This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
For a Monday, we're getting a robust slate of MLB action. There are nine games starting at 7:10 p.m. EDT or later. To kick the work week off with gusto, here are my MLB DFS lineup recommendations. Good luck!
Pitching
Cole Ragans, KC vs. MIA ($11,000): Ragans' 3.13 ERA actually undersells his performance this season. He has a 2.63 FIP with above-average rates of strikeouts, walks, and homers per nine innings. Plus, over his last seven outings he has an 1.88 ERA. The Marlins are 29th in runs scored and team OPS, so Ragans should be able to keep his hot streak going.
Tanner Houck, BOS vs. TOR ($10,600): Houck's 0.19 HR/9 rate is unsustainably low, but this is a pitcher who has allowed a mere 0.62 home runs per nine innings in his career, so he should remain quite good at keeping the ball in the park. Of course, facing a Blue Jays team that is one of a handful yet to hit the 70-homer mark on the season also helps on that front.
Garrett Crochet, CWS vs. LAD ($10,200): The Dodgers are very good. The White Sox are very bad. Los Angeles ranks in the top five in runs scored. Chicago's offense may prove historically futile. However, it's Crochet, not LA's James Paxton, I want in my lineup. Why? Because Crochet is one of the best pitcher in MLB already, and the American League's answer to Paul Skenes. Over his last 10 starts he has an 1.68 ERA, a 0.83 WHIP, and a 12.8 K/9 rate. Plus, the Dodgers don't have Mookie Betts right now, and Freddie Freeman has struggled against his fellow lefties. Don't overlook this emerging ace.
Top Targets
It's not pertinent to DFS decisions, but Jarren Duran ($3,800) is such a fun player. Of course, much of what makes him fun does pertain to DFS. He only has seven homers, but he's stolen 20 bases and has a whopping 10 triples. He also has a .902 OPS versus righties and an .884 OPS at home. Chris Bassitt doesn't allow many home runs, but he has a 3.52 ERA because lefties have smashed him. Southpaws have posted a .290 average against Bassitt this year.
For all the hand wringing his numbers have elicited, Matt Olson ($3,400) actually has a lower groundball rate and higher line-drive rate than last season. You know, when he hit 54 homers with a .993 OPS? The lefty has an .814 OPS over the last three weeks, so things are ticking up. Lance Lynn, meanwhile, is the same-old Lance Lynn. He has a 4.76 ERA at home, and he's let lefties hit .279 against him.
Bargain Bats
One of the cool stories (again, not a DFS thing, but bear with me) of this season is the resurgence of Jesse Winker ($3,200) in his first season with the Nationals. He has an .381 OPS with eight homers and 12 stolen bases, bolstered by an .844 OPS versus righties. Somebody should tell Matt Waldron that Petco Park is supposed to help him as a pitcher. Instead, in his career he has a 3.24 ERA on the road but a 4.34 ERA at home. Also, lefties have hit .262 against him for good measure.
It took until his third season, but JJ Bleday ($2,800) is finally a viable MLB player. He's slashed .253/.336/.467 with 11 homers, three triples, and 22 doubles. The lefty will face Griffin Canning on Monday. For the second season in a row (after he missed 2022 with injury) he has allowed 1.56 homers per nine innings. However, the righty's K/BB rate is down to a woeful 1.86, and his FIP is up to 5.32.
Stacks to Consider
Padres vs. Nationals (Patrick Corbin): Manny Machado ($3,300), Jurickson Profar ($3,100), Ha-Seong Kim ($2,900)
In some ways, this season has been an improvement for Corbin. After all, his FIP is "only" 4.94, and he's "only" allowed 1.32 homers per nine innings. Of course, in other ways he's been just as bad, if not worse, than usual. He has a woeful 1.72 K/BB rate, his ERA is up to 5.60, and of course righties are going to bat over .300 against him yet again. Since 2022, right-handed hitters have averaged .309 against the southpaw, so I grabbed three viable, healthy Padres who can hit right handed the second I saw the matchup.
Machado has an .818 OPS over the last three weeks, an encouraging sign from a player who has struggled at times this year. Much of his struggling has happened at home, but even with that he has an .806 OPS at Petco Park since 2022, so this is an issue he can overcome. Profar is a switch hitter, but his .811 OPS versus lefties since 2022 shows that, even before this surprisingly-good campaign, he could handle southpaws on the mound. He also has a .991 OPS at home this year. Even though his averaged has tanked, Kim has still managed to tally 10 homers and 11 stolen bases. He has surprisingly struggled with lefties, who he had an .896 OPS against in 2023, but Corbin could be just the lefty to solve that issue.
Royals vs. Marlins (Roddery Munoz): Bobby Witt ($4,200), Vinnie Pasquantino ($2,800), MJ Melendez ($2,500)
The Marlins called up Kyle Tyler to start in Braxton Garrett's play Sunday, which means the Royals get lucky and catch Munoz. Through six MLB starts he has a 7.45 FIP. He's allowed multiple homers four times already. Now, righties have hit .164 against him, compared to lefties batting .298, so I have two southpaws in this stack. The one right hander I went with, well, he sort of transcends matchups at this point.
The righty is, of course, Witt. You know, the guy who has slashed .311/.359/.531 with 12 homers, seven triples, 20 doubles, and 21 stolen bases? Oh, and he has an 1.094 OPS at home as well. Pasquantino actually has 20 doubles himself through 75 games. He has a .734 OPS versus righties, but also a .780 OPS at home, which is certainly enough for me to like him against Munoz. Melendez has an .830 OPS over the last two weeks. His profile is similar to Pasquantino's, but with bad numbers against lefties and on the road. Melendez still hits below the Mendoza line against righties, but has slugged .407 against them, while also slugging .447 at home.
