This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
We have eight games on this Monday slate, and seven of the 20 starters are lefties. That will create a heavy emphasis on split stats, so be aware that those will be cited regularly throughout this article. There are also pitchers available throughout every price range, so there should be a variety of builds available.
Pitchers
Max Scherzer ($11,300) draws a tough matchup against the Yankees, but he is by far the most skilled pitcher on the slate. He has the highest strikeout rate by over five percentage points and the only pitcherwith a SIERA below 3.00. His price may make him unrosterable in some builds. Julio Urias ($10,000) checks in at a more reasonable cost and will take on a Milwaukee lineup that ranks 25th in the league in wOBA against lefties this season.
We can drop down a few tiers from there. Jordan Montgomery ($8,300) is a great cash game play. He has been excellent since joining the Cardinals, most notably racking up 17 strikeouts across 16.2 innings. The Cubs are a mediocre lineup against southpaws, so there's no reason to shy away. Despite popping for 29.9 and 26.6 DK points across his last two starts, roster Montgomery more with a floor performance in mind rather than ceiling.
Jeffrey Springs ($7,700) could be the value play of the day. He has the second-highest strikeout rate on the slate, behind only Scherzer. He also draws a matchup against an Angels lineup that has the third-lowest wOBA in the league against southpaws and the sixth-highest strikeout rate.
Jake Odorizzi ($7,200) isn't quite in punt territory, and he doesn't possess the strikeout rate or other skills that make him particularly appealing. However, he's cheap and faces the Pirates, and little other reason is needed besides that.
Top Hitters
Byron Buxton ($5,900) has a strange profile from a redraft perspective due to his low batting average and lack of steals. However, that doesn't matter for DFS, and he still has plenty of power. That is particularly true against lefties, as he's maintained a .382 wOBA and .343 ISO with the handedness advantage this season. Cole Ragans has good prospect pedigree, but it hasn't translated to the majors yet.
Things haven't gone according to play for Nick Castellanos ($4,400) in his first season with the Phillies. However, he's shown signs of life of late, posting a .512 slugging percentage across his last 10 games. Luis Cessa has largely pitched out of the bullpen this season and is still tied for the fourth-lowest strikeout rate among the pitcher pool.
It's not often I want to spend up at catcher, but Will Smith ($5,000) isn't the average catcher. He has the third-highest wOBA and fourth-highest ISO among the Dodgers against lefties this season. Eric Lauer has faded substantially since his hot start, fueled largely by a 1.7 HR/9.
Value Hitters
Harold Ramirez ($3,400) is back from the injured list and he has hit anywhere between third and fifth in the Rays' lineup. He has a .413 wOBA – albeit with a .130 ISO – across 86 plate appearances against lefties on the season. Tucker Davidson had a good start his last turn through the rotation with the Angels, so this is a cheap spot to get exposure to the Rays based on Davidson's season-long struggles.
JJ Bleday ($2,000) hasn't had the most impressive of MLB debuts. However, the Marlins continue to hit him in the middle of their order, and Adam Oller has served up 2.0 HR/9 across 54 innings this season.
Stacks to Consider
Twins vs. Rangers (Cole Ragans): Carlos Correa ($5,000), Byron Buxton ($5,900), Jose Miranda ($3,900)
As was noted, Ragans has some prospect pedigree. However, he's served up four homers and eight earned runs combined across his last two starts covering 9.1 innings. The Twins have a number of regulars in the lineup who can lefties well, as each of Correa, Buxton and Miranda have a wOBA above .360 for the season. Miranda hits lower in the order than is typically desirable, but he adds a nice degree of value to an otherwise pricy stack.
Phillies vs. Reds (Luis Cessa): Rhys Hoskins ($4,700), Alec Bohm ($4,100), Nick Castellanos ($4,400)
There are two things that are primarily appealing about the Phillies stack. The first is the matchup against Luis Cessa, who has posted an unimpressive 17.3 percent strikeout rate and 1.4 HR/9 as a reliever this season. He won't pitch deep into the game because he isn't fully stretched out, so a Reds' bullpen that a league-worst 4.94 ERA for the season will have to carry a heavy load. There are a number of combinations to stack the Phillies, though the example has a number of decent values.
Atlanta at Pittsburgh (Roansy Contreras): Ronald Acuna ($5,400), Dansby Swanson ($4,900), Matt Olson ($4,600)
Like Ragans, Contreras has a lot of potential but that has yet to come to fruition in practice at the major-league level. He has a 10.3 percent walk rate and has allowed 1.5 HR/9, both marks that we want to target in stacks. It would be a bit more desirable to have this game set in Atlanta rather than Pittsburgh, but that shouldn't cap Atlanta's potential production much.
