If you’re trying to get Tyler Glasnow or Walker Buehler in your lineup, or both on DraftKings, you’re going to need to find some value in this slate to afford those guys. Fortunately for you, I found seven great value plays for this evening that can provide your team with plenty of DFS production on top of salary flexibility. Well, without further ado, let’s head on into the Value Vault for this fine Monday!
Both Sites:
Willie Calhoun , OF TEX ($2,800 FD/$3,000 DK) - Calhoun is riding a nine-game hit streak and has five hits in his last two contests. He gets a solid matchup against Kenta Maeda , who has struggled to stay out of the middle of the zone in 2021. Calhoun is hitting .342 with a .916 OPS against righties this year and Maeda has served up an insane .471 wOBA to lefties this season. Ouch. Calhoun is a great value today, and even more so if he finds his name at the top of the lineup card again.
Alex Kirilloff , 1B MIN ($2,400 FD/$2,900 DK) - This is your daily reminder to continue plugging Kiriloff into your lineup until his price gets too far north. He’s riding a six-game hit streak and in his last three games, he has four home runs, four runs scored, and nine RBI. Again, consider this your daily reminder to roster Kiriloff.
DraftKings:
Mitch Haniger , OF SEA ($3,700) - Haniger is still too cheap on both sites. He has three hits in his last three games, including two home runs and four RBI. For the year, he’s hit seven round trippers with a .269 batting average, .277 ISO and .857 OPS. Against lefties he’s an automatic start, but even in this matchup against a righty, it's all systems go. Against righties this year, Haniger is hitting .253 with a .329 wOBA and four dingers. HE’S TOO CHEAP!
Mike Tauchman , OF SFG ($2,000) - He’s hitting .417 against righties this year, with one home run and five RBI in 12 at-bats. If he’s hitting second tonight, that’s a massive boost to his value overall. He should be there and he’s locked into playing time against righties. Lefties have posted a .710 OPS and .321 wOBA against Marquez this year, and there are a couple Giants with good BvP numbers against Marquez. Alex Dickerson (.467), Brandon Belt (.417) and Brandon Crawford (.357) are all hitting at least .350 against Marquez, and Tauchman should be hitting in front of those guys. Love it.
FanDuel:
Kolten Wong , 2B MIL ($3,100) - Wong has hit safely in four of his last five games and he gets a great matchup against Vince Velasquez . Wong is hitting leadoff for the Brewers and that should prove fruitful in this one. Velasquez hasn’t exactly been gracious to left-handed hitters this year, but I’ll put my faith in Wong’s .925 OPS against righties and .281 average when at home in 2021. I’m not stacking the Brewers, as they are hitting just .208 against righties this year, but Wong is the one bat I want from this lineup.
Max Muncy , 1B LAD ($3,200) - The Dodgers will likely be a popular stack in this one, and Muncy is a cheaper part of it, coming in just above three grand on FanDuel. Over his last 13.2 innings of work, Hendricks has allowed 16 earned runs on 24 hits, nine of which sailed over the fence. Yikes. All three of Muncy’s homers this year have come against righties, and he’s posted a .909 OPS against the right-handed variety. He may only have one hit in his last eight games, but he has three hits (2 XBH) in six career at-bats against Hendricks.
Wil Myers , OF SDP ($2,700) - Myers is too expensive to use on DraftKings, but he presents a cheap part of a potential San Diego stack against Tyler Anderson and the Pirates. Average wise, he hasn’t been great against lefties, but his .830 OPS and 9.5 AB/HR against southpaws is better than his OPS (.783) and AB/HR (32.0) against righties. If you’re stacking Padres tonight on FanDuel, make sure you throw Myers in there, too, as he’s a threat to leave the yard with every swing.
Player News
Rangers signed RHP Cory Abbott to a minor league contract.
Abbott had a 2.40 ERA in 15 innings for los Tecos de los Dos Laredos in the Mexican Independent League, striking out 15 batters and walking eight in an extremely hitter-friendly environment. He’s the third player signed out of the Mexican Independent League this week, with the Rangers also signing Robert Dugger and the Dodgers signing Nick Senzel. Abbott figures to join the starting rotation for Triple-A Round Rock.
Yordan Alvarez (hand) was diagnosed with a muscle strain on the top of his right hand.
The injury was previously reported as “inflammation,” but now we know that the inflammation is the result of a strain. Astros manager Joe Espada said the diagnosis was “good news,” and the team still hopes Alvarez will have a minimum stint on the IL, but he’ll obviously need to wait for the strained muscle or tendon to heal, which might take more than a week depending on the severity of the strain.
Royals signed RHP Stephen Nogosek to a minor league contract.
The 30-year-old last appeared in an MLB game for the Mets back in 2023. He was in the Nationals organization last season, but was released in May after posting a 9.77 ERA in 15 2/3 innings. He has a 5.02 career ERA in 57 1/3 MLB innings and figures to serve as organizational depth for the Royals’ bullpen.
Nick Senzel is playing third base and batting fifth for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old was signed out of the Mexican Independent League after hitting .591/.654/1.136 in 26 plate appearances with three home runs and 10 RBI. He’ll likely serve as a utility player in Triple-A and be a fallback option for the Dodgers at multiple spots in the field.
Christian Koss is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Giants on Wednesday against the Cubs.
After Koss was on the bench on Tuesday, he’ll be right back in the lineup on Wednesday. The 27-year-old has gone 7-for-37 so far this season with 11 strikeouts and is not an option in fantasy leagues.
Brice Turang is not in the starting lineup for the Brewers on Wednesday against the Astros.
The Brewers are facing left-hander Framber Valdez, so they are opting to go with a more right-handed-heavy lineup with Vinny Capra at third base and Caleb Durbin shifting to second base. However, Turang had started against a left-hander on Sunday, and the Brewers had Turang on the bench on Monday, so he has now sat out two of the last three games. It’s likely nothing to worry about, but is just interesting to note.