Daily MLB lineups for Monday

— -- Lineups are an important part of the daily fantasy baseball research process. Whether you're playing daily fantasy or setting a lineup in a season-long league with daily changes, you'll want to make sure your preferred players are starting and in favorable spots in the order.

With that in mind, ESPN will provide daily lineups for every MLB team along with some expert advice on how fantasy players should approach the day's lineups and matchups. 

Please note  projected lin eups are used until confirmed lineups are announced. Confirmed lineups are paired with the sources we use to populate the batting order, which is linked in each team's lineup module. Updates (including scratches) will be reflected as they become available.

Note: Projected lineups are educated guesses by our editors, who consider platoon matchups, recent lineups, injuries, news and other factors. All times listed are ET.

Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7 p.m.

Cubs third baseman Tommy La Stella bats second for the first time all season, making him an excellent value play against Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole. La Stella is 10-for-28 with five doubles and a home run against righties this season.

Anthony Rizzo is 6-for-17 with a double and two walks in his career against Cole.

Among Pirates starters, Andrew McCutchen (9-for-30, two homers, two doubles) and Francisco Cervelli (5-for-10, a double) have had the most success against Cubs righty Jason Hammel.

Texas Rangers at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 p.m.

Prince Fielder, Mitch Moreland and Adrian Beltre have all homered off Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Texas is sending right-hander A.J. Griffin to the mound tonight in Toronto, and that's significant for a number of reasons for Jays slugger Josh Donaldson. The third baseman leads the team with four home runs and a 1.144 OPS at Rogers Centre this season, and he also has six home runs and a .924 OPS against righties.

Russell Martin, mired in a season-long slump and batting just .148 at home this season, has the night off while Dickey is on the mound. Dickey's personal catcher, Josh Thole, starts in his place and bats ninth.

San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 p.m.

Joe Panik, who has missed the last two games due to a groin injury, remains out. Matt Duffy slides up to bat second after getting used to the third spot in the lineup over the past week, and Kelby Tomlinson replaces Panik at second base and bats eighth.

Angel Pagan is out of the lineup for the Giants, with Mac Williamson getting a spot start in left field.

Guess who's batting leadoff for the Reds? You got it -- the speedy Billy Hamilton. Hamilton has just two hits in 13 at-bats atop the lineup this season, having spent most of April as the team's nine hitter.  Zack Cozart, Adam Duvall and Devin Mesoraco are all nursing injuries, and all are out of the lineup for Cincinnati.

Atlanta Braves at New York Mets, 7:10 p.m.

Small sample size, but it's still worth mentioning that Asdrubal Cabrera and Lucas Duda both have homered off of Atlanta's Mike Foltynewicz, who was recalled from Triple-A to make Monday's start.

Mets third-place hitter Michael Conforto enters the week red-hot at the plate, batting .440 (11-for-25) with two home runs and five doubles in his last six games.

Reid Brignac makes his 2016 debut in the big leagues after batting .329 in 22 games with Triple-A Gwinnett. He bats sixth for the Braves.

Los Angeles Angels at Milwaukee Brewers, 7:20 p.m.

Of the Brewers with at last 10 at-bats against Angels veteran Jared Weaver, none have had much success. Chris Carter (4-for-20), Aaron Hill (4-for-15) and Jonathan Villar (1-for-13) are a combined 9-for-48 against him.

Ryan Braun leads all Brewers regulars with a 1.050 OPS against righties. He also has clubbed three homers and added four doubles and two steals against right-handed pitching this season.

The Angels' hottest hitter, C.J. Cron (who is 8-for-15 at the plate in his last four games), is out of the lineup as the Angels don't have the benefit of a designated hitter in Milwaukee, and are using Albert Pujols at first base.

Minnesota Twins at Houston Astros, 8:10 p.m.

Washington Nationals at Kansas City Royals, 8:15 p.m.

Philadelphia Phillies at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:15 p.m.

Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 p.m.

Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres, 10:10 p.m.