This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Monday doesn't feature every MLB team in action, but it features plenty of games to give you options for your MLB DFS lineups. There are eight games on the slate, with the first starting at 7:05 p.m. ET. You have options to consider for your lineups, but I've done my considering already. Here are my recommendations.
Pitching
Sonny Gray, STL vs. HOU ($9,800): Gray has a 10.69 K/9 rate and an 1.13 BB/9 rate through three games. He also has a 4.62 FIP, even though he hasn't finished with a FIP above 3.40 in any of the last three seasons. It comes down to sample size and bad luck to me. Gray has allowed four home runs. In his career he's given up 0.88 homers per nine innings. Houston has started the year slowly offensively, as it is below average in terms of runs scored. The Astros also have only one lefty, Yordan Alvarez, to square off with the right-handed Gray.
Easton Lucas, TOR vs. ATL ($9,000): Huh. Prior to this season, the 28-year-old Lucas had never made an MLB start. He'd barely started in the minors, largely pitching out of the bullpen. The lefty was incredibly bad about giving up walks, walking 13 batters in 18.2 MLB innings prior to this season. So, naturally, he's drawn a couple unexpected starts with the Blue Jays, has gone at least five innings both times, and has yet to give up a run. If Lucas even proved to be a mid-rotation starter in 2025 it will be a surprise, but Atlanta is in the bottom five in runs scored, so maybe it's a good day to roll the dice.
Dustin May, LAD vs. COL ($8,700): May isn't just healthy, he's thriving. It's notable enough he's gone at least five innings in both his starts this season. May also has a 0.82 ERA in those starts, huge for a pitcher who missed all of 2024. The Rockies are last in runs scored even though they have the best hitter's park in MLB, which says all you need to know about that offense.
Top Targets
Monday definitely delivers more interesting hitting options than pitching options. While the Padres are dealing with a couple injuries right now, Manny Machado ($3,700) is available, and he's off to a strong start to the season. He's hit .317 with seven doubles and six stolen bases. Machado also has an .823 OPS at home since 2023. Over the last three seasons Jameson Taillon has a 4.96 ERA on the road, and he's allowed four home runs over three starts this year.
He's missed much of this season with a fluky ankle injury, but Freddie Freeman ($3,700) has as good of a track record against right-handed pitchers as anybody. Freeman has slashed .300/.387/.512 in his career and had more than 20 homers and 30 doubles in each of his last three seasons. Antonio Senzatela has barely pitched the last couple seasons, but he has a career 4.91 ERA. Also, he's faced 80 lefties since 2023 and they have collectively hit .365 against him.
Bargain Bats
The Rays are really banged up, but Brandon Lowe ($3,000) is there to bring his upper-tier power for his position of second base. He's slugged .481 in his career, and he's hit more than 20 home runs in each of the last two seasons, even though he missed over 50 games both times. Tanner Houck was bad in 2023, good in 2024 and has struggled to start this season. