball. Miguel Gonzalez fits that profile perfectly as he has exhibited a .356 wOBA against lefties and has given up 4 home runs in only 19 innings of work. While I am sure you have noticed, Ortiz has been the best hitter in baseball with a .486 wOBA against right handers since opening day. With this game being played in Fenway Park, it is going to be very difficult to get off of Ortiz in cash games. However, I think Mike Pelfrey is going to to tempt me. Let's take a look at Adam Lind.
Opponent - DET (Pelfrey) Park - @DET
FD - 11.93 DK - 9.17
Here we have our first of 900 Mariners bats. Literally. 900. Lind has been a platoon hitter for about years and has done his job exceptionally well against righties. Dating back to 2012, Lind has sported a .368 wOBA against righties that is backed up by a 34.6% hard contact rate. We will touch on Pelfrey in a bit, but all you need to know for now is that he is one of the worst pitchers in baseball. This entire Mariners offense is in play and you will surely know that by the end of this article. I promise.
Opponent - DET (Pelfrey) Park - @DET
FD - 12.96 DK - 10.04
Robinson Cano is my top overall play and to be completely honest, it is not close. Cano, like Lind, is a left hander that absolutely demolished righties. So far in 2016, Cano has sported a rediculous .442 wOBA that is more than backed up by a .282 BABIP and a 39.8% hard contact rate. While I am going to hold off for one more position on my Pelfrey analysis, you just need to know that he is a bad right hander who is getting worse by the start.
Opponent - BAL (Gausman) Park - @TEX
FD - 10.48 DK - 8.46
Personally, Robinson Cano will be in every single one of my lineups tonight. I am going to live or die with one of the best hitters in the game against one of the worst pitcher with a handedness advantage. However, if you are ever so inclined to get off of Cano, you can take a look at Rougned Odor. Odor and the Rangers will be facing off with Kevin Gausman, a right hander who is pretty much the definition of average. Odor gives you power and speed upside at a position that lacks both. I will reiterate, do whatever you can to get Cano into your lineup.
Opponent - DET (Pelfrey) Park - @DET
FD - 8.67 DK - 7.59
You thought this was going to be the position where you don't see any Seattle guys, huh? Wrong. Here we have Ketel Marte, a switch hitting speedster who plays with a ton of variance. Let it be known however, that this play is contingent on Marte cracking the leadoff spot. If he is hitting towards the end of the lineup, he immediately becomes a strict tournament play. Now onto Mike Pelfrey, the 32 year old right hander that has been absolutely brutal against both left handers and right handers. Since 2014, Pelfrey has given up a combined wOBA of .382 and a SIERA of 4.64. Both of these are backed up by a 36.2% hard contact rate and a .309 BABIP. The Seattle Mariners are in an amazing spot and this is a good way to get cheap exposure in all formats.
Opponent - CHW (Gonzalez) Park - @BOS
FD - 11.77 DK - 9.44
As I mentioned when talking about David Ortiz, Gonzalez has struggled with the long ball and this team is a tough one to face when that is the biggest weakness you face. While Bogaerts does hit lefties better, he has hit righties just fine this year with a .388 wOBA that is inflated by a .394 BABIP. Therefore, I do expect his numbers to fall, however, I definitely think he keeps it going against a pitcher like this. X-man has a great shot of getting one over the monster today and if you want to fade Marte, Bogaerts gives you much more upside.
Opponent - DET (Pelfrey) Park - @DET
FD - 11.83 DK - 9.15
What more is there to say about the spot that these Mariners are in? Seager is another guy who has been dominant against righties with a .362 wOBA dating back to his major league debut back in 2011. As I mentioned a few times, Pelfrey is going to mightily struggle against this Mariners team. While I do wish this game was being played in a better ballpark, this is a decent park for left handed power.
