We’re now five days into the 2021 regular season, which means that we’re also five days into each team’s pitching rotation. Normally, this is where DFS players like to fill their team with bats and try to find the one or two pitchers who aren’t expected to implode.
It’s quite different this time.
The New York Mets’ season was delayed throughout the weekend due to COVID-19 concerns from their opponent, and it pushed the team’s Opening Day to Monday. More importantly, it pushes Jacob deGrom’s first start of the season to Monday. As you’ll soon discover in the pitching section, it’s a case of “deGrom and Company.”
Of course, we should never fully accept whatever we see at face value without digging a little deeper, so be prepared for other pitchers besides deGrom to have solid outings. That means the opposing lineups in some games are still off-limits.
Win cash playing in FanDuel’s MLB Squeeze 
We’re now five days into the 2021 regular season, which means that we’re also five days into each team’s pitching rotation. Normally, this is where DFS players like to fill their team with bats and try to find the one or two pitchers who aren’t expected to implode.
It’s quite different this time.
The New York Mets’ season was delayed throughout the weekend due to COVID-19 concerns from their opponent, and it pushed the team’s Opening Day to Monday. More importantly, it pushes Jacob deGrom’s first start of the season to Monday. As you’ll soon discover in the pitching section, it’s a case of “deGrom and Company.”
Of course, we should never fully accept whatever we see at face value without digging a little deeper, so be prepared for other pitchers besides deGrom to have solid outings. That means the opposing lineups in some games are still off-limits.
Win cash playing in FanDuel’s MLB Squeeze
Monday’s Starting Pitcher Strategy
This is probably the most straightforward decision you could possibly make in DFS, where the only debate is between using Jacob deGrom or “the field” in your lineup. Granted, “straightforward” doesn’t mean “easy,” but the lineup build starts here. In DraftKings, where you have two starting pitchers in your roster, I expect the bulk of people to use deGrom with a cheaper second pitcher. In FanDuel, the gap in salary from deGrom — at $11,000 — to the next-highest priced pitcher — Justus Sheffield at $7,200 — is so large that people will probably look for answers elsewhere. Personally, I plan to use deGrom on either site and find savings with hitters.
Cash Game Recommendations: Jacob deGrom
GPP Recommendations: Jacob deGrom, Justus Sheffield, Dustin May
Top Lineup Stacks
Chicago Cubs
- Home (Wrigley Field)
- Value: Medium
- Risk: Medium
- Game Type: Both
- Game Total/Moneyline: 10 Runs/CHC -115
Los Angeles Angels
Boston Red Sox
- Home (Fenway Park)
- Value: High
- Risk: High
- Game Type: GPP
- Game Total/Moneyline: 9.5 Runs/BOS +108
Kris Bryant and Javier Baez are both trying to recover from a dismal 2020 season, yet neither are off to a particularly blazing start. Bryant has a home run and is batting .333 on the new season, but I’m looking for the two of them to do their damage as part of Monday’s stack against Trevor Williams and the Milwaukee Brewers. My other core pieces are Mike Trout — who is always worth consideration — Jared Walsh — not because of the two home runs he hit on Sunday night, but because he’s a left-handed bat in one of the day’s top stacks — and Alex Verdugo — again, as a left-handed bat in a good stack that will be discussed in the “Monday’s Hitter Strategy” section below.
Jeff McNeil is priced incredibly low, Jackie Bradley, Jr. is an inexpensive option to gain exposure to the Brewers-Cubs game — where offense should thrive — and Tommy Pham will remain underpriced until he can hit his way to a higher salary. The other two players — Justin Upton and Marwin Gonzalez — are two cheap hitters in some of Monday’s best stacks.
Monday’s Hitter Strategy
Starting with the last stack on my list, how can we not expect the Boston Red Sox to eventually find a way to put runs on the scoreboard? They were completely shut down by the Baltimore Orioles and, while they face a much more difficult opponent with the Tampa Bay Rays coming to town, they aren’t likely to go through two series without scoring more than three runs in a game, and I’d prefer to buy into them before it happens instead of after — when the prices will rise. The risk is obviously massive, and I wouldn’t use a full stack of Boston in a lineup, but I would make sure to have some exposure — especially with the inexpensive players.
It’s quite difficult to make a lineup using any combination of either of my top two stacks — Los Angeles Angels and Chicago Cubs — with Jacob deGrom, but it’s not impossible. As we see most nights, we can’t stack everyone. This is actually why I started by writing about the Red Sox first, despite listing them as the third stack. As a whole, their players are less expensive than the ones I am targeting from the Cubs and Angels, so this was the easiest path to creating a lineup.
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Mario Mergola is a featured writer at FantasyPros and BettingPros and the creator and content-editor of Sporfolio. For more from Mario, check out his archive and follow him @MarioMergola.
