This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
For most MLB teams, everything ends Sunday. Hey, at least they all got to play in October! All 30 teams are on the DFS docket for Sunday, with all the games slated to start within a 15-minute window. The first of the games has a 3 p.m. ET start time, so get your lineup in before that. Here are my DFS recommendations.
Pitching
Blake Snell, SD at CWS ($59): San Diego has missed the playoffs, but Snell still has a chance to bolster his Cy Young resume. He's only allowed runs in one of his last six starts, which definitely helps. The White Sox are 29th in runs scored and team OPS. Snell could even end up with a Cy-clinching complete game shutout in this one.
Bobby Miller, LAD at SF ($46): The Dodgers likely didn't expect Miller to factor into their playoff rotation, but he will, and he gets a chance to keep his arm lively by starting in the season finale before the Dodgers get a bye. As a rookie, Miller has only allowed 0.90 homers per nine innings, and he has a 3.29 ERA on the road. The Giants will finish in the bottom 10 in runs scored and have already fired their manager.
Reid Detmers, LAA vs. OAK ($36): Detmers spent much of the season pitching poorly, but down the stretch, he's actually been quite good. He has a 2.41 ERA over his last seven starts. Given that the Athletics are last in runs scored and team OPS, Detmers has a real chance to end things on a high note.
Top Targets
The Dodgers' lineup didn't exactly need another big bat, but they added J.D. Martinez ($22) anyway. He joined up with LA and went ahead and put up a .940 OPS against lefties and a .947 OPS on the road. Kyle Harrison is on the other end of his career compared to the veteran slugger, but the rookie pitcher has struggled thus far. He has a 5.67 FIP and has allowed 2.43 homers per nine innings.
While Gunnar Henderson ($20) could not emerge as the top rookie bat in all of baseball, thanks to Corbin Carroll, he delivered upon any reasonable expectations the Orioles and baseball fans had. Henderson has hit 28 homers and added nine triples. Mostly, he's been excelling against righties, as the southpaw has an .889 OPS versus pitchers of that ilk. Tanner Houck has a 5.31 ERA, and lefties have hit .285 against him.
Bargain Bats
Veteran Rockie Charlie Blackmon ($16) missed a large portion of the season and doesn't have the power he once did, but he has still shown the ability to excel at Coors Field. Hey, he has over a decade of experience doing just that. Blackmon has a .939 OPS at him in 2023. Bailey Ober, meanwhile, has a 4.02 FIP, and he's allowed 1.37 homers per nine innings.
With nothing to play for and a righty on the mound, why wouldn't the Yankees start Austin Wells ($13) at catcher? The rookie does have a .733 OPS against right-handed pitchers to start his MLB career. Late in his career, Zack Greinke has become extremely hittable, especially for southpaws. He'll have a FIP over 4.00 for the third season in a row, and in 2023 lefties have hit .324 against him.
Stacks to Consider
Reds at Cardinals (Miles Mikolas): Jonathan India ($16), Elly De La Cruz ($15), Will Benson ($14)
If you like to see the ball in play, you love Mikolas. Well, unless you are a Cardinals fan. The guy is at the lower end of walks, homers and strikeouts but still has a 4.84 ERA. All that contact and all those balls in play have worked against him. Lefties have hit .282 versus Mikolas, while righties have hit .284. That gives me plenty of options for a stack, but I landed on these three.
India has hit 17 home runs and swiped 14 bags. While he's a righty, he's better versus right-handers, recording a .783 OPS against them since 2021. De La Cruz is a switch hitter, but he prefers to face righties, who he has an .802 OPS against. With his speed, and the contact Mikolas allows, the rookie shortstop could be in for a big day. Benson has slugged .495, and while his 11 homers in 107 games have played into that, so have his eight triples. The lefty really can't hit southpaws, but he has a .926 OPS versus righties.
Tigers vs. Guardians (Lucas Giolito): Spencer Torkelson ($18), Miguel Cabrera ($12), Andy Ibanez ($11)
This is not me looking to get a few Tigers in your lineups just because I'm a fan of the Motor City Kitties. Giolito has had a nightmare season, and he's stretched that nightmare across three franchises. The righty has a 5.06 FIP and has allowed 2.01 homers per nine innings. However, over his last 13 starts Giolito actually has a 6.99 ERA and has allowed 3.1 homers per nine innings. On six separate occasions he's allowed three home runs in a game! The Tigers don't have a robust lineup, but they can handle that. I went with three righties, since right-handers have hit .258 against Giolito since 2021.
Torkelson doesn't make a lot of contact yet, but he did em erge as the top power bat for the Tigers. He's hit 31 homers and even in a paltry offense has 94 RBI. Cabrera, well, wouldn't it be fitting if he went yard in the last game of his career? Yes, his best days are behind him, but he batted .273 at home in 2023, and over the last 21 days he has an .842 OPS. Ibanez ended up earning the second base role with his play, and he's ending the season well. He has an .864 OPS over the last three weeks. The righty also has a .790 OPS at home.
Padres at White Sox (Jose Urena): Juan Soto ($27), Xander Bogaerts ($24), Brett Sullivan ($10)
The pitching situations for several teams are murky, and who knows what lineups will look like for teams locked into their playoff positioning. What I know is that the White Sox have announced Urena will start, and they have nothing to play for. The Padres, unsurprisingly, also have nothing to play for, save ending a disappointing season with a win. Urena should help make that happen. This will be his fifth season in a row with an ERA over 5.00. Since 2021 lefties have hit .326 against Urena, but I included one righty in this stack because, well, the Padres have exactly one lefty bat of any note.
That one notable lefty bat belongs to Soto, and it is one of the most notable bats in all of baseball. He was up to his usual tricks in 2023, with a .976 OPS versus righties, plus an 1.023 OPS on the road. I chose Bogaerts as my righty as he has a .787 OPS versus his fellow righties, making him less reliant on lefties than some of his teammates. It also helps that the shortstop has an 1.054 OPS over the last three weeks. I went with Sullivan because he's a lefty catcher, and taking a flyer on a catcher tends to feel more palatable. Additionally, he had a .918 OPS in Triple-A.
