Monday is one ugly looking slate for pitchers. The higher priced pitching options don’t have the greatest matchups and the lower priced pitchers just aren’t that good or don’t offer much upside. On the hitting side, a game at Coors Field and a variety of pitchers to pick on opens up plenty of stacking opportunities. I’m going to bypass Coors Field tonight for my stack recommendations as I don’t like either team enough to stack them. Although there are a few good one off plays namely Freddie Freeman and Charlie Blackmon.
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Let’s mow down the competition 3 Up and 3 Down…
3 Up
Ace
Jose Quintana (FD-$8,400 / DK-$11,600)
Quintana’s price on DraftKings is high but on a slate without good high-end pitching options, he is still my top choice. He is pitching at home as a sizeable favorite over a Reds’ team that is middle of the pack in most offensive categories against lefties this season. Meanwhile, the other high-priced option on the slate, Zack Greinke, it pitching against the potent Astros lineup in Arizona, not a combination I wish to mess with. Quintana is a solid Cash game option but could be faded in GPPs for cheaper options to load up on some bats.
Value
Jerad Eickhoff (FD-$7,400 / DK-$8,000)
Eickhoff has been solid over his last four starts with a 3.04 ERA and 20.0% strikeout rate. He gets a favorable matchup and park adjustment traveling to San Diego to face the Padres. The Padres have the third highest strikeout rate (25.3%) against righties and are in the bottom five in wOBA and wRC+. Eickhoff has also had success against Padres’ hitters in his career allowing a .171 wOBA with a 36.6% strikeout rate albeit in just 30 plate appearances. Eickhoff can be considered in Cash games on either site and as a GPP option.
Darkhorse
Jake Junis (FD-$6,400 / DK-$5,600)
Junis is coming off the best start of his young career allowing just one run in eight innings of work with seven strikeouts against the Mariners. Junis also pitched well in the minor this season with a 2.92 ERA and 10.9 K/9 rate in 12 starts. He gets an easier opponent in the A’s on Monday in a pitcher-friendly ballpark in Oakland. The A’s have the fourth highest strikeout rate (25.0%) versus righties this season. I’d suggest limiting exposure to Junis to only GPP lineups.
3 Down
Top Stacks
Tigers vs. Martin Perez
The temperature will be hot in Texas (mid-90s) on Monday night which could lead to a lot of offense. Vegas thinks so with the Tigers/Rangers game posting the second highest total on the slate (after Coors Field). The Tigers’ bats have been better lately with two double-digit run totals in their last five games. Perez has a 5.40 ERA at home while allowing a .369 wOBA. Right-handed batters hold a .373 wOBA and 1.47 HR/9 mark against him this season.
Justin Upton (FD-$3,900 / DK-$4,500) – Upton has been hot over the last couple of weeks batting .321 with six homers in his last 14 games. He has a .521 wOBA and .386 ISO versus lefties on the road this season.
Nick Castellanos (FD-$3,300 / DK-$4,100) – Castellanos has five straight multi-hit games and has a .466 wOBA and .476 ISO versus lefties on the road this year.
James McCann (FD-$2,500 / DK-$3,200) – McCann has five hits over his last three games including a home run. He has a .431 wOBA and .324 ISO versus lefties this season.
Ian Kinsler (FD-$3,300 / DK-$4,400) – Kinsler missed Sunday’s game so be sure he is in the lineup. He has a .357 wOBA and .250 ISO on the road versus righties this year.
Yankees vs. Rafael Montero
Montero has allowed four or more runs in each of his last three starts while averaging less than five innings per start which will leave a lot of work for the Mets’ bullpen who has the fifth highest ERA (4.62) and has allowed the seventh highest HR/9 rate (1.27). Montero has been a little worse against righties this season but does give up production to both sides of the plate.
Aaron Judge (FD-$4,200 / DK-$5,100) – Judge continues to be bad since the All-Star break (.165 average) but I can’t bring myself to keep him out of a Yankees’ stack, especially at home.
Aaron Hicks (FD-$3,000 / DK-$3,800) – Hicks has hit near the top of the lineup since returning from the DL and has three hits including a home run and a double in four games.
Gary Sanchez (FD-$4,000 / DK-$4,500) – Sanchez is riding a five-game hitting streak that has included a pair of home runs. He has a .359 wOBA and .219 ISO versus righties this season.
Didi Gregorius (FD-$3,500 / DK-$3,800) – Gregorius is batting .360 in August with six extra-base hits and has a .379 wOBA and .243 ISO versus righties this season.
Contrarian Stack
Rays vs. Nick Tepesch
The Rays’ offense is in a funk scoring just 11 runs over their last nine games including getting shutout five times. However, that was at home in Tampa against some good pitchers, so I expect a different attitude and results with a change of scenery in Toronto on Monday against Tepesch. Tepesch will be making just his third start of the season, allowing six runs in six innings during his first two outings. During his career, he has allowed a 1.40 HR/9 rate to lefties and a wOBA over .340 to both sides of the plate.
Steven Souza (FD-$3,400 / DK-$3,700) – Souza has hit all 25 of his home runs this season against righties including one yesterday. He has a .391 wOBA and .307 ISO versus righties this season.
Logan Morrison (FD-$3,100 / DK-$3,600) – Both Morrison and Lucas Duda are options but with both only 1B eligible you need to pick one, so I lean toward Morrison with his .441 wOBA and .385 ISO on the road versus righties this season.
Corey Dickerson (FD-$3,000 / DK-$3,600) – Dickerson has been better on the road this season with a .381 wOBA and .220 ISO against righties.
Evan Longoria (FD-$2,800 / DK-$3,100) – Longoria has a cheap price on both sites and has a .341 wOBA and .200 ISO on the road versus righties this season.
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