Our experts are here to provide you the best hitters and pitchers to build your daily fantasy baseball lineups around on Monday.
Hitters to build around
Kyle Soppe -- Nick Williams, Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies are using September to explore some of their young talent, and they have to be encouraged with what Williams has shown (.308/.330/.473 this month). He's routinely hitting in the middle of the order, and with his .209 ISO against righties, I like this price point. Any rookie is going to come with risk, but you're telling me I can get a promising talent dirt cheap against a pitcher whose OPS against left-handed hitters is nearing 1.000? Sign me up.
Eric Karabell -- Paul DeJong, St. Louis Cardinals
Jon Lester is on the hill for the Cubbies, and that hasn't gone so well of late -- the lefty allowed seven runs in his most recent outing and didn't register a strikeout. Lester has allowed 21 of his 25 home runs to right-handed hitters, which DeJong is. DeJong leads the Cardinals with 24 home runs, despite playing in only 101 games, and has already homered off Lester.
Joe Kaiser -- David Peralta, Arizona Diamondbacks
Peralta is swinging a hot bat (8-18, 1 HR, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 5 BB over the past seven days) and is at home tonight against struggling Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto. While Peralta is hitless in six tries against Cueto, he is batting .306 with an .831 OPS vs. RHP this season and has similarly good stats at home (.305 BA, .843 OPS).
Tristan H. Cockcroft -- Christian Yelich, Miami Marlins
Coors Field games are obvious, but Yelich's price is awfully low considering his talent. He'll battle Tyler Chatwood, a pitch-to-contact type whose 19.1 percent strikeout rate ranks 26th-lowest among the 82 pitchers with at least as many innings as he's thrown, and keep in mind that Yelich is a .291/.380/.500 second-half hitter and .305/.392/.498 hitter in road games this season.
Pitchers to build around
Kyle Soppe -- Ricky Nolasco, Los Angeles Angels
I understand not being even remotely comfortable with Nolasco leading your DFS team tonight, but winning a DFS tournament requires a certain level of risk, and I think this play makes some sense. Good luck finding a bottom-five-priced pitcher who is considered a pretty decent favorite by the wiseguys in Las Vegas, and I'm buying that train of thought against a White Sox team that owns the fourth-lowest wOBA vs RHP this season. I'm not saying Nolasco is a safe play, but if you want to load up on Rockies tonight at Coors against an underwhelming contact pitcher, rostering Nolasco will save the salary you need.
Eric Karabell -- Zack Godley, Arizona Diamondbacks
There's marginal risk in trusting a starting pitcher the day after his team clinches a playoff berth, because the lineup could look a lot different. Godley, however, boasts excellent numbers in home games this season (3.03 ERA, 0.94 WHIP) and figures to bounce back from his most recent outing, when the Padres scored five runs off him. Prior to that, Godley had permitted three runs in 21 innings. The Giants have baseball's worst record, so Godley couldn't ask for a better matchup.
Joe Kaiser -- Luke Weaver, St. Louis Cardinals
What a month the 24-year-old right-hander is having, posting a 1.52 ERA and 0.85 WHIP with 29 strikeouts in 23 2/3 IP. While the Cubs have been better against right-handers in the second half of the season than they were back in April, May and June, this is still a matchup advantage for Weaver. It also helps that Weaver is so stingy with surrendering the long ball, having allowed just four homers in 52 2/3 IP this season and none in his past three starts.
Tristan H. Cockcroft -- Johnny Cueto, San Francisco Giants
At this time of year, I like to examine playoff-clinching scenarios, because teams that lock in their playoff positioning very often rest a good number of their regulars the day after. The Arizona Diamondbacks qualify, having locked themselves into hosting the National League wild-card game and only that specific seed, making it much more likely they might rest Paul Goldschmidt (15 straight starts), J.D. Martinez (eight straight and 18 of the past 19) and A.J. Pollock (six straight and 18 of 19). Cueto is coming off a quality start and is far too cheap on Monday night -- but of course check the Diamondbacks' lineup first!