RADIO
Monday night is a limited schedule, but it still presents a nice opportunity for daily fantasy baseball players to get a successful lineup locked in with six games in the evening window. There are some of the lesser-known teams in action tonight, meaning it's a great night to flash your fantasy know-how and build your lineup around these picks. At each spot, I’ll give you two solid options, one near the top of the salary scale and one that’s more of a value pick. Blend my picks in with yours and get on your way to a win tonight!
For my daily picks check out SportsReel Boston, and check back each Monday for my daily league options here at RotoBaller.
STARTING PITCHER
High Price: Jordan Zimmermann (WAS): Zimmermann takes the ball for the Nats as they welcome in Milwaukee tonight. At home, Zimm is 8-0 on the year with a 1.09 ERA. He’s held opponents to a .186 average at Nationals Park and has 42 K’s in his 66 innings. In his last ten starts he’s allowed two runs or fewer eight times. This will be his first start of the year against the Brewers, but last year he went 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA against them.
High Price: Matt Moore (TB): Moore faces the strikeout-happy Houston Astros tonight coming off a season-high 11 K in his last outing, in which he also picked up his tenth win of the season. He struggled a bit in June, finishing the month with a 2-3 record and a 8.39 ERA, but looked brilliant his last time out and will look to continue that momentum against the ‘Stros tonight.
Budget Bargain: Jose Fernandez (MIA): Fernandez faces the Padres tonight looking for his fifth win of the season. He’s been solid in each of his last five starts, during which he never allowed more than two earned runs. He’s been especially good at home, where he’s 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA while holding opponents to just a .189 batting average. His 37 punchouts in 41 innings at home also point to a good start tonight against the Padres who have dropped two of the first three in this four-game set.
Budget Bargain: Bronson Arroyo (CIN): Arroyo got shelled in his last start in Oakland, but he returns home tonight to take on the Giants. Before the shellacking he took out West, he had held four straight teams to two runs or fewer all at home. He’s a risky play after giving up seven in four innings in his last start, but his home 5-1 with a 2.50 ERA makes him worth a look on a shallow day like today.
CATCHER
High Price: Buster Posey (SF): Posey is coming red-hot into Cincinnati, having homered in three of his last four games and going 11-22 in his last six. His average for the year is up to .322 and his OPS is a healthy .940. Against Reds’ starter Bronson Arroyo, Posey is 2-5 with a double. Posey is pricey, but he’s a block to build your lineup around with his power stroke in high gear.
Budget Bargain: Miguel Montero (ARI): Montero rested yesterday but he hit .292 over the past week and .278 in June, bouncing back from a miserable eight-plus weeks to start the season. He’s gone 7-24 in his past six games and is 1-3 with a homer off the Mets’ Shaun Marcum, whom he faces tonight in New York.
FIRST BASE
High Price: Paul Goldschmidt (ARI): Goldy was held hitless yesterday for just the second time in his last nine games. Over that span, he’s gone 12-35. He leads the D-Backs to Citi Field tonight where they’ll take on Shaun Marcum.
Budget Bargain: Josh Satin (NYM): With the Mets facing a southpaw, expect Satin to be in the lineup. So far in 14 games for the Mets he’s gone 12-32 (.375) with four doubles, four RBI, and eight walks. He comes in with a hit in his last six games including going 6-10 in the Nats series with three doubles.
SECOND BASE
High Price: Ben Zobrist (TB): Zobrist tore through June hitting .323 with seven doubles, two homers, and four RBI. He went 7-24 over the last eight days and now heads to hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park to take on the Astros.
Budget Bargain: Alexi Amarista (SD): Amarista has a hit in each of the first three games in Miami, going 4-13 with a triple, RBI, and run scored. He is still hitting just .248 but is a solid value play hitting near the top of the Padres lineup.
SHORTSTOP
High Price: Ian Desmond (WAS): Desmond is on fire right now and will be sad to see June end, as he finished the month hitting over .300 with nine homers. He has three home runs in his last four games and five in his last ten as he takes on Yovani Gallardo and the Brew-crew tonight.
Budget Bargain: Didi Gregorius (ARI): After exploding onto the scene with a big offensive start to the year, Gregorious has tailed off to the point where he’s again a value option. He did collect three hits in this last three games before getting a day off Sunday, and he should return to the lineup tonight against Shaun Marcum and the Mets. Marcum has allowed lefties like Gregorious to hit .305 against him with most of the extra-base hits he’s given up to left-handed hitters as well.
THIRD BASE
High Price: David Wright (NYM): Wright has gone 8-22 in his last six games with four doubles, a triple, and a home run. His average for the year is up to .304 with an impressive .912 OPS. Tonight he’ll face D-Backs starter Wade Miley, who has struggled lately allowing three or more runs in seven straight starts and home runs in six of those seven outings.
Budget Bargain: Anthony Rendon (WAS): Rendon snapped a three-game hitless streak yesterday, going 1-5 with a double and a pair of RBI. He finished June hitting .337 and continues to hit in the two-hole for Washington. He’ll take on Yovani Gallardo and the Brewers tonight in Washington where he’s hit much better than on the road (.349 at home, .271 on the road).
OUTFIELD
High Price: Giancarlo Stanton (MIA): Stanton has been tearing it up, but has stayed mostly under the radar. He finished June hitting over .300 on the month with five homers and 13 RBI. Tonight he faces Jason Marquis in Miami. At home (.328, 6 HR, 16 RBI) he’s been much better than on the road (.213, 2 HR, 6 RBI), and has gone 2-6 against Marquis in the past.
High Price: Wil Myers (TB): The Rays’ über-prospect has hit .296 in his first 13 games in the big leagues. He’s hit safely in his last three and in nine of his last ten games. He’s picked it up a bit after a rough start and already has three homers and nine RBI. He’ll head to Minute Maid Park tonight to take on Dallas Keuchel and the Astros.
High Price: Hunter Pence (SF): Pence has faced Arroyo 35 times in his career and has a .343 batting average (12-35) with two homers, four doubles, and a triple. Arroyo has been pitching well lately, but Pence has solid history and is coming off a 2-5 day yesterday in Coors in which he hit his 13th home run of the season.
Budget Bargain: Juan Lagares (NYM): Lagares should be in the lineup as the Mets face lefty Wade Miley and the D-Backs. The young Dominican is coming off a solid June when he hit .288 while knocking in five and seven of his 19 hits going for extra bases. His extra-base hits have mostly come off southpaws so he should have a good game against Miley if he gets the start.
Budget Bargain: Clete Thomas (MIN): Thomas has emerged as a solid value option as he hits leadoff for the Twins. He’s hit safely in seven of his last eight games and has a pair of homers in his last three games. He’s reached base ten times in the last six games and hits in front of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and the rest of the Twins heavy hitters meaning he’ll get good pitches to him and score plenty of runs if he keeps getting on base. He is a lefty taking on Andy Pettitte (lefty) tonight, so make sure he’s in the Twins lineup before locking him into yours.
Budget Bargain: Zoilo Almonte (NYY): As my readers at SportsReel know, I’ve been high on Almonte since he was called up. He’s hit .310 in his first 11 MLB games going 9-29 with a home run, three doubles, and five RBI. He’s added a couple stolen bases as well and continues to earn his playing time in the New York lineup.
As always, remember to check your MLB daily lineups before they lock and make sure you are doing your own research, too, for optimal performance! The most successful daily leaguers are grinders who are constantly tweaking their lineups as the day goes on and fantasy news gets released. Good luck today, RotoBallers!
