This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Want to get some quality meat for your burgers on Labor Day? Then it'd help to win some money from DFS contests on Sunday. There are eight games to pick your players from, with the first starting at 1:05 p.m. EDT. These lineup recommendations should help you with your holiday weekend decisions.
Pitching
George Kirby, SEA at NYM ($10,300): Back from an illness, Kirby brings his 3.20 FIP and penchant for avoiding long balls to Citi Field, a park that already doesn't play to homer hitters. In fact, the Mets are below average in terms of runs scored and are characterized by bats with better road numbers.
Chris Sale, BOS at KC ($9,200): Sale hasn't had the best campaign, but he's posted a 3.74 FIP while racking up 11.12 strikeouts per nine innings. The Royals sit bottom-five offensively with a sub-.300 OBP and their lefty-heavy lineup may have trouble with the southpaw Sale.
Top Targets
While I recommended Sale because of the Royals' overall lineup, Bobby Witt ($4,000) is still worth rostering. He's hit .279 with 28 homers, eight triples, and 38 stolen bases. Witt also lists a .918 OPS against lefties and a .907 at home. Even if Sale produces decent numbers, that doesn't mean Witt can't also do well.
In his second season with the Rangers, Marcus Semien ($3,600) has gone .273 with 20 home runs and 13 steals. He's better against righties as a righty and has taken to Texas in his second season with an .827 home OPS. Kenta Maeda has allowed at least one homer across his last eight starts with an 8.31 ERA in his last three outings which came against Detroit, Milwaukee, and Cleveland.
Bargain Bats
I'll admit, I'm a Tigers fan and I rarely think about Kerry Carpenter ($3,000). However, he's gone out and slashed .289/.351/.525 with 20 homers in 93 games. Michael Kopech enters with a 6.42 FIP, and it's not hard to understand why. He's given up 2.03 home runs per nine innings while walking a staggering 6.10 batters.
Ji Hwan Bae ($2,700) has no power, but does have speed with 22 stolen bases over 89 games. Zach Thompson has been thrust into starting and is also a lefty. However, he's allowed lefties to bat .300 against, and Bae has actually registered a higher OPS against southpaws.
Stacks to Consider
Red Sox at Royals (Zack Greinke): Rafael Devers ($3,700), Masataka Yoshida ($3,100), Triston Casas ($2,900)
Greinke has a 3.59 home ERA compared to a woeful 7.15 on the road. But a 3.59 ERA isn't Cy Young-worthy or anything. And lefties have hit .325 versus the veteran Royals pitcher. Boston offers a few quality southpaws, so I'll stack them against Greinke even if this game isn't at Fenway.
Devers has posted a career .511 slugging percentage with 29 homers while Greinke has given up 1.73 homers per nine innings. Devers has also slugged .536 on the road. Yoshida has gone .294 with 13 home runs and eight stolen bases. The southpaw has an .805 OPS versus righties, but his .792 against lefties is encouraging once the bullpen comes into play. Casas has produced a .368 OBP with 21 homers. He's also been hot of late with a .915 OPS the last three weeks.
Cardinals vs. Pirates (Johan Oviedo): Paul Goldschmidt ($3,700), Nolan Arenado ($3,400), Nolan Gorman ($3,000)
Oviedo is an interesting case. He doesn't concede a lot of homers or have an eye-watering batting average allowed to lefties or righties. And yet, he sits with a 4.20 ERA and 4.30 FIP. Oviedo is the epitome of mediocrity, and that's worthy of a stack.
Goldschmidt has registered 22 homers and 10 steals to go with an .861 home OPS. He's also been on fire with a .928 OPS the last three weeks. Arenado has had some downswings this year, so he'll have to pick it up to get to 30 home runs and 100 RBI again. He's mostly experienced issues with lefties, but has managed an .831 OPS versus righties and an .822 at home. 13 of the 16 homers Oviedo has allowed have been hit by lefties. Gorman, a lefty, has gone deep 24 times while producing a .922 home OPS.
