This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
You look at the full day Wednesday, and the schedule is packed to the gills. The evening, though, is a little chiller. There are six games on the docket. Originally there were seven, but the Twins and Yankees are now playing a doubleheader where both games are taking place before the 7:05 p.m. EDT start time for the main slate of contests. Here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Alek Manoah, TOR at BAL ($10,900): Manoah is racking up innings, as is his desire. He's made 26 starts and pitched 163 innings. The big righty is not going to be pulled after four innings because he's gone through the lineup twice. Also, he has a 2.48 ERA. The Orioles have taken the step this year from a bad offense to a decent offense, but Manoah is too good a pitcher to be wary about facing an offense still below the median in runs scored.
Yu Darvish, SD vs. ARI ($10,800): Darvish appreciates the friendly confines of Petco Park. At home, he has a 2.29 ERA. All in all, over his last 10 starts he has a 2.90 ERA as well. The Diamondbacks are around the middle of the pack in runs scored, but they have a .309 OBP as a team.
Jordan Montgomery, STL vs. WAS ($9,500): Moving to St. Louis has been kind to Montgomery. In six starts since he was dealt, the former Yankee has an 1.47 ERA. Speaking of deals, the Nationals made a couple of those too, and they are now down in the bottom six in runs scored.
Top Targets
It feels like Jose Altuve ($4,100) is just casually hitting .291 with 24 homers and 15 stolen bases without any fanfare. Not only that, he has an 1.088 OPS versus lefties and a .957 OPS at home. It's expected Cole Ragans will be coming off the IL to start this game, and he is a lefty with a 6.60 FIP through four starts.
Bargain Bats
Over the last two weeks, Michael Taylor ($3,200) has a .913 OPS. He also has a .798 OPS at home this year. The Guardians are dealing with injuries in their rotation, so we have Cody Morris in line to make his second career start. His first only went two innings, and he allowed four hits, two walks, and two earned runs.
Stacks to Consider
Cardinals vs. Nationals (Cory Abbott): Nolan Arenado ($4,400), Lars Nootbaar ($3,300), Brendan Donovan ($2,400)
After a couple relief appearances, Abbott is back in the rotation. No matter his role, in his career he has a 5.32 ERA. The possibility of a short stint is a little concerning with two lefties in my stack, but I still think it's worth it.
Arenado is a righty, but he's a righty with a .924 OPS over the last three weeks. In fact, he has a .923 OPS on the season, if you are a fan of larger sample sizes. Basically, he's been steadily great all year. Nootbaar has 11 home runs on the season, with six of them coming in the last three weeks. Unsurprisingly, he has a .952 OPS over that homer-happy stretch. Donovan has a .287 average and a .391 OBP. He'd get a lot more attention if he had better power numbers, but at home he has an .888 OPS.
Padres vs. Diamondbacks (Tommy Henry): Manny Machado ($4,500), Ha-Seong Kim ($2,700), Jurickson Profar ($2,600)
Henry has made six MLB starts. He's kept the home runs in check but has also only struck out 6.54 batters per nine innings. All in all, he's sitting here with a 4.83 ERA. Not allowing homers isn't stopping Henry from being lit up on the mound, and in his last start he allowed seven runs in four innings.
Machado has a .977 OPS over the last three weeks, and he's not afraid of Petco Park. He's slashed .292/.368/.554 at home since 2020. Since Henry is a lefty, I am eschewing the lefty bats on the Padres. Kim is a righty, and he has a .798 OPS versus southpaws. He's also hit .313 over the last three weeks. Profar is a switch hitter with 13 home runs and five stolen bases. He also has a .779 OPS at home.
Cubs vs. Reds (Mike Minor): Ian Happ ($3,100), Seiya Suzuki ($2,800), Nico Hoerner ($2,700) Starting Minor is akin to waving the white flag. This is going to be his third season in a row with an ERA over 5.00. Now, the previous two seasons his FIP was below 5.00, but this year it is 5.95. This year, righties have tuned up Minor at a .303 clip.
Happ is a switch hitter, but he has an .846 OPS against southpaws. He also has an .870 OPS at home. Suzuki got off to a hot start, but the rookie has kind of been forgotten since in part due to an IL stint. However, over the last three weeks he has an .836 OPS. He also has 11 homers and eight stolen bases on the season. Hoerner has notched eight homers and 17 stolen bases. Additionally, he has a .798 OPS against left-handed batters, with a .307 batting average.
