Monday’s MLB gives us 12 games to work with and one 11AM game to just relax and enjoy watching. Today’s DFS is going to be fun due to the amount of stud pitchers throwing today and value pitchers with good matchups. Start time for games tonight is 7pm. Let’s take a look at the weather before getting into positional plays on Draftstreet.

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Weather
ARI/CHC- Rain plus wind blowing out to CF. Pay close attention to the weather.
SF/COL- Wind blowing out to left center at 9mph.

Starting Pitchers

Felix Hernandez is the top starting pitcher in my book today. He is priced all the way up to just under 25k, but he’ll be worth it if you can fit him in. The Astros have a BABIP of .233 and are hitting under .200 on the season while striking out 27% of the time. Andrew Cashner has been pitching like a stud lately (28.1 innings, 4 earned runs) while pitching against some of the best hitting teams in the MLB. He has been great against Colorado, Detroit, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Miami. He could replicate would Gerrit Cole did to Milwaukee yesterday.

Garrett Richards is an intriguing play today against the Nationals. They rank in the top half of most offensive stats, but in their last four games they’ve scored just nine runs. Richards is a solid mid-range option at just under 14k.

The value plays begin and end with Dallas Keuchel. He faces a Seattle lineup with their best hitters hitting from the left side. While I do think Robinson Cano and Corey Hart could have good days at the plate, they are just two hitters out of nine. He’s given up just three earned runs in his last 13 innings. I like him to give up 2-3 runs in six innings today with five strikeouts.

Others to Consider: Yu Darvish, Julio Teheran, Francisco Liriano

Catchers

Devin Mesoraco is a catcher I really like today even though he’s going against a tough LHP in Liriano. He was a much better hitter against LHP than RHP last season. He’s tearing it up so far and hitting over .500 so far this season. Buster Posey seems like the best play out of this group of catchers though. He’s facing a LHP in Colorado with a little wind blowing out to left center. He also hit a home run off a LHP yesterday.

Logan and I both agree that Yasmani Grandal should be considered today. He hits in the middle of the order and gets to hit at a better park today. Grandal is the value play to target for catchers.

Others to consider: Jason Castro, Tyler Flowers

First Basemen

Guys like Freddie Freeman and Albert Pujols are pretty tough to get in the lineup tonight at this position, but there are enough of the others I really like. Anthony Rizzo is a top 15 wOBA guy in all of the MLB against RHP and he has a nice matchup against Bronson Arroyo. He’s hitting .349 with two home runs this season. I talked up Keuchel a little bit earlier, but I do think Seattle scraps together a few runs tonight. Corey Hart should be the main reason why. He’s hot lately with four straight games of two hits and has been great against LHP in his last three seasons.

For value there are a few options to roll with here. Ike Davis has three hits since coming over to Pittsburgh and should be hitting in the five hole tonight against a hittable Mike Leake. Also, I wouldn’t hate someone for rolling Matt Adams tonight. He faces a young arm in Mejia and also hits in the middle of his order.

Others to consider: Jose Abreu, Adrian Gonzalez

Second Basemen

Second base is a top position to feel confident with when it comes to studs, but there are cheaper options to really like. First, a mid-range guy I like is Emilio Bonifacio. He has come back to life some, but has six hits in his last three games and is running wild. He faces the Diamondbacks and the same group of catchers that struggled to slow down Eric Young Jr. Aaron Hill is a hitter in the middle of that Diamondbacks order and it’s going to be very hard for Travis Wood to keep them from scoring 3-4 runs. You have to think Hill will be a part of that somehow.

Some value can be had from this position and I’ll show you where. Joaquin Arias hasn’t been tearing it up this season (.167 average), but does get Coors Field. He’s under 3.5k and he doesn’t strikeout often. He’ll also be facing a LHP tonight. He has hit .288 against them in the last three seasons. Scooter Gennett should get the start tonight against Cashner and is under 4k on Draftstreet. He is hitting .300 on the season and had two hits yesterday.

