This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Over in England, the soccer season has kicked off. But here in America, it's still all about baseball. While Brits are watching footie on Sunday, we'll be focused on MLB. Speaking of which, there are eight games for the main slate of contests on DraftKings. Here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Aaron Nola, PHI vs. WAS ($10,000): Last season, Nola posted a 4.63 ERA, but with a 3.36 FIP. This year, he's righted the ship with a 3.25 ERA and 2.84 FIP. The Nationals rank in the bottom-five in runs scored. And without Juan Soto and Josh Bell, that's not likely to change.
Drew Rasmussen, TAM at DET ($7,400): In his first full season as a starter, Rasmussen has posted a 3.06 ERA through 18 starts. On Sunday, he'll be facing baseball's definitive worst offense in the Tigers. The only fear is that, on occasion, the Rays and their bullpen-loving ways keep Rasmussen from getting to the five innings he needs to be eligible for a win. But if he cruises through Detroit like I expect, he should get there.
Kutter Crawford, BOS at KC ($6,800): Maybe there's something to the rookie Crawford? He's produced a 2.38 ERA from his last six outings and has gone at least five innings in each one. The Royals are in the bottom-five in runs scored and were sellers at the trade deadline. I'm willing to see if the Red Sox really have something in the young hurler.
Top Targets
Only Aaron Judge has popped more home runs than Kyle Schwarber ($6,200), who's currently at 34. He's managed a few against lefties, but he's slugged .559 against righties. Cory Abbott will be starting for Washington and, well, he's a 26-year-old righty who only managed to pitch 26.1 innings in the majors - almost entirely out of the bullpen.
A year after hitting 39 homers, Brandon Lowe ($5,200) has missed a lot of the season. However, he still has eight long balls while slugging .462. Since 2020, the southpaw has maintained an .892 OPS versus righties. Matt Manning, a right-handed pitcher, has also missed a lot of time this season and has only made three starts where he's recorded a 5.26 ERA after producing a 4.62 FIP as a rookie in 2021.
Bargain Bats
He's allergic to walking - though his 35 this season is a career high - but Anthony Santander ($4,500) still makes an impact at the plate because he hits for a solid average by modern standards (.258) and offers power (19 homers). He's also been hot of late with a 1.091 OPS the last three weeks. Bryse Wilson is, to put it as simply as possible, a bad pitcher with a career 5.77 ERA while giving up 1.67 home runs per nine innings across his 45 MLB appearances.
Nico Hoerner ($4,300) has batted .298 with the Cubs and has six home runs to go with 12 steals. And at home, he's posted an .824 OPS. Jesus Luzardo has improved his ERA from 6.61 last year to 3.97 this season, but that's only in seven starts having missed a chunk of time with injury and only just returning.
Stacks to Consider
Red Sox at Royals (Brad Keller): Rafael Devers ($5,900), Xander Bogaerts ($4,900), Eric Hosmer ($3,300)
After allowing eight runs – not to mention 13 hits – in 5.2 innings during his last start, Keller's ERA is now up to 4.61. That's better than his 5.39 from 2021, but it's still not even approaching decent. In Keller's career, he's actually done a decent job of keeping the ball in the park. But since 2020, lefties have hit .263 against him and righties have gone .273, so clearly the ball is pinballing even if it doesn't clear the fence that often.
Devers has slugged .590 with 23 homers, but he's not merely a power guy. The lefty is also batting .315 and maintains a career .285. Bogaerts is also someone who hits for average and gets on base at .312 with a .384 OBP. Hosmer went ice cold after a hot start with the Padres. But over the last two years, he's recorded a .767 OPS versus righties and I'm hoping maybe a change of scenery - one that he effectively chose - gives him a spark.
Blue Jays at Twins (Chris Archer): Teoscar Hernandez ($4,600), Alejandro Kirk ($4,100), Lourdes Gurriel ($3,800)
Archer has not gone more than five innings in a start this season, and more often than not tops out at four. As such, I don't expect him to face the Blue Jays lineup more than a couple times, but that should be enough. Archer has produced a 4.77 FIP this season, and Toronto's righty-heavy lineup isn't prone to being susceptible to bullpen arms and platoon advantages.
After crushing 32 home runs and stealing 12 bases last season, Hernandez has 16 and six swiped this year while batting .272. While he's been better at home this year, he's registered a .906 OPS on the road the last two campaigns. Kirk can be your lineup's catcher, and that's enticing given his .299 average, .385 OBP, and .876 OPS versus righties. Gurriel's power is down a bit, but he's made up for it in other ways with a .311 average and .364 OBP.
Brewers vs. Reds (Graham Ashcraft): Hunter Renfroe ($5,000), Kolten Wong ($4,400), Keston Hiura ($3,600)
Ashcraft has kept the home runs down as a rookie, but still has a 4.12 ERA and has only struck out 5.93 home runs per nine innings. He's also recorded a 4.96 road ERA and has let righties hit .335 against. That's why I'm stacking two righties and a lefty against the right-handed pitcher.
Renfroe has hit 19 homers in 73 games with a .502 slugging percentage. While he's not typically strong at getting on base, he has a .346 OBP at home this year and that's helped him to a .922 OPS. Wong has racked up eight homers and 11 steals, all of which have come against righties. And across the last three weeks, the southpaw has a 1.019 OPS. In limited action, Hiura has posted a .354 OBP with nine homers and four stolen bases. It's a small sample size, but he's excelled against righties this year with a 1.054 OPS.
