Welcome to today's daily fantasy baseball post! Remember that you can find our posts on the new DFS home page, as well as the fantasy page. Bookmark those sites now!
5 Things to Watch:
1. Here are the three games with the highest over/unders on Monday, provided by OddsShark...
2. So, it looks as though it will be a goal to see how many Blue Jays and Rockies you can fit in your DFS lineup on Monday night. Surprisingly, in Marco Estrada's 541 career innings in the NL, he's only registered 7.2 inning of work at Coors Field. However, during that time, Estrada allowed eight earned runs (9.39 ERA). Also, Jon Gray has compiled a 6.39 ERA in 49.1 innings at Coors Field (35 earned runs). Lefties hit better against Estrada and Gray.
3. For the BvP readers: Jose Altuve is 6-for-14 (.429) with two home runs against Matt Shoemaker...Colby Rasmus is 5-for-13 (.385) with two extra-base hits against Shoemaker...Also, Albert Pujols is 6-for-17 (.353) with one home run against Collin McHugh.
4. Rain is in the forecast for CLE/ATL. I think Trevor Bauer is a great option for your DFS pitcher, but make sure the weather is favorable.
5. The Dodgers and Pirates square off at 12:35 pm on Monday afternoon. Since they are the only early game, I will be excluding their players from the DFS pool.
Must-Start of the day: Carlos Gonzalez, COL
If there is one bat you pay up for on Monday, make it CarGo. He has a .357 AVG in the past week and a whopping .517 AVG against AL clubs in 2016 (15-for-29).
Deal of the day: Cristhian Adames, COL
Looking for a way to get cheap exposure to Coors Field? Adames is your guy. He has a .321 wOBA against right-handed pitchers this season and Adames has a .385 AVG at home in 2016.
Avoid of the day: Jay Bruce, CIN
He is 2-for-13 (.154) with seven strikeouts against Jake Arrieta.
Stack of the day: Texas Rangers
Absolutely stack the Rockies and Blue Jays. However, if cost is an issue, pivot to Texas. Ivan Nova has allowed five earned runs in three of the past four starts. Right-handed hitters are also batting .314 against him this season. In his career, Nova has a 4.41 ERA at Yankee Stadium. Ian Desmond, Adrian Beltre, and whomever catches for the Rangers will be solid right-handed hitting options. I'd love to add one of the Profar/Odor (can we just call them "Prodor" or "Odar?") starters, too.
Starting pitchers:
Jake Arrieta, CHC - He's the biggest favorite of the slate (-225) and has struck out at least 11 batters in two of the past four performances. Also, on April 21, Arrieta no-hit the Reds (9 IP and 6 Ks).
Trevor Bauer, CLE - The Braves have won seven of their last 10 games, but Bauer has been on a roll, too. He's allowed only one earned run in three of the past four starts and has struck out at least nine batters in those outings.
Collin McHugh, HOU - He faced the Angels in his last start: 7 IP, 2 ER, and 6 Ks. McHugh has also struck out at least six batters in six of the past seven games.
Catchers:
Brian McCann, NYY - He has a .193 ISO against righties in 2016.
Chris Herrmann, ARI - He has a .245 ISO against righties this year.
First basemen:
Edwin Encarnacion, TOR - He has a .228 ISO against righties this season.
Paul Goldschmidt, ARI - He has a .216 ISO against righties in 2016.
Mark Reynolds, COL - He has a .233 ISO against righties this year.
Second basemen:
Devon Travis, TOR - He has a .297 ISO against righties this year.
Jurickson Profar, TEX - He has a .246 ISO and .473 wOBA against righties this season.
Rougned Odor, TEX - He has a .221 ISO against righties in 2016.
Third basemen:
Josh Donaldson, TOR - He has a .297 ISO against righties this season.
Nolan Arenado, COL - He has a .288 ISO against righties in 2016.
Jake Lamb, ARI - He has a .299 ISO and .411 wOBA against righties this season.
Adrian Beltre, TEX - He has a .316 wOBA against righties this year.
Maikel Franco, PHI - He has a .228 ISO against lefties this season.
Shortstops:
Trevor Story, COL - He has a .292 ISO against righties this year.
Troy Tulowitzki, TOR - He has a .270 ISO against righties in 2016.
Cristhian Adames, COL - "Deal of the day"
Outfielders:
Carlos Gonzalez, COL - "Must-start of the day"
Carlos Beltran, NYY - He has a .260 ISO against righties this year.
Michael Saunders, TOR - He has a .249 ISO against right-handed pitchers this year.
Charlie Blackmon, COL - He has a .236 ISO against righties in 2016.
Ian Desmond, TEX - He has a .211 ISO against righties this season.
Nomar Mazara, TEX - Cheap outfielder in a high-scoring environment.
