FanDuel MLB: Monday Breakdown

Written by

Published on April 1, 2019

PITCHING

Monday night's schedule features several useful pitchers in the middle tiers, including a few lefties. Steven Matz ($8,200) and Julio Urias ($7,200) look to be the top two cash-game options.

Matz gets arguably the best matchup of the slate as the Mets take on the Marlins in Miami. As a team, the Marlins had a .283 wOBA against left-handed pitching last season, the worst mark in baseball.

Urias will command plenty of DFS attention at home against San Francisco. The Giants struck out 23.3 percent of the time against lefties last season (the eighth-highest mark in baseball) and had the third-worst overall wOBA (.287). The Dodgers are the biggest favorite on the slate, putting the points for a win in play for Urias. If there's any red flag here, Dave Roberts may put Urias on a pitch limit given that it's his first start of the season.

Red Sox hurler David Price ($9,300) is the highest-priced pitcher on the board but is coming off being sick and has to deal with the Athletics in Oakland. The A's had the sixth-best wOBA (.322) against southpaws last season.

Matt Strahm ($6,400) is a suitable GPP target for owners looking to load up on bats. The Padres lefty is at home against the Diamondbacks, who no longer have lefty killer Paul Goldschmidt. Not surprisingly, Strahm's ERA and WHIP were both better at home, and Arizona struck out against lefties at the 10th-highest rate last season.

Kyle Hendricks ($9,000) faces off against Sean Newcomb ($7,700) in Atlanta in a game featuring two capable offenses. Hendricks is in play for GPPs considering his upside but for cash games seems a bit risky. The game features a line that started at 8.5 runs and an almost even spread (the Cubs are -108 over Atlanta); both Matz and Urias have better win odds.

KEY VALUES/CHALK

With some of the cheaper pitching options, there's a good opportunity to get multiple stud bats into a lineup tonight.

Consider some Astros in Texas going against lefty Drew Smyly (4.88 ERA last season). George Springer ($4,400) has a career .387 wOBA against lefties, and Jose Altuve ($4,400) is a good second base option to pay up for considering his career .383 wOBA against that handedness.

Also at the keystone, the Dodgers' Enrique Hernandez ($3,300) gets a lefty at home in Drew Pomeranz (6.08 ERA last season).

Getting back to the outfielders, Jay Bruce ($2,500) offers some salary cap relief and has back-to-back 30-plus-point performances hitting cleanup for Seattle. A home matchup against Chris Stratton is nothing to be afraid of.

Brandon Drury ($2,200) will likely be a popular play at third base given his likely leadoff status in a game where the Blue Jays have a high expected run total.

This might be a good night to use a third baseman at Utility, given that Justin Turner ($4,000) and Kris Bryant ($4,500) are notorious lefty killers who'll be facing Pomeranz and Newcomb, respectively.

Javier Baez ($4,500) has gotten off to a scorching start and has a career .368 wOBA against left-handed pitching. If punting at shortstop is the strategy, using the Diamondbacks' Nick Ahmed ($2,400, versus Strahm) and last year's .326 wOBA or the Mets' Amed Rosario ($2,400, versus Miami's Caleb Smith) and last year's .318 wOBA against lefties are both options.

At first base, Justin Smoak ($3,600) sticks out among the higher-priced players with his home matchup against the Orioles' David Hess. Last season, Smoak had a .370 wOBA against right-handed pitching while Hess has allowed a .350 wOBA to left-handed hitters in his short career.

Looking at cheaper options, Rowdy Tellez ($2,300) is an interesting play if he gets the starting nod for Toronto, which should be the case with the lefty-righty matchup and on the heels of his home run Sunday.

STACKS

While Sean Newcomb has his upside, it's hard to ignore using a Cubs stack tonight; a combination of Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Albert Almora ($2,800) and Willson Contreras ($2,900) makes a lot of sense.

After burning their owners Sunday, the ownership should be down tonight for using a Blue Jays stack. Look at the middle of their lineup in particular and deploy Teoscar Hernandez ($3,000), Randal Grichuk ($2,900), Tellez, Brandon Drury ($2,200) and Smoak.

The third obvious stack tonight will be the Houston Astros. So many of their hitters rake against lefties and don't hesitate to use players who have gotten off to a slow start. Plugging in some variation of Yuli Gurriel (.382 wOBA against lefties last season), Springer, Altuve, Alex Bregman ($4,300) and Michael Brantley ($3,800) could prove to being the winner in a big GPP.

Need an under-the-radar stack? Try using San Diego Padres. All signs point to a low ownership in GPPs; They're at home and haven't scored more than four runs in any of their first four games. Depending on who is starting, some players to use include Ian Kinsler ($3,200), Wil Myers ($3,600), Eric Hosmer ($2,700), Franmil Reyes ($2,600), Hunter Renfroe ($2,700), Fernando Tatis Jr. ($3,000) and Manny Machado ($4,200). This offense should exploit a draw against Arizona's Merrill Kelly, even at home.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Kevin Payne plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: Fanduel: kevinccp, Draft Kings: kevinccp, Yahoo: kevinccp.