Opponent - STL (Garcia) Park - @CHC
FD - 11.6 DK - 8.98
Next up we have my personal favorite player in baseball, Kris Bryant. Bryant has been terrific this season against lefties with a .383 wOBA, a 45.9% hard contact rate and has hit 7 of his 16 home runs against southpaws. While Jaime Garcia is not a guy I typically end to target, he has been a little iffy this season against righties with 5 home runs given up, which is not normal for a guy like Garcia. Bryant is one of the best power hitters in the game and it is never a bad idea to get exposure to someone with his upside at a low ownership rate. As a note, pay attention to the wind speed and direction as it makes a huge impact in Wrigley Field.
Opponent - DET (Pelfrey) Park - @DET
FD - 11.57 DK - 8.74
Opponent - DET (Pelfrey) Park - @DET
FD - 12.31 DK - 9.37
While I wish I could roster more than 4 or 5 Mariners tonight, we are going to have to choose. As I write this, my top 5 are Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, Adam Lind, Seth Smith and Kyle Seager, in that order. Both Cruz and Smith have hit righties very well over the past 2 seasons with a .342+ wOBA, which are backed up by hard contact rates over 35.
Opponent - BAL (Gausman) Park - @TEX
FD - 10.5 DK - 8.03
Opponent - BAL (Gausman) Park - @TEX
FD - 9.39 DK - 7.28
Nomar Mazara has bursted onto the scene this season and has absolutely dominated early on. However, Mitch Moreland has quietly had a pretty good season as well. In only 200 plate appearances, Moreland has hit 10 home runs and has accounted for 22 total extra base hits. All in all, both of these guys have wOBA's over .350 against right handers. They will be facing off with Kevin Gausman, a right hander who has given up a .342 wOBA to righties over the last 2 1/2 seasons. These guys both have a ton of upside, however, I definitely prefer the Mariners outfielders in all formats. Goo luck tonight and make sure to leave a comment!
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View Comments
One thing that is very interesting is taking the advice of these articles vs. going chalk with the optimizer. SEA & TEX are obviously your plays of the day but you only get 1 lower tier player from each of those teams with the DK optimal lineup. Decisions, decisions.
My concern is Strasburg v. Kershaw. Runs will be at a premium. Not knowing who will get a W which in FanDuel terms is huge, I was thinking to not go this way and wait for the other options listing later today.
Easy win is any pitcher vs Locke
how do u plan on rostering 4 Seattle bats with Kershaw on FD?
I was wondering the same thing ?
You don't.
I agree Igor. Locke is horrible & Im surprised theres not more SF players listed. SF should be the stack of the day
A bit off topic but does anyone know how I could invest in daily daily fantasy sports? These states are all going to regulate? Anyone know how or where to invest in daily fantasy stocks etc? I know D.K and FD are private and considering merging to avoid double the state fees but have no idea how to invest it where. Anyone knows it has invested already if you could point me in right direction I would appreciate it. Thanks again picks were solid yesterday 2 top 15 finishes for me! Thank you
The only DFS company you can buy stock in is Yahoo, albeit that is at the conglomerate level, not the DFS arm individually. Amaya as well, although they are the parent company of the fringe site, starsdraft.
You may want to gain a bit more knowledge about investing before you start spending actual money. If there were any DFS companies to buy stock in (hard to count Yahoo's DFS product as a legit contender), then buying the heels of the NY news would be the absolute worst time to buy stock.
Optimal line up cashed 3 double up slates yesterday, even with deGrom's 27 points. In the Pitcher article you talked about Teheran who cashed me in gpp's. Keep up the great work guys!
Interesting Fister projects so low today. I know he has mediocre stuff, but I think you could throw out a HS pitchers against that Angels lineup. Their offense is just putrid. I do really like Smyly tonight in GPP, looks like you have him graded out pretty high tonight.
I agree with andy. Also think that baumgardner is gonna get destroyed tonite. Call me crazy. I doubt he makes 6 innings. We shall see.
Why would you think Bum is going to get destroyed tonight? I have been watching teams that play late on Sunday and then arrive home at 3am and play the next day. The players seem too tired to do anything with the bats. If not for the late night game, I might figure Bum is due to get hit hard, since he hasn't yet.