The second full work week of the MLB season starts this Monday with a whole new set of 13 series starting across the league. Monday night’s DFS fantasy baseball slate gets underway at 7:07 p.m. ET and includes 14 teams in the player pool. While a few aces are making their third start of the year, several teams are still at the back end of the rotation, setting up favorable spots for some fireworks this Monday. Let’s take a look at the board and find some MLB DFS stacks to build your lineups around this Monday.
Before we get to the individual selections for Monday, let’s define exactly what we’re searching for. An ideal target for MLB DFS stacks is a team well-positioned to score plenty of runs based on its matchup and ballpark. “Stacking” is the strategy of adding multiple players from the same MLB lineup to your roster to boost each other’s production.
Ideally, MLB DFS stacks focus on players who are either back-to-back or from the same part of the lineup to allow positive correlation. Since most run-scoring plays produce fantasy points for multiple players, stacking a high-scoring team can carry your entry to the top of the leaderboard. The key to MLB DFS stacks paying off is finding the perfect matchup to attack, so let’s take a look at Monday’s top matchups.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $200K Knuckleball [$50K to 1st]!
1. Houston Astros
Yordan Alvarez ($6,500)
Jose Altuve ($5,500)
Jeremy Pena ($5,100)
Christian Walker ($4,800)
Cam Smith ($3,900)
The Astros are the obvious stack to attack this Monday since they’re playing at Coors Field and in a great matchup against Ryan Feltner ($6,000). Even though the conditions aren’t as homer-happy as they will be later in the summer, it’s still a good place for offense, especially since Houston is off to a fast start. As a team, the Astros lead the majors with 70 runs scored while no other team has more than 60. They’re hitting .282 as a team with 14 homers and a league-leading .202 ISO and 153 wRC+.
Feltner pitched three innings against the Blue Jays in his first start of the season, allowing one hit and no runs. He left that game early after taking a 106-mph comebacker off his backside and dealing with a right glute contusion. He won’t miss a start, though. He struggled in spring training with a 9.56 ERA and 17 runs allowed in 16 innings. Last year, he let lefties hit .293 with a .383 wOBA in his limited action.
Alvarez is averaging 14.3 FPTS per game on the season with four homers, and he has 14+ FPTS in eight of his last nine games. Altuve had 18 FPTS on Sunday in a loss to the Athletics and is averaging 11.0 FPTS per game. His best game of the season was a 40-FPTS performance against the Red Sox last week.
Pena is back in the leadoff spot on a regular basis, while Walker has plenty of experience playing at Coors Field from his time in the NL West. Smith has been a very solid value through his first 10 games this season, going 9-for-33 (.273) with two homers, three stolen bases and an average of 9.6 FPTS per game.
2. Chicago White Sox
Munetaka Murakami ($4,400)
Colson Montgomery ($4,000)
Chase Meidroth ($3,400)
Miguel Vargas ($3,300)
Luisangel Acuna ($2,300)
The Astros are a good stack but are on the pricey side, so let’s take a look at a cheap stack to consider as an alternative or to mix in with the ‘Stros in Colorado. The White Sox swept the Blue Jays over the weekend, outscoring Toronto, 14-7. The White Sox will take on the Orioles to start this week, facing righty Albert Suarez ($6,500) in the series opener. Suarez made his season debut last Wednesday, throwing three innings and earning a save against the Rangers. He had a rough spring training, though, giving up 10 runs on 16 hits in just 10 2/3 innings for a 7.59 ERA and 7.03 FIP.
The wind will be blowing out in the Windy City on Monday night, although it will be chilly. I still included Murakami in my top home run props for the night, since he’s already smashed four homers on the season and is averaging 9.9 FPTS. Montgomery is another lefty with power potential against Suarez, who is averaging 7.3 FPTS in his first nine games of the year. He has a pair of homers, but he has a low hard-hit rate early in the year.
Vargas has started the year with a nice run, producing double-digit FPTS in five of his last seven games. He’s a great value play against Suarez, along with Acuna, who is barely over the minimum salary despite picking up six hits in his last six games with four stolen bases, two runs scored and an average of 8.3 FPTS per game.
3. Colorado Rockies
Hunter Goodman ($4,400)
Ezequiel Tovar ($4,100)
Willi Castro ($3,200)
Mickey Moniak ($3,200)
TJ Rumfield ($2,800)
The Rockies are home against the Astros, and they’re a good bargain stack as they take on Cody Bolton ($4,000) and the Astros. Bolton is making his first MLB start after Hunter Brown (shoulder) landed on the 15-day injured list Sunday. Bolton has not even typically been a long reliever, although he did go three innings to earn a save against the Red Sox in his first appearance of the season. Bolton has a 5.60 career ERA over the last four seasons, spending time in the majors with the Pirates, Mariners, Guardians and Astros. He has allowed a 40.8% hard-hit rate and 9.2% barrel rate with a 4.61 xFIP.
Moniak started the season on the IL but has stepped right back into a productive role. He went 2-for-4 with 28 FPTS on Sunday against the Phillies, homering along with Rumfield to provide all the Rockies’ offense. Both lefties are good value plays that make sense in this matchup on Monday with high power upside.
Tovar and Goodman are a pair of right-handed bats who have been hitting near the top of the order and churning out solid production as well. Goodman had his first homer of the year last Tuesday against the Blue Jays and went 2-for-4 on Sunday. Tovar has reached base safely in each of his nine games, going 10-for-37 (.270) with two doubles, a home run and a stolen base.
Facing Brown, these salaries would have made sense, but they seem like a great place to attack the Astros at Coors Field this Monday with Bolton on the mound as the start of what will likely be a bullpen game.
