A larger than usual Sunday slate is embellished with a twin bill in Queens as the Miami Marlins kick off their eight game with a pair against the New York Mets, featuring Jacob deGrom trying to even his record at 7-7 in the nightcap. Even with the beefier schedule, the supply of spot starters isn't especially meaty, though hitting is in its usual juicy supply.
Good luck getting off to a strong start to the week. Here are some ideas aimed to keep your Monday lineup at full strength, all available in at least half of ESPN leagues.
Pitching
Jeff Samardzija (R), rostered in 24% of ESPN leagues, San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals: Get over it friends, Samardzija is a decent fantasy pitcher, checking in as the 39th starting pitcher on the Player Rater, akin to an SP4 in standard ESPN leagues. Admittedly, the Nationals aren't the easiest foe, but Samardzija has the comfort of working at Oracle Park on his side and has allowed just one run on seven hits in his past dozen innings.
Sandy Alcantara (R), 6%, Miami Marlins at New York Mets: An advantage of using a pitcher working on game of a doubleheader is he usually faces a lesser lineup as most managers try to get most of their hitters into one game. The Mets production with a righty on the hill is already below average so depending on who starts, Alcantara could be in a good spot to reverse his second half swoon.
Aaron Civale (R), 1%, Cleveland Indians vs. Texas Rangers: With Danny Salazar back on the injured list and Trevor Bauer dealt to the Reds, the Indians turn to Civale. The 24-year old right-hander was summoned for a spot start in June, tossing six scoreless frames at home against the Tigers. While toiling for Triple-A Columbus, Civale posted a tidy 2.13 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 43 1/3 innings, fanning 46.
Bullpen
The Marlins are likely to be underdogs both games against the Mets, but you never know. Unfortunately, it isn't clear who would be called upon to save a Fish victory with Jarlin Garcia, Taylor Guerrero and Jose Quijada in the mix though most tag Garcia as the likeliest.
Hitting
Catcher -- Matt Wieters (S), 1%, St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers (RHP Tony Gonsolin): Wieters isn't hitting for average but he is producing with four homers over the last three weeks. While Dustin May portends to be a future star, Gonsolin is just roster filler. The 25-year old right-hander has allowed five runs in eight frames with the Dodgers this season while registering a pedestrian 4.58 ERA and 1.58 WHIP for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
First Base -- Michael Chavis (R), 37%, Boston Red Sox vs. Kansas City Royals (LHP Mike Montgomery): Part and parcel to most rookies with swing-and-miss in their game, Chavis is in another rut, though Montgomery hasn't displayed the stuff to tale advantage. For the season, Chavis has cracked 7 of his 17 homers off southpaw pitching despite 60% fewer plate appearances with the platoon edge.
Second base -- Scooter Gennett (L), 36%, San Francisco Giants vs. Washington Nationals (RHP Erick Fedde): Gennett's track record with the platoon bump is positive. On Monday, he draws a right-hander ranked second-lowest on today's card, who is coming off a shellacking imposed by the Braves, during which Fedde allowed nine runs in just 3 2/3 innings.
Third Base -- Todd Frazier (R), 3%, New York Mets vs. Miami Marlins (RHP Sandy Alcantara): Standard procedure for a doubleheader is loading up on players from both sides to rack up extra at bats. That said, as alluded to earlier, teams don't often use their hitters in both games. Still, it never hurts to try since someone like Frazier can pinch hit and stay in the game.
Shortstop -- Eric Sogard (L), 18%, Tampa Bay Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays (RHP Jacob Waguespack): After playing over his skis for the Blue Jays earlier this season, Sogard cooled down a bit before reverting to previous form after being dealt to the Rays. Sogard will look to continue his recent hot streak against his former club and a vulnerable pitcher in Waguespack who has fanned just 24 in 30 MLB innings.
Corner Infield -- Eric Thames (L), 4%, Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates (RHP Dario Agrazal): Like Kipnis, Thames is another repeat pick as his matchup is too good to ignore. Agrazal's surface numbers of a 3.65 ERA and 1.19 WHIP seem impressive, but the underlying metrics scream, "Watch out!". He's only fanned 18 in 37 frames while issuing 10 free passes and allowing eight homers. A .238 BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is the main reason Agrazal's ERA is well under his 6.20 xFIP and 5.80 SIERA.
Middle Infield -- Scott Kingery (R), 36%, Philadelphia Phillies at Arizona Diamondbacks (RHP Merrill Kelly): Kelly has surrendered five homers in his last two outings. For the season, 14 of the 21 long balls he's allowed come courtesy of a righty swinger. Kingery has blasted 9 of his 13 round trippers without the platoon edge.
Outfield -- Leury Garcia (S), 11%, Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers (RHP Spencer Turnbull): Runs are an overlooked category in rotisserie and a latent contributor to points scoring. The White Sox lineup in total may not be potent, but the top of the order is solid. To wit, Garcia's 62 runs in 100 games through Saturday prorate to 110 on the season. The Pale Hose should be able to do some damage against Turnbull, who was summoned from a rebab stint (sore back) earlier than expected.
Outfield -- Harold Ramirez (R), 3%, Miami Marlins at New York Mets (RHP Jacob deGrom): With Jacob deGrom slated to work in the opener of Monday's doubleheader, Marlins batters aren't as alluring as those of the Mets, but opportunities still mean something. Ramirez is starting the first game, so there's a chance he misses the juicier matchup against Walker Lockett. Ramirez's skill set is a mixed bag. He has four homers the last three weeks and has made excellent contact recently, fanning just five times in last 41 trips to the dish. However, he has only one walk in that span.
Outfield -- Bubba Starling (R), 1%, Kansas City Royals at Boston Red Sox (RHP Rick Porcello): Lately, Porcello has been equally philanthropic to both sides of the plate so don't sweat Starling lacking the platoon bump. The 26-year old outfielder hasn't done anything to reclaim his prospect shine since being promoted in mid-July, this is just an effort to get exposure to a struggling pitcher allowing 10 homers over his previous 28 2/3 stanzas.