Even though everyone is a weekend removed from a four-day respite, eight teams are off on Monday. However, the reduced quantity does not result in poor quality as several aces return to action as their clubs used the short week to give them an extra day to recharge.If the weekend is any indication, the pitchers are a little ahead of the hitters, as scoring was way down compared to going into the break. It shouldnt be long before the hitters get their timing back and home runs return to leaving the yard at a record pace.This week also marks the homestretch for those making a playoff push in seasonal head-to-head leagues. No matter what game you play, everything you need to start the week in the right direction is here in Mondays daily notes.PitchingEliteWhile nothing has been announced officially, most expect Jose Fernandez to be capped around 180 innings, leaving him about 73 to go. That equates to 11, maybe 12, more starts. There are 11 weeks left in the campaign, so by delaying the rightys post-break debut through the weekend, the Miami Marlins will only need to skip their prized, soon-to-be 24-year-olds turn once or twice more. Fernandez opens his second half in Citizens Bank Park against a middling Philadelphia Phillies squad. Hell cost, but as usual, Fernandez is worth the hefty DFS price tag.With 125 frames and an All-Star start already on his 2016 ledger, the Chicago White Sox opted to give Chris Sale an extra day, as he was originally scheduled for Sunday. Now he draws a date in the Pacific Northwest against the Seattle Mariners. Sales strikeout rate is markedly down, and its decline is supported by a lower swinging strike rate along with fewer first-pitch strikes. Its premature to confidently declare this is a new baseline for the ace, though the safe approach is to temper expectation in terms of strikeouts going forward. Theres nothing wrong with a rate right around a batter per inning, but its just not the double-digit level everyone anticipated. As for this matchup, its better to pay up for Fernandez in DFS cash play and look for cheaper options for tournament action.While most hurlers would give their non-throwing arm for a 3.61 ERA, Corey Kluber and his fantasy owners deserve to be a little disappointed, as hes pitched to a slightly better ERA. The Cleveland Indians right-hander opens the unofficial second half in Kauffman Stadium against a Kansas City Royals club that is battling through injuries. There isnt much strikeout upside past Klubers usual hitter per inning, but the matchup is safe enough to deploy the All-Star in cash games.SolidAfter averaging 207 regular-season innings for the past eight years and pacing for another 200-frame campaign, no one may have benefited from a week off more than Jon Lester. The veteran lefty entered the break on a tailspin but is in a great spot to get things going again as he faces a New York Mets club that whiffs at a 24 percent clip against southpaws. This avails Lester the strikeout upside intrinsic to GPP action.StreamersMike Leake kicks off the potential spot starters as hes owned in just 41 percent of ESPN leagues. Not only is the St. Louis Cardinals righty in play as a seasonal league streamer, but with an affair in pitcher-friendly Busch Stadium against the strikeout prone San Diego Padres, Leake is a lower-end GPP candidate, too.Since I prefer to take chances early in the head-to-head scoring week, its worth incurring the risk and letting Nick Tropeano loose for a home date with the Texas Rangers. Angels Stadium is a pitchers park, which helps buffer the risk.Lets ignore the name for a moment. You have a chance to use a guy sporting 9.9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and .94 HR/9 -- all much better than league average -- at home against the Marlins. Its a no-brainer, right? What if the pitcher in question is Aaron Nola? Not so easy anymore?Nolas June swoon and subsequent extra time off around the break is well documented, so no need to reiterate. The concern from a numbers perspective is his swinging strike rate plummeted as the first half progressed. Again, with an aggressive philosophy, I want Nola active when, not if, he gets back on track. I like his chances Monday night.There arent many spots where streaming Brandon Finnegan is a viable option. A home affair with the punchless Atlanta Braves qualifies.Since neither are going to make the avoid section, lets tackle the Coors Field dilemma as Drew Smyly and the Tampa Bay Rays head to the mountains for an interleague tussle against Tyler Anderson and the Colorado Rockies. Theres no more challenging rest-of-season projection than Smyly. The number crunchers still love him, contending all he needs to do is get the homers under control. The watch-the-game crowd asks, Have you seen him pitch? As a card-carrying member of both factions, Im still on the Smyly bandwagon but have a hard time trusting him a mile high.That said, theres serious strikeout potential, so if you need a boost in that category and can absorb a hit to ratios, the lefty is in play. The confidence level is a little higher for Anderson, one of the first halfs pleasant surprises. The Rays are one of the best teams in the league against southpaws but also whiff a ton in that scenario. Anderson is like Smyly, viable for punchouts with risk to ratios. Forced to pick one, the nod goes to Anderson.AvoidDespite falling short of the projected game score threshold of 45 to be an automatic avoid, Edinson Volquez, Matt Wisler, Ricky Nolasco and Christian Friedrich are all too risky for my tastes. If youre curious why, or have any other questions pertaining to Mondays slate, please post the query in the comments section or fire a tweet to @ToddZola, and Ill do my best to reply.Hitting The Baltimore Orioles get top billing as they square off with the only hurler falling in the auto-avoid range, Ivan Nova. The New York Yankees incendiary righty is equally charitable to all hitters, so platoon edge isnt as important. Using Yankee Stadiums inviting right-field porch as a tiebreaker, well favor lefty swingers like Chris Davis and Pedro Alvarez, but dont eschew Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop and especially Mark Trumbo.Until Wisler figures out how to keep left-handed batters in check, hes going to be vulnerable to rough outings. In homer-friendly Great American Ballpark, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce make for a great mini-stack.The Cardinals used to be a great