The last week of the MLB season is upon us. Ray Flowers points out some of the matchups for Monday to help you set your lineup, and he also takes a look at what transpired on the diamond Sunday. Are you still playing for fantasy baseball gold? We hope so.

Jose Altuve is batting .413 in September. It just won't stop. Wow. He's up to .345 on the year. 

Carlos Gomez has one hit in 23 at-bats if I'm not mistaken. His batting average is down to .281.

Billy Hamilton went 0-for-2 Sunday. He's now hitting .254 with a .296 OBP. His September numbers: two steals, three CS, .143 batting average. Yeah, he really can hit, can't he?

Hisashi Iwakuma lost his third straight effort Sunday. He's done. Said after the game that he's healthy, but admitted he was fatigued. Over his last six starts his ERA is a hideous 9.25. He's also failed to last five innings in four of the six outings. 

Matt Kemp had four hits (a homer) and four RBIs Sunday. He's only stole eight bags on the season but the other four numbers are pretty solid: .286-23-84-73. Needs the wheels to be an elite fantasy play, but the bat once again plays in any league. 

Corey Kluber is a demi-god. He's flat out amazing. Sunday he struck out 14 batters. That's a second straight game with 14 strikeouts for Kluber. That's just the 15th time a hurler has done that over the past 100 years. That's good. The last to do it was Randy Johnson in 2004. He pushed his record to 17-9, his strikeout total up to 258, and dropped his ERA to 2.53. Kluber's money, and he doesn't even know it.

Two outfielders that might help in the last week. Jake Marisnick had two hits, a homer and three RBIs Sunday. Michael Saunders hit a two run homer for the Mariners Sunday. Both guys are solid power/speed combos that might be worth something if you're desperate.

Collin McHugh has been nails the last eight times he's taken the bump. Nails. He's pitched like he's a Cy Young winner actually. Check it: 7-0, 1.88 ERA, 0.91 WHIP. He's walked six men, six, over 52.2 innings. Wowzahs. One, in case you missed it, the Astros shut down his running mate Dallas Keuchel with a career-high 200 innings pitched. I don't know of any expert that said 'you want DK' in February, but I will give him tons of credit. I did not think that his hot start would continue. It did. He ends the year with 12 wins, a 2.93 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. Nervous about the 6.57 K/9 rate, but that 63.5 percent ground ball rate is mind numbingly good. Too big a number to expect a repeat in 2015? Likely.

Yasiel Puig had two hits and is batting .425 over his last nine games. Pushed his season long average back up to .301 has he.

Albert Pujols has 27 homers, 87 runs scored and drove in his 101st run Sunday. Strong season sure. Strong fantasy season? Nope, not with a .275 batting average and five steals. That league average .328 OBP is also exceedingly disappointing for a guy who owns a career mark of .404. The last time he was over .345 in a season was 2011.

Luis Valbuena has eight hits in his last 19 at-bats and he's scored five times in his last five games. Who needs Kris Bryant? OK, that's not fair – and obviously wrong – but let's look at Valbuena this way. No one paid attention in mixed leagues, but in NL-only leagues... he's been fantastic given his draft day cost: .252-16-51-66-1. Pretty solid.

 


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DFS PLAYBOOK

Fantasy Alarm Lineups

Batter Versus Pitcher

Daily Projections – For every single day of the season.

* NOTE: Players are listed in alphabetical order for the sake of making them easily sortable/findable. The matchups are also generated based on Batter vs. Pitcher data. 

DISH DIAMONDS – The Best Hitting Matchups of the Day
 
Billy Butler is batting .412 with two homers in 17 at-bats against Carlos Carrasco.

Brett Gardner has two doubles, a homer, five RBIs an a .417 average in 12 at-bats against Wei-Yin Chen

Yan Gomes has five hits, including a homer, in 10 at-bats against Danny Duffy. Carlos Santana is batting .375 with a homer in 16 at-bats. 

Didi Gregorius: 7-for-14 against Ricky Nolasco.

Matt Holliday has hit .351 with four homers and eight RBIs in 37 at-bats against stinky lefty Travis Wood. Yadier Molina murders him too with a .400-3-12 line in just 35 at-bats. Oh, and so does Jon Jay (.414 with five RBIs in 29 at-bats).

DJ LeMahieu has hit .429 over 21 at-bats against Eric Stults

Russell Martin has eight hits in 17 at-bats against Aaron Harang. He's driven in two and not struck out. 

Luis Valbuena has eight hits in 20 at-bats. That's a smooth .400 average against Adam Wainwright. He’s also gone deep. Anthony Rizzo has hit .333 with a homer in 24 at-bats. 

DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day

Robinson Cano a mere .200 hitter in 20 at-bats against J.A. Happ

Chris Carter superstar in the second half. He's also struck out five times in 16 at-bats against the surging Derek Holland while batting .250.

Coco Crisp, and it's ugly, has hit .175 over 40 at-bats against C.J. Wilson. At least he has a homer and two steals. Derek Norris has a .192 average over 26 at-bats. Alberto Callaspo is batting .207 over 29 at-bats. And then there is Josh Reddick (.143 in 21 ABs).

David Freese has just two singles, and six strikeouts, in 14 at-bats against Jeff Samardzija.

Alex Gordon has two hits in 14 at-bats against Carlos Carrasco

Hunter Pence has one hit in 16 at-bats when Dan Haren is on the bump.

Hanley Ramirez has three hits in 20 at-bats (.150) against Jake Peavy. Andre Either is even worse. He has five hits, and 11 Ks, in 34 at-bats (.147).

MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target

Carlos Carrasco faces the Royals Monday. He rebounded from a down effort to, ho hum, throw a complete game shutout with 12 strikeouts. Here are his numbers since August 9th: 5-1, 1.17 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 9.83 K/9, 1.17 BB/9. Any questions?

Wei-Yin Chen has a 16-4 record.  He's also gone 4-0 over his last seven outings. He faces the Yankees Monday, coming off three outings of three runs allowed, on the road. He's posted a 3.38 ERA and 1.14 WHIP away from home. 

James Paxton has made 11 starts. He's yet to allow more than three earned runs in a game. He also has a 2.16 ERA and 1.08 WHIP on the road. He faces the Blue Jays.





C.J. Wilson has won his last three starts. He's allowed two earned runs his last two starts. The current Athletics roster has a .631 OPS off Wilson in 296 plate appearances. He does have a poor 5.18 ERA on the road this season, but the A's are in a tailspin and he's long had success against this group. 

MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid

Aaron Harang at home against the Pirates. He's 1-4 in his last five outings, has a 1.45 WHIP at home, and over his last seven outings he owns a 5.01 ERA and 1.52 WHIP. 

Kyle Lobstein faces the White Sox for the Tigers. He's only worked six innings in one of five outings. He only has one win in five outings. He has a terrible 1.64 K/BB ratio. 

Eric Stults has gone 1-4 in his last five. He has four strikeouts his last two games and 12 in his last four starts. Hell, 15 in his last five. Just nothing up here to get excited at all. He pitches at home against the Giants and he hasn't been very good at Petco (4.39 ERA, 1.44 WHIP).

Travis Wood. Awful. Faces the Cardinals. Not interested. Simple as that. 
 

Make sure you tune in to the Drive at 7 PM EDT, Monday through Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius210, XM87), to hear Ray Flowers pontificate about the world of sports.