Monday’s MLB DFS Main Slates get underway at 7:07 ET and include 10 games on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The slate features a long list of solid to excellent pitchers, which is cutting into some of the overall power availability across the 20 teams in action. However, with site favorite target – even after his stunningly solid performance in Coors Field – Josiah Gray facing the powerful Angels lineup, and the Mets and Rangers also facing lower-end pitching, several of the league’s big boy teams should be in play atop the board today. The lone issue with stacking Angels bats in full for MLB DFS purposes will be the missing presence of Shohei Ohtani in the lineup on a day that he will also be pitching.

Main Slate Power Index – 4/11/23 – DraftKings & FanDuel Main Slates

The power index represents a team’s opportunity for home run upside in the matchup against the scheduled starting pitcher. This is not a direct guideline for stacking, but it can be utilized to determine the most likely sources of power-based contact, hitters who are not homering are frequently hitting doubles and driving in runs, and providing valuable MLB DFS scoring. The “Full” column is the average of our home run opportunity score for each player in the lineup from 1-9, while the “Top 6” column averages only hitters 1-6, where teams typically place their biggest bats.

The hometown Angels are facing Josiah Gray, a right-handed starter who has some ability and has posted respectable mid-20s strikeout rates in his brief career in the Majors, but one who also struggles greatly with issuing walks and even more with allowing home runs. Gray threw 148.2 innings in 2022, pitching to a 4.57 xFIP and a 5.02 ERA while allowing a massive 5.86% home run rate. In 2021 he threw 70.2 innings and gave up a 6.19% home run rate. While he is a pitcher who may develop as his career progresses, for now, Gray remains a ripe target for home run and run creation upside, throwing bats at him until further notice is the recommended approach. Outfielder Taylor Ward is in the leadoff role in the projected lineup once again. Ward hit 23 home runs with a .192 ISO, a 12.1% barrel rate, and a 42.4% hard-hit percentage last season, he is the first of five Angels hitters – NOT including Shohei Ohtani — who land over the 10 mark in our home run model. This makes the team playable even without one of their superstars available. The team can be stacked in part, or in full, or they may be a phenomenal source of one-off plays this evening. Superstar Mike Trout hit 40 home runs in just 499 plate appearances while posting a monstrous .347 ISO and a .630 slugging percentage last season. In 2021, Trout made just 146 plate appearances, hitting eight home runs but still posting an outrageous .291 ISO. Trout is a baseball demigod, he should be treated accordingly. Ohtani is pitching and hitting, so he will be able to help with run creation and could easily be the one to take Gray deep, but he is unavailable for MLB DFS hitting purposes. All the same, the typical Angels lineup runs on with Anthony Rendon, who missed last night’s game with shoulder soreness, and Hunter Renfroe. The pair of righties, assuming Rendon plays, are both over the 10-mark in our home run model, they make quality options for low prices at $4,000/$2,800 and $5,000/$2,800 from DraftKings to FanDuel respectively. Lefty Jake Lamb hit three home runs in 111 tries last year and seven in 170 the season before, the platoon specialist is playable in the outfield or at first base if he is in the lineup, he costs merely $2,400 on DraftKings; on FanDuel he is a $2,500 option at first or third base. Against Gray, even the bottom of hte lineup is flashing power potential, Gio Urshela could surprise with one of the seven or eight home runs he will hit this season, and catcher Logan O’Hoppe is pulling in an 8.33 mark. Infielder Luis Rengifo fills multiple positions for a cheap price, he could provide sneaky power potential as well, Rengifo quietly hit 17 home runs in 511 plate appearances last season, though nothing about his ISO or contact profile suggests that he is a long-term home run option.

Limited lefty Ryan Weathers is taking the mound for the Padres in a game on a very nice day for baseball in the New York area. With rising temperatures on a clear night, Weathers could be in trouble against all of the right-handed power in the Mets’ lineup. Weathers made just one start and threw 3.2 innings in an ignorable 2022, but he made 18 starts in 2021 and posted a 4.99% home run rate over his 94.2 innings. The southpaw pitched to a 4.71 xIP with a 5.32 ERA and allowed a 43.2% hard-hit rate to opposing hitters, the Mets have an opportunity to feast. Lefty Brandon Nimmo is in the projected leadoff role but may skip the spot against same-handed pitching, if he is playing he is playable against this starter and he flashes mid-range power potential with a 7.73 in the model. He is followed by right-handed speed burner Starling Marte, who has a bit of power potential of his own. Marte his 16 home runs in 505 plate appearances last year and 12 in 526 the year before. He does not have an elite contact profile, his barrel rate last season was just 6.8% and his hard-hit was a lowly 33.9% but he is a very capable bat-on-ball veteran who can take a lefty like Weathers over the wall. Both outfielders are excellent correlation pieces in full Mets stacks at the absolute worst. Francisco Lindor gets slightly more power as a lefty bat against a right-handed pitcher, but he has a .185 career ISO and a .474 slugging percentage with a 122 WRC+ against lefties for his career, with 53 of his 185 home runs coming with him hitting right-handed against a lefty pitcher. Lindor hits ahead of thumper Pete Alonso, who has five home runs already this year and has hit more than anyone in the combined years since his 2019 debut. Alonso is a no-brainer even at $6,100/$3,900, he is arguably far too cheap on FanDuel in fact. Tommy Pham, Mark Canha, and Jeff McNeil are not exactly home run threats in a serious way, but any of them can hit one out of the park, with Pham and Canha being the more likely of the trio. Pham hit 17 long balls in 622 plate appearances last year, Canha hit 13 in 542, while McNeil, the hit-tool specialist, managed only nine but slashed .326/.382/.454 and created runs 43% better than average. Eduardo Escobar has power upside from late in the lineup, he is another switch-hitter in this Mets batting order. Escobar hit 20 home runs last year and 28 in the 2021 season. Rookie Francisco Alvarez brings the idea of power potential in the Major Leagues to the plate with him this evening. The young backstop has just 18 plate appearances in the Show in his career to date, but he hit 27 home runs across AA and AAA last year and 22 in high-A the season before. Alvarez is a late-lineup target who may not be as popular as he should be in this matchup.