This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
We have a fairly quiet night in the majors Monday with only seven games on the schedule, six of which will make up the main evening slate on Yahoo. There are still a couple of aces to choose from, as well as some hitters who could be in spots to thrive, so let's dive in and highlight some of the better options.
Pitching Overview
The likely chalk pitcher of the night will be Jose Berrios ($47) for his start against the Angels. He's shown tremendous control with a 3.9 percent walk rate, which has propelled him to a 0.92 WHIP. He's also been extremely consistent, allowing two earned runs or fewer in six of his eight starts. The Angels don't have a very imposing lineup outside of Mike Trout, so this is a matchup to exploit.
While injuries have severely weakened what was a strong Indians' rotation, at least Shane Bieber ($43) is delivering on the hype that surrounded him leading up to the season. His strikeout rate has jumped up to 26.8 percent and he's done a great job limiting base runners, leaving him with a 1.09 WHIP. Even though he hasn't pitched as well as Berrios has, Bieber has allowed three earned runs or fewer in seven of his eight outings. That includes his last start against the White Sox, who he will be facing again Monday.
After being a steady presence in the Astros' bullpen last year, Brad Peacock ($39) has been moved into the starting rotation. While his 4.19 xFIP isn't exactly great, most of the damage done against him this year came in two horrible starts against the A's and Twins in which he allowed 12 runs across 8.2 innings. He's allowed seven runs (six earned) over the other 29 innings that he's logged. He'll be facing a Tigers team that has scored the second-fewest runs (134) in the league, making him an appealing option at this price.
Key Values/Chalk
The Diamondbacks have had one of the better lineups in the league this season, entering with the seventh-highest OPS (.777). They'll have an excellent chance to build on their success against Nick Kingham, who wasn't great last year with a 4.63 xFIP and a 1.37 WHIP. He really struggled to keep hitters inside the ballpark, allowing 18 home runs across 76 innings. While he's mostly pitched in relief this year, he hasn't been any better with a 4.69 xFIP and a 1.50 WHIP.
Pitching for the Diamondbacks in that game will be Robbie Ray, who is off to another wild start with a 12.4 percent walk rate. This comes in the heels of him recording a 13.3 percent walk rate and a 1.35 WHIP last season. His strikeout upside is off the charts, but the Pirates might not have a lot of trouble getting runners on base in this game.
The Twins have the second-highest OPS (.829) and have scored the seventh-most runs (206) in baseball, so their hitters are going to be popular more often than not. That should be the case again Monday for their matchup with Tyler Skaggs and the Angels. Skaggs was roughed up for eight runs (seven earned) by the lowly Tigers in his last start and hasn't been an overpowering force with his 21.5 percent strikeout rate.
Stacks
Diamondbacks vs. Kingham (Pirates)
David Peralta (OF - $20), Eduardo Escobar (3B - $24), Ketel Marte (OF - $20)
One of the best ways to attack Kingham is with left-handed hitters since he's allowed a .408 wOBA against them for his career. That makes Peralta and his 136 wRC+ someone to build your lineup around. The switch-hitting Escobar also performed better against right-handed pitchers last year, recording a .351 wOBA against them compared to a .336 wOBA versus lefties. Marte has better splits versus lefties, but with how much Kingham has struggled, he's still worth considering,
Pirates vs. Ray (Diamondbacks)
Josh Bell (1B - $24), Starling Marte (OF - $16), Francisco Cervelli (C - $7)
The key with Ray is to avoid deploying left-handed hitters against him since he's allowed a .280 wOBA against them for his career. However, righties have had more success with a .327 wOBA, including a .342 wOBA last year. Bell brings plenty of power to this stack with his .341 ISO while Marte is currently on a seven-game hitting streak that has seen him hit 11-for-32 (.344) with a home run and two steals. There aren't a ton of viable catching option with such a small slate of games, so it might be worth taking a chance on Cervelli at his cheap price, especially with him coming off of a three-hit performance Sunday.
Twins vs. Skaggs (Angels)
C.J. Cron (1B - $17), Jonathan Schoop (2B - $15), Byron Buxton (OF - $15)
At a total cost of $47, this is an appealing stack to consider. Cron mashed left-handed pitchers last year to the tune of a 152 wRC+ and he's been even better this season with a 203 wRC+. Schoop has rebounded from his disastrous 2018 campaign to record a .351 wOBA while Buxton is 10-for-27 (.370) with five doubles and a steal across his last eight games. It's very encouraging to see Buxton more than double his walk rate this year while cutting his strikeout rate by almost seven percentage points.
Phillies vs. Freddy Peralta (Brewers)
Bryce Harper (OF - $18), Rhys Hoskins (1B - $23), Odubel Herrera (OF - $7)
After getting off to a rocky start, Peralta was brought out of the bullpen in his last outing. He threw five scoreless innings against the Nationals, which was evidently all the Brewers needed to see to move him back into the rotation. However, with his 1.61 WHIP, he's someone to target stacking against. While Harper isn't off to the best of starts with the Phillies, that's helped to reduce his price tag, making him an option to strongly consider based on Peralta's career .370 wOBA allowed to lefties. That also brings Herrera into the discussion at his cheap price. Even though he doesn't have the platoon advantage, it's hard to leave Hoskins out of a Phillies stack since he is 16-for-48 (.333) with four home runs and five doubles over his last 14 games.
