As we wrap up the month of June and start to look forward to the All-Star Game, there's still plenty of baseball going on that matter. Hey, it's not all about World Cup this week. Ray Flowers takes a look at the Monday matchups and points out some interesting factoids that may help to set your lineups.

* 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. Just because a player is not listed does not mean that he is a bad or good play. The players listed below are mentioned merely because of the BVP data for the matchup.

DISH DIAMONDS – The Best Hitting Matchups of the Day
 
Adrian Beltre has been his usual impressive self in 2014. The good times should keep on rolling Monday against Ubaldo Jimenez who he's battered for a .400-2-5 line over 20 at-bats. 

Rajai Davis has only one steal in 18 plate appearances against Scott Kazmir. Does it matter though if he's batting .500 with a homer and six RBIs? Probably not. Victor Martinez has obliterated Kazmir to the tune of a .478 average, one homer and four RBIs over 23 at-bats. 

Jacoby Ellsbury has seven hits in 10 at-bats against Chris Archer. He's also stolen two bags. 

Freddie Freeman has six hits in 11 at-bats against Zack Wheeler. He's got a homer, four RBIs and four walks leading to a 1.576 OPS over 15 plate appearances. Jason Heyward has also done his thing batting .417 with a 1.212 OPS over 13 plate appearances. 

David Murphy has had a really rough month of June. Maybe it will end on a high note. In 24 at-bats against Dan Haren he's hit .375 with two homers and seven RBIs. 

The Patterson Film has been enhanced. What do you think?

Luis Valbuena has six hits in 13 at-bats against the struggling Jake Peavy. 

Ben Zobrist had a big game Sunday. He's had a couple of big games against David Phelps as he's hit .417 with two RBIs over 12 at-bats.

DISH DISASTERS – Worst Hitting Matchups of the Day

Elvis Andrus should have success against Ubaldo Jimenez. He doesn't. In 14 at-bats he has two hits and one RBI. Alex Rios is also a mess in the matchup hitting .118 over 17 at-bats. At least he's swiped two bags. Carlos Pena, recently signed by the Rangers, has no hits in 11 at-bats.

Asdrubal Cabrera may as well just show up to the park sick Monday cause he ain't going to produce if he's in the lineup. In 23 at-bats he has hit .087 with seven Ks against Dan Haren. Carlos Santana has also been brutal with one hit in 12 at-bats (five strikeouts). Michael Brantley has hit .250 in 16 at-bats but he doesn't have an RBI and his .669 OPS isn't doing anything for anyone. 

Austin Jackson continues to really struggle. He's got three hits and nine strikeouts in 15 at-bats against Scott Kazmir. Guess those struggles will last another day.

It only seems like Chris Johnson sucks against everyone. He does stink against Zack Wheeler with two hits in 14 at-bats. As terrible as that .143 mark is, Justin Upton would kill to be that good. The slugger has five strikeouts and not one hit in 12 at-bats. 

Brandon Moss has five strikeouts in 14 at-bats against Anibal Sanchez. He's also produced only two hits leading to a .414 OPS. Yoenis Cespedes has one hit in nine at-bats while John Jaso has one hit in 10 at-bats. 

Albert Pujols has nine at-bats against Hector Noesi. He has one single and one RBI. He's also sporting an OPS under .700 in July. 

Drew Stubbs has no hits, and four punchouts, in 10 at-bats against Jordan Zimmermann. 

Burgers and pot... makes sense. 

Josh Willingham is batting zero in nine at-bats against Danny Duffy. Odd too since he's got a nearly .950 OPS against lefties this season. 

Bookmark the following three sources to check daily after you read this piece.

Fantasy Alarm Lineups

Batter Versus Pitcher

Daily Projections – For every single day of the season.

MOUND MAVENS – Starting Pitchers to Target

Danny Duffy pitches against the Twins in Minnesota Monday. In 38.1 innings on the road this season he's held batters to a .182 average while posting a 1.88 ERA and 0.89 WHIP. The Twins are also 19th in OPS against lefties so they're not exactly an explosive offense when lefties are on the mound. 

Jesse Hahn faces the Reds Monday in San Diego. The 6'5” rookie has made four big league starts and has allowed seven runs (six earned) leading to a 2.38 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. He's also struck out 27 batters in 22.2 innings. Petco is a good place to pitch, he's locked in, the Reds have never seen him and they rank 14th in OPS against righties. 

Corey Kluber has dropped his ERA from 3.35 to 3.09 over his last three starts as he's allowed four runs in three games. He's got a 3.21 ERA this season on the road and he's in LA to face the Dodgers Monday. He's also struck out 14 batters and walked just two his last two games and over his last 10 outings seven times he's allowed two or fewer earned runs (the other three games he allowed three, four and three runs). 

Mat Latos against the potentially historically bad Padres offense sounds like a good match when you consider that Latos looked sharp last time out allowing one run over seven innings against the Cubs. In his two road starts this season Latos has allowed one run in 13 innings... and he faces the Padres. Did I already say that?

Garrett Richards is on a roll... and then some. He's allowed all of four runs over his last five starts. He did walk five last time out though. Still, how do you not start him in Chicago against the White Sox when he has a 1.84 ERA and 0.99 WHIP over nine road starts.

Alex Wood faces a Mets club that has the second fewest homers versus lefties this season. The Mets are also 20th in OPS against lefties and they are 15th in road OPS. Wood allowed no runs and only three hits in his last starts to lower his ERA to 3.07. Start #2 since the recall should also be successful.

MOUND MESSES – Starting Pitchers to Avoid


Ubaldo Jimenez simply cannot be trusted. He's saddled his owners with a 4.70 ERA and 1.56 WHIP. He's the owner of a sickly 1.45 K/BB ratio. He's also walked at least five batters in three of his last four outings. The last time he went seven innings? Try back on May 13th. He faces the Rangers in Camden Yards.

Scott Kazmir allowed one run over nine innings the last time he faced the Tigers. However, the Tigers are 4th in baseball in OPS against lefties. The Tigers are also third in baseball in home OPS. Kazmir allowed seven runs over three innings last time out too. 

Hey man, it's only natural to fly a kite in the buff.

Collin McHugh faces the Mariners at home Monday. In six home starts he's sporting a 1.09 WHIP. However, the last time he faces the Mariners he allowed six runs, five earned, in four innings (May 4th). He's also holding a 4.11 ERA at home this season. He's also lost his last three outings and three of the last five times he's taken the bump he's failed to record more than 15 outs. 

Jake Peavy has a 4.93 ERA and 1.46 WHIP this season. He's not even carrying a 2:1 K/BB ratio. He allowed seven runs in his last outing. He has a 0-4 record in his last five games and is 1-6 on the year. He's also allowed six homers his last four outings. He faces the Cubs in Boston.

Zack Wheeler has a 4.45 ERA and 1.38 WHIP this season. That's terrible. In his last five starts he has two shutout effort and in the other three trips the to hill has allowed 14 runs over 10.2 innings. You want to trust that against the Braves? Good luck. 


Make sure you tune in to the Fantasy Alarm's Daily Game Show at 6 PM EDT, Monday through Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius210, XM87) as Jeff Mans and Ted Schuster will help you to set your daily lineups.