It’s Patriot Day! The Angels and Shohei Ohtani start early at Fenway, but we still have a nice offering of nine games on the MLB DFS main slate. As we do every Monday, we're here to highlight some of the top sleepers and value plays on FanDuel and DraftKings. Veteran daily fantasy baseball owners know that things can change once lineups come out, so be sure to keep track of all MLB starting lineups and Hitter Matchups (BvP) on RotoBaller to add to the research below.
Value picks are always relative, but for this piece, we'll try to target hitters under $4,000 on DraftKings and under $3,000 on FanDuel and pitchers under $6,000 on DK and $7,000 on FD. We'll also point out any player we feel is sorely underpriced for his expected production.
The main slate locks at 7:10 p.m. ET., so get those lineups ready. Good luck!
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Best SP values, sleepers for Monday's MLB DFS contests
Kyle Freeland, Rockies vs. Pirates ($7,100 DK, $8,200 FD)
We're bending the rules a bit here, but Freeland is $100 over on DK and $200 over on FanDuel. Yeah, he’s pitching in Colorado, but Freeland has been solid at home this year. He has allowed two solo homers in his two starts at Coors in 12.2 innings. The kicker? Freeland struck out five Nationals and five Cardinals in his two home starts. With Pittsburgh’s elevated strikeout totals, we could see a slight uptick in that number, as well.
Kyle Muller, A's vs. Cubs ($6,600 DK, $6,600 FD)
Muller got thumped in Camden by the righty-heavy Orioles last week, but his two home starts before that were really good. Muller only allowed three runs in 10.2 innings against two solid teams (Angles and Guardians). The strikeouts leave something to be desired, but Muller shouldn’t hurt you much as a value play. If you’re in a large-field GPP, you can justify taking a flier on Hayden Wesenski on the other side of this game, but he's been wild at best and a disaster at worst. Proceed with caution.
Best infield values, sleepers for Monday's MLB DFS contests
Rowdy Tellez, Brewers @ Mariners ($3,500 DK, $3,400 FD)
Tellez is more appealing on DraftKings. Yeah, Seattle is a really big park, but Rowdy has light-tower power, shown by his two-homer game in San Diego last week. Chris Flexen just got smoked by the Cubs in Wrigley last week and has been living dangerously all season. He doesn’t miss bats at all. If Rowdy makes contact, the ball will go a long way.
Whit Merrifield, Blue Jays @ Astros ($3,200 DK, $2,900 FD)
Merrifield is hitting a solid .273, but he hasn’t left the yard and has six RBIs in 12 games. The good news? Merrifield has scored points in all 12 games in which he's played this season. Merrifield is solid yet unspectacular, but both of his lifetime hits against Cristian Javier are homers.
Vaughn Grissom, Braves @ Padres ($3,100 DK, $2,800 FD)
Grissom has been expedited to the majors with the injury to Orlando Arcia and has hit the ground running. He has four hits in his first three major league games with a double and a pair of RBIs. Not bad at all. He has been an adventure in the field, but DFS players don’t care about that. We’ll take a handful of points at a low price and move on.
Patrick Wisdom, Cubs @ A's ($3,900 DK, $3,200 FD)
Wisdom has homered in three straight games and is still under $4K on DraftKings. He’s a little over the "value" threshold on FD, but he's still completely worth it. Wisdom gets a young lefty (Kyle Muller) on the mound tonight.
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Best OF values, sleepers for Monday's MLB DFS contests
Lars Nootbaar, Cardinals vs. Diamondbacks ($3,700 DK, $3,000 FD)
This might be Nootbaar’s only appearance in the values piece this season. He jammed his thumb on opening day and wasn’t able to return until Saturday. In those two games, Nootbaar went 1-for-3 with a homer, two RBIs, a steal, and six walks. Six! Enjoy the discount. He also has a homer against Merrill Kelly in his career.
Jarred Kelenic, Mariners vs. Brewers ($3,300 DK, $3,400 FD)
Kelenic has finally figured things out. He showed signs of breaking through last season but never really did, but he's hitting .441 with four homers, eight RBIs, four walks, and two steals in his past 10 games. He has a tough matchup against Corbin Burnes today, but it’s hard to ignore this kind of potential -- and hot streak -- at this low of a price.
Esteury Ruiz, A's vs. Cubs ($2,800 DK, $2,200 FD)
The rookie is riding a seven-game hitting streak with 10 hits, five RBIs, and three steals in that span. That’s a whole lot of crooked numbers for a guy priced this low. Singles and steals count, too! Who cares if he hasn’t hit a homer yet?
