Fantasy baseball lineup advice for Monday: Griffin leads streamers in NL East clash

ESPN FantasyJun 21, 2026, 03:30 PM ET
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Check out all of our starting pitcher rankings and other lineup selection tools here to help you make smart fantasy baseball lineup decisions. All fantasy advice is geared toward ESPN 10-team leagues with standard scoring.

Note: All information is accurate as of the time of publication. For updates, as well as any breaking news that might impact today's MLB slate, be sure to check out the latest fantasy baseball buzz.

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ESPN's 2026 Draft Guide | Betting notes for Monday

STARTING PITCHERS FOR MONDAY

Pitchers are ranked in order of their Forecaster/Daily Notes projected fantasy points (FPTS), using ESPN's standard scoring system (2 points per win, minus-2 per loss, 3 per inning, 1 per K, minus-1 apiece per hit or walk allowed, minus-2 per earned run allowed).

T: The pitcher's handedness. OPP: Opposing team. RST%: The pitcher's roster percentage in ESPN leagues. W%: The individual starting pitcher's win probability using ESPN projections. IP: Projected innings pitched. H+BB: Projected hits plus walks allowed. ER: Projected earned runs allowed. K: Projected strikeouts.

If a team is planning on using an "opener" to start their game, but will rely on a "bulk pitcher" to follow him on the mound after 1-2 innings, the bulk pitcher is listed and indicated with an asterisk.

FPTS	Pitcher	T	Opp	Rst%	W%	IP	H+BB	ER	K
15.1	Drew Rasmussen	R	KC	90.2%	47%	6.2	6.5	1.8	6.2
12.6	Shota Imanaga	L	@NYM	81.7%	31%	5.7	6.1	1.9	5.6
12.5	Hunter Brown	R	@TOR	94.1%	37%	5.7	6.6	2.0	5.8
12.2	Foster Griffin	L	PHI	47.8%	39%	5.5	5.9	2.0	5.5
11.7	Michael King	R	ATL	80.7%	36%	5.8	7.1	2.2	5.5
11.2	Gavin Williams	R	@CWS	94.8%	35%	5.8	7.5	2.6	6.3
11.2	Anthony Kay	L	CLE	4.4%	32%	5.5	6.7	2.2	5.8
10.8	Dylan Cease	R	HOU	99.0%	22%	4.9	5.7	1.8	5.8
10.5	Framber Valdez	L	NYY	76.7%	33%	5.8	7.4	2.6	5.7
9.9	Michael Wacha	R	@TB	54.9%	26%	5.6	7.0	2.2	4.9
9.9	Gerrit Cole	R	@DET	89.4%	31%	5.5	6.8	2.7	5.4
9.8	Kumar Rocker	R	@MIA	2.8%	32%	5.4	6.9	2.3	4.9
9.7	Kodai Senga	R	CHC	6.5%	21%	4.8	5.9	1.7	4.7
9.1	Brandon Woodruff	R	@CIN	70.5%	25%	4.6	5.6	2.2	5.0
9.1	Merrill Kelly	R	@STL	23.0%	29%	5.7	7.2	2.7	4.6
8.9	Andre Pallante	R	ARI	11.6%	35%	5.7	7.5	2.5	4.3
8.7	Kyle Bradish	R	@LAA	61.5%	36%	5.7	7.9	3.1	5.7
8.2	Grant Holmes	R	@SD	10.3%	18%	4.5	5.8	1.9	4.6
7.9	Tyler Phillips	R	TEX	1.6%	23%	4.9	6.3	2.3	4.3
7.8	Zebby Matthews	R	LAD	6.4%	31%	5.8	7.9	3.4	5.2
7.8	Brady Singer	R	MIL	5.3%	23%	5.4	7.4	3.0	5.3
6.8	Eric Lauer	L	@MIN	2.7%	21%	4.8	6.7	2.7	4.4
4.6	Sam Aldegheri	L	BAL	0.4%	13%	4.4	6.7	2.7	3.7
2.4	Jake Bennett	L	@COL	0.4%	17%	4.4	6.8	3.9	4.0
0.7	Ryan Feltner	R	BOS	0.4%	22%	5.0	8.6	5.1	4.5
	TBD		@WSH	0.0%	0%	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Pitchers to stream on Monday

Foster Griffin has three quality starts over his last five outings, including his last two efforts. He compiled a 1.93 ERA and 0.96 WHIP over that span, fanning 26 in 28 innings. Next up is a home date with the Washington Nationals hosting the Philadelphia Phillies. While they have been better lately, the Phillies sport the third-lowest wOBA and eighth-worst strikeout rate on the road facing left-handers.
By way of warning, the rest of today's streaming recommendations carry more risk than usual, especially for the first day of the fantasy scoring period. But in the interest of dealing with what the slate offers, Anthony Kay is in play for the Chicago White Sox when they host the Cleveland Guardians. After posting a 1.95 ERA over six May starts, Kay has slipped to an 8.31 mark spanning three games. He hasn't pitched as poorly as his ERA suggests with 13 strikeouts and four walks over those 13 innings, but a .341 BABIP and 60.6% left-on-base level in the stretch inflated his ratios. Kay isn't likely to rack up a bunch of strikeouts, but the Guardians are missing Jose Ramirez and Chase DeLauter, leading to averaging the third-fewest runs per game in June.
Andre Pallante is seeking his third straight quality start with the St. Louis Cardinals hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has 11 punchouts and just two walks over those 13 frames. Pallante relies on his defense and pitcher-friendly Busch Stadium for success, which bodes well for Monday since the Diamondbacks have the third-lowest hard-hit rate facing righties, fueling the third-worst wOBA.

Hitters to stream on Monday

Over the years, Coors Field has been the elixir for many struggling offenses, and the Boston Red Sox are in a rut, scoring the second-fewest runs per game in June. The season-long slump has lowered the rostership of some players who could take advantage of a three-game road series with the Colorado Rockies. Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Willson Contreras, Jarren Duran, Caleb Durbin and Masataka Yoshida are all in play facing Ryan Feltner and his 5.05 ERA.