It’s Monday, so let’s make some money!  Let’s take a look at today’s slate, and see where we can exploit the matchups! You can find me on twitter @RyNoonan if you have player specific questions.

If you haven’t jumped into the daily fantasy baseball action yet, I can’t think of a better day than today. Good news, here at The Fantasy Fix have a great deal that’ll help you get started. What are you waiting for?

Game times and Weather

As is the case on most Monday’s, we have a lighter schedule today. All 12 of the games today are taking place under the lights, with the first pitch at 7:05 EST. As always, you’ll want to look at weather before the games start, as rain is possible in both Atlanta and Minnesota.

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Positional Breakdown

Starting Pitchers

Even though it’s a light deck tonight, it’s full of aces. I’m looking forward to the return of Cliff Lee to the Phillies rotation, but I advise we let him pass today and spend our funds elsewhere. I’m not sure there’s been a better pitcher in baseball this season than Chris Sale, and he’s home against the light hitting Royals. There are a few Royals that have respectable career numbers against Sale, surprisingly, but with the way he’s pitching he’s hard to not play. I really like Hyun-Jin Ryu today in Pittsburgh. I like the Dodgers to score some runs today, and Ryu is coming off of a six inning, 10 strikeout performance his last time out.

Catcher

If you’re to invest your funds in top-line pitchers and stud bats, we need to find a position or two to save money. Today that’s catcher. No player specific matchups jump out today, so take a look at who’s likely to score a lot of runs today. I like the Nationals in Colorado, so take a look at Wilson Ramos if he gets the start. Chris Ianetta could be a nice, cheap play today too, as I expect the Angels to get to Bud Norris tonight in Los Angeles.

First Baseman

Over at first base I like Adrian Gonzalez today. He’s had some success in his head-to-head matchups against Edison Volquez, and this Dodgers team hits right-handed pitching well. I like Doug Fister a lot, but no one likes pitching in Coors. Justin Morneau has seen quite a bit of Fister while both were in the AL Central, and I like the cost of Morneau today.

Second Baseman

The demise of Justin Verlander has been slightly overblown. His days of being the best pitcher in the game are a thing of the past, but he’s still good. I don’t think he’s good enough to scare me away from Aaron Hill today, who’s going to come at a discount due to his own struggles this season. I like Hill to go deep today.

Third Baseman

The hot corner gives us a few different options today. My first choice is Aramis Ramirez, who’s facing Mat Latos. I like the Brewers to score some runs today, and we’ll see some more Brewers as we round out our lineup today. David Freese won’t cost much if you need to save money, and he’s hit Bud Norris well in the past. I wouldn’t be mad if you wanted as many right-handed National bats as you can get in today, so Ryan Zimmerman is a play today as well.

Shortstop

Here’s our next Brewer, I’m going with Jean Segura at shortstop today. It’s been a rough year for Segura, and he’s easy to cheer for down the stretch. He’s seen the ball well from Latos in the past, and his offensive struggles to-date keeps his cost low. I’m not trying to start any one against Chris Sale, but Alcides Escobar has really hit Sale well in his career.

Outfield

As we get down to the outfielders, we’ve been able to save quite a bit of our budget with the likes of Hill, Segura, and our catcher picks. Now we can load up on stud outfielders. I hear this Trout kid in Anaheim is pretty good. I think it’s Mike Trout? Yeah, play him. I love Carlos Gomez today, especially with Segura and Aramis in my lineup as well. Hunter Pence is likely to knock some of the dust off of Cliff Lee today; he’s hit the big lefty well throughout his career. You’ll need to watch Don Mattingly’s lineup card, but I like both Matt Kemp and Carl Crawford today if they’re in the lineup. I like Kemp’s matchup more, but I think Crawford’s left-handed bat is more likely to play.

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