This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
You may have a day off from work Monday, but you should take care of business Sunday - on the DFS MLB front, at least. There are nine games to drill down on for the main slate of contests. I have a few lineup recommendations coming your way. By the way, the start time for the main slate has moved up to 12:10 p.m. EDT to account for a change in the schedule for the Reds and Rockies. Let's make this a holiday weekend to remember.
Pitching
Max Fried, ATL vs. MIA ($10,300): Fried is definitely the pitcher I'm most confident in Sunday. He gets plenty of offensive support, but has barely needed it with a 2.56 ERA. Miami is 27th in runs scored and lists a .294 team OBP. That wouldn't even win a title as a batting average.
Miles Mikolas, STL vs. CHC ($10,000): Mikolas' 4.41 road ERA is mediocre and partially attributed to a day to forget at Coors Field, but that number sits at 2.45 at home. He relies on his defense not being a strikeout pitcher, but the Cardinals feature some of the slickest fielders in the game. The Cubs, on the other hand, feature a bottom-10 offense.
Max Castillo, KC at DET ($): What kind of pitcher is Castillo? The rookie had posted a 3.05 ERA with the Blue Jays, though he pitched in relief in a few of his outings. Kansas City picked him up and he allowed three hits and one run over five innings against the Rays in his first start. The Tigers are last in runs scored and team OPS. I'm willing to take a chance on Castillo given that. They currently list Brady Singer on FanDuel as the Royals' starter for the Royals, but Mike Matheny has said he plans on having Castillo start.
Top Targets
The youngsters for the Orioles are exciting, but don't overlook Cedric Mullins ($3,100). His homers have dropped from last year, but he still has 13 to go with 29 stolen bases. He's also produced an .811 OPS against righties. Adrian Martinez is a righty, and the rookie has a 5.28 ERA while lefties have hit .288 against.
While Eloy Jimenez ($2,900) is dealing with a bit of leg soreness, I'm hopeful he'll at least be able to DH on Sunday. He's managed a .914 OPS the last three weeks and boasts a .973 home OPS this season. On the other side, Dylan Bundy has struggled with a 5.66 ERA on the road.
Bargain Bats
Though Donovan Solano ($2,700) doesn't bring much power, he's gone .338 the last three weeks to up his season average to .315. He's also produced an .840 OPS at Cincinnati's hitter-friendly ballpark. Colorado starter Jose Urena is also friendly to hitters with a 5.59 ERA over four seasons.
He may be away from Coors, but Ryan McMahon ($2,400) has recorded a .780 OPS versus righties since 2020. The southpaw has also registered 13 homers and seven stolen bases. Chase Anderson recently got picked up by the Reds, but the 34-year-old has a career 4.64 FIP and a 4.63 ERA at Triple-A this year.
Stacks to Consider
Mets vs. Nationals (Erick Fedde): Francisco Lindor ($3,800), Mark Canha ($3,100), Jeff McNeil ($2,700)
Fedde lists a robust resume of below-average pitching having never maintained a FIP lower than 4.65 in any season to go along with a 5.26 career ERA. Righties hit and lefties hit him, so you really can't go wrong with the Mets today.
Lindor has racked up 21 home runs and 15 stolen bases. He may be a switch hitter, but he's posted an .815 OPS versus righties in 2022. Canha has been scorching hot with a 1.157 OPS the last three weeks. And while that isn't sustainable long-term, it is against a pitcher like Fedde. McNeil is the one lefty I'm bringing into the mix having hit .317 this year while slugging .475 against righties.
Twins at White Sox (Lucas Giolito): Carlos Correa ($3,200), Nick Gordon ($2,900), Gio Urshela ($2,600)
What became of Giolito this season? Here we sit at the beginning of September and he's at a 5.27 ERA. In fact, his home number is 6.86. The problem? Giving up 1.55 home runs per nine innings and letting righties hit a whopping .328 against.
Correa has seen his power dip a bit, but lists a .268 average with a .351 OBP and 15 home runs. He's also managed an .850 OPS the last 21 days. Gordon has produced six homers and six stolen bases and a .787 OPS versus righties – with a .284 average – and a .786 on the road. Urshela has been better against righties with a .759 OPS and on the road with a .753. The former Yankee has picked it up recently with an .804 the last two weeks.
Rangers at Red Sox (Kutter Crawford): Adolis Garcia ($4,000), Nathaniel Lowe ($3,800), Marcus Semien ($3,600)
It's been a rough stretch for Crawford with a 9.13 ERA in five starts while allowing six home runs in only 23.2 innings. He was doing reasonably well at first after joining the rotation, but that excitement has faded.
Garcia has accumulated a robust 22 home runs and 22 swiped bags along with a .779 OPS versus righties. Given that he recorded 31 and 16 of each in 2021, I'm not surprised. Lowe is as hot as any hitter in baseball with an 1.273 OPS and seven homers the last three weeks. The lefty also lists a .925 on the road. Semien's average and OBP have dropped this year, but he's joined Garcia in the 20-20 club to go with an .846 road OPS.
