This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Here we go! It's time for the last weekend of the MLB regular season. Everything kicks off Friday and we have 13 games on the slate starting at 7:05 p.m. ET or later. Let's end the season on a high note! Here are my DFS lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Allan Winans, ATL vs. WAS ($8,700): Atlanta is just trying to make it to the playoffs with as many viable arms as possible, so a couple youngsters are getting another look this week. Winans has made five MLB starts. Four, I would say, have gone well, and one was a disaster. Hey, that's an 80-percent success rate! Winans has pitched well at Triple-A this year, posting a 2.85 ERA, and the Nationals don't pose much of a threat. They are 22nd in runs scored and 29th in home runs.
Kyle Hendricks, CHC at MIL ($7,700): The pitching options are, honestly, quite bad Friday. With the bulk of the league either out of the playoff run or locked into their spot, we have a mix of teams saving arms for the postseason and setting up their rotations and teams with nothing to play for just shrugging and saying, "Sure, go for it." The Cubs are not one of those teams. They have to win. Hendricks has a 3.08 ERA on the road, and while the Brewers won the NL Central, they have a .239 average as a team, low for a playoff squad even by modern standards.
Ken Waldichuk, OAK at LAA ($7,200): My first instinct was to go with Chase Silseth for the Angels, as the Athletics have been terrible this season. Then, I started thinking, and what team has more of a "checked out" feel than the Angels? They are 15th in runs scored, but no longer have their best two hitters. Waldichuk, a lefty to boot, has a 3.02 ERA over his last nine starts, and in eight of those starts he allowed two earned runs or fewer.
Top Targets
The 49 steals Bobby Witt ($6,200) has racked up stands out, and he has a ton of speed. However, he also has some real power. As a shortstop he's slugged .529 against lefties, and also .540 at home. Carlos Rodon ended an eight-game streak of giving up a homer in his last outing, but it wasn't a good day on the mound by any means. Plus, he still has a 5.74 ERA and has given up 1.96 homers per nine innings.
How fortunate, we get to end the regular season with the Rockies at home. Jorge Polanco ($5,300) has slugged .455 from second base for the Twins,and has hit 14 homers in only 79 games. He's a switch hitter, but Polanco has an .829 OPS against lefties. Ty Blach has a 5.59 FIP and he's allowed righties to hit a whopping .353 against him over the last two seasons. While Polanco is better at home, this is Coors Field, so that balances it out for me.
Bargain Bats
Even with a .212 BABIP that reeks of bad luck, Pete Alonso ($5,000) has tallied 46 homers and 117 RBI. While he hasn't been as good at home, he's still slugged .496 at Citi Field. Taijuan Walker, meanwhile, has a 5.25 ERA on the road, and the righty has allowed his fellow righties to hit .256 against him.
When the Rangers were flagging, they needed a shot in the arm. They got it, in part because they called up top prospect Evan Carter ($3,900). While he is glued to the bench against his fellow lefties, he's slashed .302/.406/.679 since hitting MLB. Bryan Woo is also a rookie, and while he's held righties to an .174 batting average, lefties have hit a whopping .295 against him.
Stacks to Consider
Padres at White Sox (Dylan Cease): Juan Soto ($5,200), Xander Bogaerts ($4,600), Trent Grisham ($2,900)
Cease's disappointing season come to a close Friday. He has put up a 4.66 ERA, which is what happens when your line-drive percentage jumps up to 24.5. While the righty still doesn't allow a ton of homers, clearly more hard contact is happening. Since lefties have hit .269 against Cease, I have two southpaws, but the Padres don't really offer up a viable third option on that front. Apologies to Ji-Man Choi.
Soto, on the other hand, is built for this. He has a .976 OPS against righties but also an 1.028 OPS on the road. Bogaerts is my righty for a couple reasons. One, he has an 1.039 OPS over the last three weeks. Two, he has an .809 OPS against righties since 2021. Grisham makes little contact but he has 13 homers, and thanks to his speed, he has 29 doubles and 14 stolen bases. He's a bit of a gamble, but one that could pay off big time.
Reds at Cardinals (Jake Woodford): Elly De La Cruz ($5,800), TJ Friedl ($4,800), Will Benson ($3,400)
The Reds have had a positive season built on young bats, whereas the Cardinals are playing out the string of perhaps the most-disappointing campaign any team had (which in 2023 means something). Woodford has mostly pitched out of the bullpen in his career, but with Adam Wainwright done for his career, he's now operating as the fifth starter. He has a 5.82 FIP and has a 1.38 K/BB rate. Since 2021 lefties have hit .316 against the righty, so I have gone that route for this stack.
De La Cruz proved to be a lot of flash but not quite ready for prime time, though 35 stolen bases in 95 games for a 21-year-old is still eye popping. However, he has a .791 OPS against righties and a .778 OPS on the road, so this matchup is conducive. Friedl has hit .279 with 18 homers and 27 stolen bases, and he's also been red hot. He has an 1.273 OPS over the last three weeks. Also, don't fear a southpaw out of the pen, as Friedl has a .984 OPS against lefties since 2021. Benson has notched 11 home runs, 17 swiped bags and also seven triples. He's something of a more-traditional take on Friedl, as he can't hit lefties, but he has a .913 OPS against righties.
Orioles vs. Red Sox (Nick Pivetta): Adley Rutschman ($5,600), Gunnar Henderson ($5,600), Ryan O'Hearn ($3,700)
While Pivetta will post a career-best K/9 rate, the fact he spent a good portion of the season in the bullpen surely played a role in that. Plus, that hasn't stopped him from putting up a 4.25 ERA, which is also a career best, but that is not an encouraging fact. Pivetta has allowed 1.6 homers per nine innings on the road, so the Orioles have a chance to tee off.
Rutschman is a catcher with a .374 OBP and 20 homers, significant for his position. While the switch hitter has been better against lefties in 2023, the opposite was true in his rookie campaign. What is also true is that he's always been better at home, where he has an .875 OPS in his career. Henderson has showed impressive power for a rookie, having slugged .492 with 28 homers. He's not yet solved lefties, but he has an .889 OPS against righties, which includes a .553 slugging percentage (learning to take a walk is still a work in progress). O'Hearn, surprisingly, earned a regular role in the Orioles lineup, thanks largely to an .826 OPS against right-handed pitchers. He's not fallen off or proved a sample-size fluke, either, as he has a .771 OPS over the last three weeks.
