It is the start to another week, and we know that Monday always means a short slate. Thankfully, this one isn’t terrible from a starting pitching perspective and even though there are only five games we still have a few good options, so we aren’t just holding our breath and waiting for a tsunami of runs coming against our starters. Whether you are looking to pay up, play middle-of-the-road, or rolling the dice with a cheap option here are some guys I like for your Monday DFS lineups.
Top Tier
Freddy Peralta, MIL – One of the great stories of the 2021 season, Peralta has allowed more than two earned runs just once since May 5th. His ERA sits at 2.21 and his WHIP is well under 1.00 at 0.89. He hasn’t pitched against the Cubs since April but in three starts allowed three earned runs over 15 innings pitched with 25 strikeouts. The better news for Peralta is the Cubs just traded off their three best hitters in Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javy Baez so their lineup now has Willson Contreras and a bunch of guys you aren’t afraid of pitching to. The only drawback here is the game is in hitter-friendly Wrigley Field, but Peralta has pitched pretty well there both times this season.
Luis Castillo, CIN – The first two months of the season were an actual nightmare for Castillo, but he has really turned his season around since the calendar switched to June. He has not allowed more than three earned runs since May 23rd and has only allowed three earned runs three times since that date. The soon-to-be Guardians don’t have a bad win-loss record, but they are hitting just .234 as a team against right-handed pitching and they have scored the fifth fewest runs in the American League this season. There isn’t a whole lot to be afraid of in the Indians order outside of José Ramírez, and they have been scoring runs very inconsistently this year. Castillo should be able to continue his roll on Monday.
Mid-Tier
Joe Musgrove, SD – It was between him and Jameson Taillon, but I went with the pitcher with the better stats and the better matchup. Musgrove has allowed two earned runs or less in four of his last five starts including one against the Marlins who he will face on Monday where he allowed two runs over six innings with four strikeouts. The Marlins have the fifth most strikeouts in all of baseball and hit just .238 as a team against right-handed pitching. They also traded their best hitter at the break. Only the Mets, Pirates, and Rangers have scored fewer runs than the Marlins in the entire Major Leagues.
Zach Thompson MIA – He hasn’t gone deep into games, but Thompson has been very effective this season and is sitting on an ERA under 3.00. He also has 43 strikeouts in 42.2 innings pitched this year. He pitched against the Padres once this season and allowed three runs over five innings and struck out three. He gets a bit of a break with Fernando Tatis on the shelf, but right now Thompson is worth a shot on a short slate even without the best matchup.
Value Tier
Carlos Hernández, KC – There is certainly some risk here as the Yankee bats have woken up here some lately, but there is still reason for some optimism with Hernandez. First, he hasn’t been bad. Since being a starter in the last month he has only allowed more than two earned runs once. He has also struck out ten guys in the last eleven innings he has pitched and 48 in his 39.1 innings this season. I mentioned that the Yankees have been scoring more of late but they still have the second fewest runs in the American League and are hitting just .226 as a team against right-handed pitching and are in the top third of most strikeouts for all of the Major Leagues.