I hope everyone had a great weekend filled with baseball! Today we have a small slate of games to help us all get through our Monday. Only 6 games are happening today with a majority of teams getting the day off, but we get all 6 games on the slate for both DraftKings and FanDuel, with the first game starting at 7:05 PM EST, so there is plenty of time to get your DFS lineups perfect for today’s action. Today’s games are highlighted by Spencer Strider and Luis Castillo taking the mound, but both come with exorbitant price tags as well. On the offensive side, your choices will be limited, with a few great starters taking the mound as well as avoiding any pitchers you are putting in your lineup. With that said, my favorite offenses to target today include the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers. A small slate makes for some tough decisions to make on who to go after today when constructing your lineup, so let’s jump into some of my favorite value options of the day! 

 

MLB DFS Value Pitchers

Justin Verlander, New York Mets (DraftKings: $8,300 / FanDuel: $8,100) 

Justin Verlander seems to finally be showing his age as the 40-year-old has been far from the pitcher that he was during his Cy Young performance last year. That being said, he is still Justin Verlander, and a matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers should be a welcome sight for him after a tougher stretch of starts. Considering it has only been 9 starts, and he is coming off one of the best seasons of his career (which is saying something), I am going to give him a lot longer leash than you should normally be giving a player of this age. I will happily take him at this discounted price.

Dylan Cease, Chicago White Sox (DraftKings: $7,700 / FanDuel: $9,600) 

I had Dylan Cease in my playbook yesterday, so apologies if you were trying to start him when he ended up not actually starting yesterday. However, that means we get him today instead, and my opinion of him has not changed from yesterday even with his opposing team changing from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Angels. If you want to see some more reasons why I like Dylan Cease at this price, go check out yesterday’s playbook. 

MLB DFS Value Hitters

Jonah Heim, C Texas Rangers (DraftKings: $4,500 / FanDuel: $3,200) 

This one may seem slightly out of left field compared to my normal value picks. His price overall is high compared to most value picks and especially being a catcher, where I normally don’t like to pay up. Regardless, I think Jonah Heim, who has been a fantastic hitter all season, is a great value play today. Over his last 10 games, he has 4 home runs and a .991 OPS. On top of that, he also still holds a .902 OPS for the entire season against left-handed pitchers. This matchup against Matthew Boyd should be an ideal spot for both him and the Texas Rangers today, making Jonah Heim an exception as a value play at catcher with this price tag. 

Andrew Vaughn, 1B Chicago White Sox (DraftKings: $3,200 / FanDuel: $2,900) 

Andrew Vaughn provides decent power potential at first base for a low price. He has 3 home runs in his last 6 games, and while Reid Detmers has been fantastic lately, I am willing to take the chance on Vaughn at this price in the matchup against a lefty. He has also been getting to bat in the 2 spot in 4 of the last 6 games and in the 5 hole during the other two. This gives him a decent boost for me as well if he continues to get to hit in these more favorable lineup positions. 

Ezequiel Duran, OF Texas Rangers (DraftKings: $3,400 / FanDuel: $2,800) 

While I wish you could still put Ezequiel Duran at 2B and SS on DraftKings like you can on FanDuel, he is still a good value play at any of those positions. Over his last 7 games, Duran has had 12 hits, including 3 doubles, a triple, a home run, and a stolen base. He provides a great way to get a good hitting part of this strong Texas Rangers lineup without paying a ton. He continues to prove that he can hit with a .312 batting average on the season as well as being able to sprinkle in a home run and stolen base occasionally.

Eddie Rosario, OF Atlanta Braves (DraftKings: $3,800 / FanDuel: $2,900) 

I am not sure how long this hot streak is going to last for Eddie Rosario, but I am willing to ride it out for the time being. While he has slowed down a little bit after he hit 5 home runs in a span of 4 games, he has continued to get hits and is holding a .467/.610/1.033 slash line over the last 10 games. Yes, you see that correctly; that is a SLG of 1.033, giving him an OPS of 1.643. While facing Sonny Gray is no easy task, the Atlanta Braves offense is so good that I am still willing to continue to pay for this hot streak Eddie is on in this matchup. 

 

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