The New York Mets and Boston Red Sox will play Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX for the first time this season. The Red Sox will use lefty Josh Osich for “the opener” and then move to Zack Godley for the bulk of the game. The Mets will hand the ball over to right-hander Michael Wacha, who will make his first major league pitch not in a Cardinals’ uniform.
DraftKings will have Showdown DFS contests available for the matchup. We break down the ideal lineup strategy below, and you can play here.
Captain’s Pick
J.D. Martinez, SP, Red Sox: $14,400
The Mets will go with Michael Wacha tonight, who never quite lived up to his billing in St. Louis. In his career, the righty has had better strikeout numbers against right-handed hitters, but that’s where the positives end. Righties have hit him for a .330 wOBA while lefties have him at just .290 wOBA. He’s also allowed 1.25 home runs per nine innings to righties and just 0.71 to lefties. Martinez destroys lefties, but should be able to hit Wacha and over the last three seasons he’s hit righties for a .390 wOBA and .275 ISO.
Utility Picks
Brandon Nimmo, 1B/2B, Mets: $7,600
Pitching for this game isn’t projected to be stout, as the Red Sox will start with lefty Osich and them move to righty Godley after an inning or two. Manager Ron Roenicke hopes to get off to a good start with a lefty against a lefty-heavy lineup, but the bulk of the pitching should be against right-hander Godley. That sets up well for Nimmo if the team ends up giving him a good place in the lineup despite the lefty starting. Against righties, Nimmo has a .382 wOBA and a .398 OBP. He’s not much worse against lefties either and I expect he’ll start getting better spots in the lineup even against southpaws, sooner or later.
Zack Godley, P, Red Sox: $8,400
Godley isn’t the best pitcher and could get shelled, but his price makes him viable as the long reliever in this matchup. The reason I like this play is because the Mets have only scored five runs through three games. Godley is also a decent strikeout pitcher, who can easily give you 10 DK points through three to four innings.
Yoenis Cespedes, OF, Mets: $6,800
Cespedes has been away from the game for a couple years, but showed he can still get the ball out of the park on Opening Day. The pitching situation for Boston is a little crazy, but I’ll take the veteran home run hitter at a discount in a hitter friendly park like Fenway.