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Daily Dime: Nathan Karns, Nolan Arenado and other solid Monday plays

Daily Dime: Nathan Karns, Nolan Arenado and other solid Monday plays

As always, be sure to watch the weather and stay on top of MLB lineups.

P Nathan Karns, Sea, $38 (at Oak) – Karns has struck out 24 batters in 22.1 innings so far this season, and he tossed seven scoreless frames in his last appearance. Oakland ranks dead-last in the A.L. in team OBP (.291), so there's no reason to fear the opposing lineup.

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P Bartolo Colon, NYM, $35 (vs. Atl) – Colon hasn't given up more than three runs in any start this season, and he's facing the N.L.'s lowest-scoring lineup. At $35, he's a gift.

(Honorable mention at pitcher: Jose Berrios is a rookie with wicked stuff and he's facing the Houston Astros, a team that leads MLB in strikeouts. It's tough to bank on Minnesota getting a win in any matchup, but Berrios has a great shot at a significant K total.)

C Jonathan Lucroy, Mil, $14 (Weaver) – Lucroy has reached base seven times over his last three games, and Jered Weaver isn't the most intimidating opponent.

1B Prince Fielder, Text, $14 (Dickey) – Fielder's bat has shown signs lately that it's beginning to function properly. He's also a cleanup hitter priced well, facing a sketchy starter.

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2B Daniel Murphy, Was, $21 (Volquez) – Murphy has been a multi-hit machine, and he has a nice (if limited) history against Royals starter Edinson Volquez (6-for-15). And I've got money to spend, having only dropped $73 on my pitchers.

3B Nolan Arenado, Col, $23 (Shields) – Arenado has been on a tear, as you may have noticed, plus he has a terrific history against James Shields (12-for-23, 4 HR).

SS Andrelton Simmons, LAA, $10 (Nelson) – Basically a position punt, so I can squeeze Arenado into my lineup. But you'll note Simmons has reached base twice in three PAs against Jimmy Nelson (which is almost completely meaningless).

OF Odubel Herrera, Phi, $17 (Wainwright) – Herrera has been scorching hot, living on-base, and he's facing a not-at-all-hot Adam Wainwright (bad surface stats, bad peripherals). This feels like a gimme.

OF Charlie Blackmon, Col, $16 (Shields) – Blackmon is back from the DL, leading off and getting himself on-base. Like Arenado, he has a pretty fair history against Shields (3 HR in 25 AB).

OF Kevin Pillar, Tor, $12 (Griffin) – After a rough start, Pillar has gone 11-for-29 over his last eight games. At this price, I'm interested. Griffin is going well, but his stuff isn't overwhelming (4.80 xFIP, 7.1 swinging-strike percentage).