This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Tuesday is the MLB trade deadline, but before that Monday's action has to unfold. There are eight games on the docket starting at 7:10 p.m. EDT or later. August is near. The deadline is nearer. My lineup recommendations are nearest.
Pitching
Nathan Eovaldi, TEX at STL ($10,400): In four of his last five starts, Eovaldi has gone 7.0 innings and allowed two runs or fewer. The other start was against the Orioles, maybe the best lineup in baseball. St. Louis is not on Baltimore's level. The Cardinals are in the bottom 10 in runs scored.
Alec Marsh, KC at CWS ($8,200): Marsh has been mediocre, even if his 4.22 FIP is much better than his 4.75 ERA. This is all about the matchup, though. The White Sox are last in runs scored and have a .620 OPS as a team, which is also comfortably last. Truly, this is a generationally-bad offense.
Top Targets
It's been a tough offensive season for Atlanta, with injuries playing a big part in that, but at least Marcell Ozuna ($4,100) is still crushing the ball. He has 30 homers on the season, and over the last three weeks he has an 1.147 OPS. Colin Rea has only struck out 6.87 batters per nine innings this season, and since joining the Brewers he's allowed 1.7 homers per nine at home.
In terms of squaring up the baseball, Christian Walker ($3,600) is in the top tier on that front. He has picked up 43 barrels with an average exit velocity of 90.9 miles per hour. A whopping 38.6 percent of his hits have qualified as "hard," and he seems likely to have his third 30-homer season in a row. Rookie lefty Mitchell Parker is getting experience, but that's about all you can say that approaches positive. He has a 4.91 ERA on the road.
Bargain Bats
Though Lane Thomas ($3,200) has suffered a power outage (he has only eight homers after hitting 28 last season), he has been more active on the basepaths. He's tallied 28 stolen bases in only 77 games. Jordan Montgomery has made 14 starts as a Diamondback now, and he has a 6.11 ERA. I don't know if it is instructive or not, but Montgomery has allowed his fellow righties to hit a whopping .329 against him this year.
The Mariners' ballpark is quite unkind to many of the team's hitters. Teoscar Hernandez couldn't get out of there fast enough. Dylan Moore ($2,800) is still a Mariner, but he is always happy to get away from the Emerald City. Since 2022 he has a .572 OPS at home, but an .886 OPS on the road. Meanwhile, Nick Pivetta doesn't like his home park any better. He has a 4.84 ERA at home over the last three seasons.
Stacks to Consider
Twins at Mets (Luis Severino): Royce Lewis ($3,500), Byron Buxton ($3,200), Carlos Santana ($2,900)
Severino has a 4.02 ERA in his second season with the Mets, but a 5.05 FIP that tells a different story. His numbers at Citi Field further than story. The lefty has a 3.58 ERA at home, but he's allowed 2.3 homers per nine innings at home as well. That's why I am stacking three guys who can hit right handed against Severino.
I was relieved when the Twins sat Lewis on Sunday against the Tigers, and not just because I'm a Tigers fan (though it didn't help). He's maybe MLB's most injury-prone player, but when he plays, he's an elite hitter. In his career Lewis has slashed .304/.361/.589, bolstered by a .982 OPS against lefties. Buxton used to have the crown as the king of being injury prone before Lewis, but he's also an impressive hitter when healthy. He has 12 homers and six stolen bases in 79 games and has slugged .507. The righty has a .976 OPS over the last three weeks as well. The 38-year-old journeyman Santana is still at it, and he has 14 homers and 20 doubles. While he's a switch hitter, Santana has an .837 OPS over the last three weeks.
Royals at White Sox (Chris Flexen): Bobby Witt ($4,300), Vinnie Pasquantino ($2,900), Hunter Renfroe ($2,700)
Considering that Flexen has a career 5.00 ERA, it seems pretty clear the White Sox just needed a warm body for their rotation, and technically Flexen has provided that. He also has a 5.25 ERA and is going to finish with a K/BB rate below 2.00 for the third year in a row. Flexen has given up at least one home run in eight of his last nine outings. This year lefties have hit .272 against the journeyman, compared to righties hitting .255, but righties have hit .291 against Flexen since 2022 so there are two righties in this stack.
Of course, Witt is just one of baseball's best players, especially from a fantasy perspective. Not only has he hit .341, he has 18 homers, 10 triples, and 23 stolen bases. Witt has been hot, even by his standards, as well, as he has an 1.312 OPS over the last three weeks. The lefty Pasquantino is more of a doubles-power guy, but he's hit 23 doubles in 102 games, which is impressive. He's slugged .451 against righties since 2022. While he has an .822 OPS at home, compared to a .636 OPS on the road, last season he had an .828 OPS on the road, so that may be anomalous. Renfroe has a .908 OPS over the last three weeks, and he's slugged .448 against his fellow righties over the last three seasons. He's been decidedly better at home in 2024, and while Renfroe is on his seventh team in six years, it's not because he's unwanted.