Others to consider: Ian Kinsler, Howie Kendrick, Neil Walker

Third Basemen

Nolan Arenado is a very good option with the way he has been hitting lately (.370 in last week) and against RHP (.323 with two home runs). He has two home runs on the season and they both came at home. He comes with an affordable price tag and a solid matchup against Ryan Vogelsong. Pedro Alvarez should be back in the lineup tonight and will be slotted in the four hole. He has six home runs on the season and faces Mike Leake who is not a big time strikeout pitcher. Alvarez has the matchup and so do the guys around him (McCutchen and Ike Davis).

I really like some value players at this position. Juan Uribe is priced at 5k and goes up against a stud in Cliff Lee, but don’t be shied off because of that. Cliff Lee has given up 40 hits in just 27 innings this season. Pablo Sandoval has a good matchup against Jorge De La Rosa and will be at Coors Field. He has 49 home runs in the last three seasons and 43 have come from the right side. He’s been struggling lately, but that price is low for a guy of his talent.

Others to Consider: Chris Johnson, Nick Castellanos, Martin Prado

Shortstop

If there is a way to fit Troy Tulowitzki then by all means go for it, but at 10k and the great pitching today I find that pretty tough to do. There are other shortstops to love though. Elvis Andrus is hitting .294 on the season and has added nine stolen bases. He has five in his last four games. Andrus is hitting .280 against RHP this season, just one point under his average for the last three seasons.

The guys to love at this position tonight are all value guys. Marcus Semien has struggled this season, but he had four hits today and has hit in the top half of the lineup plenty of times this season. Chris Owings isn’t playing consistently every day, but if he does then what’s to hate about him? He’s hitting .293 with four stolen bases and is priced under 3k. He also faces a LHP in Wood that will give up a few runs tonight.

Others to Consider: Jimmy Rollins, Hanley Ramirez

Outfielders

Ryan Braun is all that is man right now. He’s still under 8k on Draftstreet, which means value for a star hitter like him. I like Cashner tonight, but that doesn’t mean Braun won’t do any damage. Bryce Harper is another star player underpriced. He’s at 6.2k even though he’s hitting .292 on the season. Recently he’s been hitting higher up in the order, which is always something to love. I like Richards as well, but that doesn’t mean Harper can’t get a walk, a hit, and steal a bag tonight. Um, what’s the deal with Charlie Blackmon this season? The guy is still crushing the ball (.406 average) has stolen some bases (5), and even has a few home runs (2). He added one last night and I don’t see why he isn’t a strong choice tonight against Vogelsong.

Value plays are a plenty here tonight. Michael Morse is at Coors Field tonight and is hitting .286 on the season with three home runs. He hit his third just a few days ago. Austin Jackson performed well for us the other day and I think he can do it again tonight. He’s under 5k, has a .308 average on the season, and is facing a worse LHP than the one he had two hits against the other day. Will Venable struggled to start the season, but has bounced back nicely in his last seven days. He’s 8 for his last 21 and has a three game hit streak. He does have a strikeout in each of his last ten games, but in Milwaukee I forsee him notching his first home run on this season (bold call alert).

Others to Consider: Shin-Soo Choo, Andrew McCutchen, Michael Brantley

Pitching Combos

With the amount of affordable and quality hitters tonight, there is no reason you can’t get three starting pitchers in your lineup. It’ll be tough to fit Felix Hernandez at 24k in your lineup, but there is no reason you can’t fit two 18k guys. To fit Felix in your lineup, you would likely have to roll Richards plus Keuchel. The way I’ll be leaning is two 17-18k options with Keuchel. You can’t go wrong with any of Cashner, Liriano, and Teheran.

Top Stacks:
Pittsburgh- McCutchen/Alvarez/Davis/Walker
Atlanta- Heyward/Freeman/J.Upton/C.Johnson
San Francisco- Pagan/Posey/Sandoval/Morse

Lineup:

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