Below we’ve got a discussion of the starting pitching situation as well as the best teams to use for stacks for Monday’s seven-game evening slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. We’ve also got projections derived from FanGraphs’ Depth Chart projections and rankings of the top plays at each position.

Pitching Perspective

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Jose Fernandez or Noah Syndergaard? According to the projections embedded at the bottom of this post, Fernandez is the answer, though Syndergaard will probably be the more common choice.

Thor has been nothing short of spectacular in his first two starts with 21 strikeouts compared to just two walks in 13 innings. Fernandez has been a bit shakier, and the Marlins have been limiting his pitch counts. The pitch count seemingly hurts his value a bit, but the projections embedded herein are only factoring in 5 2/3 innings per start for Fernandez. Syndergaard also probably has the better matchup against Philadelphia compared to Fernandez against Washington, but that’s mitigated somewhat by Fernandez pitching at home in a slightly more favorable ball park. All that said, the projections like Fernandez more than Syndergaard despite the reasons to think otherwise. But in addition to that, Fernandez is also cheaper on both DraftKings and FanDuel.

Fernandez will be my guy on a one-start site like FD, but there are a couple of options for your second pitching slot on DK (assuming you can’t afford both Syndergaard and Fernandez). The safer option for your second slot is John Lakcey. He struggled a bit in his first start of the season, but he was respectable in his second start. He doesn’t have a horrible matchup (St. Louis) nor is he pitching in a hitter’s park (again, St. Louis), and he’s a tad underpriced per the projections.

The other option for your second slot is Dan Straily Straily is as cheap as he can possibly be at $4,000. It may be completely unnecessary to roster a pitcher that cheap, but if you need salary relief to load up on bats, Straily is worth considering. It has admittedly been a few years since Straily had success as a starter, but he’s certainly not the worst pitcher to make a start this year, and he’s the first one I’ve seen priced under $5,000 on DK.

Stack Options

Cincinnati Reds – Cincinnati will face Jordan Lyles tonight who owns a 5.18 career ERA, and he has allowed 10 earned runs in eight innings so far this season. He’s been particularly bad against left-handers in his career with a 4.78 xFIP vs. LHH and a K/BB ratio of only 1.31. Jay Bruce and Joey Votto are good options today, though Votto isn’t priced all that well. Scott Schebler is also a good value option if he’s in the lineup. Right-handed options to include in a stack are Brandon Phillips and Devin Mesoraco.

Colorado Rockies – On the other side of that game, the Rockies will face the aforementioned Dan Straily. While Straily is so cheap that he’s worth considering, he’s not actually a good pitcher. He had one good year in 2013, but since then he has an ERA well over 5.00 in 49 innings as a starter. His biggest problem is keeping the ball in the park, which makes Colorado an option for a stack. Lefties Carlos Gonzalez and Gerardo Parra are the best plays from Colorado, but Nolan Arenado, Mark Reynolds and Trevor Story could be included in a Colorado stack.

Chicago White Sox – Hector Santiago has a hard time keeping balls in the yard when facing right-handed hitters. He’s already allowed three home runs to righties in just 10 innings against them this year, and he allowed 1.72 home runs per nine innings to righties last year. Avisail Garcia, Austin Jackson and Brett Lawrie are all good values against Santiago, and Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier are worth paying up for when you can. Switch-hitters Jimmy Rollins and Dioner Navarro could also be included in a Chicago stack if they’re in the lineup.

New York Mets – The Mets draw Jared Eickhoff tonight, who has been very good in his young career. But while Eickhoff has been excellent against right-handers, he has struggled against lefties. He has allowed 1.42 home runs per nine to lefties and has a 4.38 xFIP against them compared to a 3.01 xFIP against righties. New York has plenty of lefties to consider in this matchup with Lucas Duda, Neil Walker and Michael Conforto being the best options. Alejandro de Aza could be a value option if in the lineup, and Curtis Granderson is also priced well enough to use on FD.

Player Rankings

DraftKings

Catcher

1. Dioner Navarro – $3,500
2. Devin Mesoraco – $3,200
3. Geovany Soto – $2,800
4. Jonathan Lucroy – $3,600

First Base

1. Lucas Duda – $4,100
2. Matt Adams – $3,000
3. Mark Reynolds – $3,400
4. Chris Carter – $3,400
5. Jose Abreu – $4,500

Second Base

1. Brett Lawrie – $3,900
2. Neil Walker – $3,800
3. Brandon Phillips – $3,800
4. Kolten Wong – $3,500

Third Base

1. Todd Frazier – $4,500
2. Nolan Arenado – $4,700
3. Aaron Hill – $2,900

Shortstop

1. Eduardo Nunez – $3,500
2. Jimmy Rollins – $3,900
3. Trevor Story – $4,900
4. Andrelton Simmons – $2,700

Outfield

1. Carlos Gonzalez – $5,000
2. Avisail Garcia – $3,500
3. Gerardo Parra – $3,700
4. Mike Trout – $4,600
5. Alejandro de Aza – $3,200
6. Austin Jackson – $3,600
7. Jay Bruce – $4,200
8. Michael Conforto – $3,400
9. Scott Schebler – $3,200

Starting Pitcher

1. Jose Fernandez – $11,300
2. John Lackey – $8,500
3. Noah Syndergaard – $12,100
4. Dan Straily – $4,000
5. Hector Santiago – $7,400

FanDuel

Catcher

1. Dioner Navarro – $2,000
2. Devin Mesoraco – $2,700
3. Geovany Soto – $2,400
4. Jonathan Lucroy – $2,800

First Base

1. Lucas Duda – $2,400
2. Jose Abreu – $3,500
3. Mark Reynolds – $3,200
4. Matt Adams – $2,300
5. Chris Carter – $2,900

Second Base

1. Brett Lawrie – $2,600
2. Neil Walker – $2,900
3. Brandon Phillips – $2,800
4. Kolten Wong – $2,500

Third Base

1. Todd Frazier – $3,700
2. Aaron Hill – $2,100
3. Derek Dietrich – $2,100

Shortstop

1. Eduardo Nunez – $2,700
2. Jimmy Rollins – $2,600
3. Trevor Story – $4,600
4. Andrelton Simmons – $2,200

Outfield

1. Carlos Gonzalez – $4,700
2. Avisail Garcia – $2,700
3. Jay Bruce – $3,800
4. Mike Trout – $4,700
5. Alejandro de Aza – $2,200
6. Austin Jackson – $2,500
7. Michael Conforto – $2,700
8. Scott Schebler – $2,000
9. Oswaldo Arcia – $2,400

Starting Pitcher

1. Jose Fernandez – $10,700
2. Noah Syndergaard – $11,300
3. Dan Straily – $5,300
4. Carlos Rodon – $8,500

Research Chart

Below you’ll find my research chart for the day. Projections are derived from FanGraphs’ Depth Chart projections and adjusted for matchup and ballpark. The closer a color is to green the better and the closer a color is to red the worse. You can download the research chart here.

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