stacking option with a righty on the hill, but with the emergence of Stephen Piscotty, Aledmys Diaz, Randal Grichuk and Tommy Pham, along with veterans Matt Holliday, Jhonny Peralta and Yadier Molina, they can give southpaws like the San Diego Padres Friedrich fits.Nolasco doesnt beat himself. He pitches around the plate, forcing teams to put the ball in play to beat him. This can be a successful recipe at times, but a matchup at Comerica Park against the Detroit Tigers isnt one of them. For his career, the Minnesota Twins righty has exhibited reverse splits, which feeds right into the heart of the Tigers lineup. Starting with Ian Kinsler and Cameron Maybin, passing through Miguel Cabrera and Nick Castellanos and ending with Justin Upton, Nolasco could be in for a long evening. And that doesnt even include switch-hitting Victor Martinez, whos also in play.The contrarian stack consists of the Indians visiting Kauffman Stadium, where Volquez will take the ball for the Royals. Switch-hitters Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor sandwich lefty Jason Kipnis at the top of the Tribes order. Further down resides Lonnie Chisenhall as a cheaper addition to the stack.Most likely to hit a homer: Despite the overall boost in long balls, Chris Davis is lagging behind last years pace. Look for Crush to pick up said pace against Nova and his 1.7 HR/9.Most likely to steal a base: Jose Reyes is in a great spot to jump-start his running game with Lester on the hill. Wholesale Air Max 97 . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. Cheap Air Max 97 . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. http://www.cheapairmax97china.com/ .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Cheap Air Max 97 China . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. Air Max 97 Clearance . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Lets rewind five years, shall we? Conference realignment destabilized the college football foundation we had come to know. Talk about 16-team superconferences started dominating the discussion, and soon, survival-of-the-fittest scenarios began unfolding.The ACC? Many thought the future looked bleak, especially after Florida State and the Big 12 became publicly tangled in a public relations mess that dominated spring meetings in 2012. A few months later, Maryland decided to join the Big Ten and left the ACC reeling.What is a commissioner to do? If you are John Swofford, you swat away any doomsday talk and make your league stronger. Since 2012, he has gotten Notre Dame to join in all sports but football, but secured an annual five-game football scheduling agreement and included the Irish in future bowl partnerships; he swapped Maryland for Louisville, a huge upgrade across the board; he got league schools to raise the exit fee to $50 million; and he got them all to sign a grant-of-rights agreement.But wait. Theres more.On the opening day of ACC Kickoff on Thursday, Swofford and ESPN announced a long-awaited deal with ESPN for an ACC linear and digital network, along with a grant-of-rights extension through 2036 -- essentially stabilizing and securing the conference for the foreseeable future. John Swofford made all the right moves, Duke athletic director Kevin White said. In my behind-the-barn expression, the dart board is no longer jumping. We know where the dart board is. Were pretty frozen.The ACC has made a remarkable shift over a very short time. Swofford has secured his leagues future for the next 20 years, all while completely outmaneuvering the Big 12 -- a conference whose future appears murkiest. The Big 12 spent all summer discussing future expansion and wondering about the prospects for its own television network.Now the conference is talking about expansion again, Oklahoma president David Boren said as a direct result of the ACCs network news. But any thought about trying to poach an ACC team is not based in reality.If Florida State or any other team considers leaving over the next 20 years, it would have to pay the ACC a $50 million exit fee plus leave behind its television rights until the grant of rights expires. Thats a whole lot of cash to leave on the table to join a league that looks the most unstable and leastt secure among the Power 5 conferences.ddddddddddddhe future ACC Network, years in the making, finally puts the ACC on par with the SEC, Big Ten and Pac-12, which all have their own networks. Having more television exposure is nice, but this is about the money a television network brings in -- money the ACC hopes will allow for even more substantial upgrades to its football product.We could debate which makes the ACC stronger -- a network or the grant-of-rights extension. They are both big, but the grant of rights should be considered the biggest news to emerge out of this week. With the Big 12 still hemming and hawing about whether to add more teams, extending the grant of rights basically locks ACC schools into place -- and that is the type of stability the league didnt have five years ago.Given all these developments, the natural expectation should be for the ACC to now make the necessary steps to be more than just a top-heavy football league. After the conference went 13 years between championship game appearances, two ACC schools have played for a title in two of the past three years. Florida State and Clemson continue to carry the flag, but programs like Miami, Louisville, North Carolina and Virginia Tech -- just to name four -- have a responsibility to the league to prove they are top-25 teams capable of contending for championships.These are exciting times for the ACC. Playing as a stable, unified conference with a network on the way should be only just the beginning. They also provide quite a legacy for the man who has engineered it all.I feel great about where it is because were where we should be, Swofford said. It feels good to be there. The last 10 to 15 years in college athletics theres been a lot of instability, theres been a lot of rumors, a lot of people who were saying things without any basis about who might be where and why this would happen, and there were all kinds of reasons why a lot of those things would not have happened.But I think what this does is totally take the ACC out of any kind of conversation of that nature, and thats a huge plus for the league and for the individual institutions and a huge plus for our ability to truly reach our potential as a league. I think thats already started. ' ' '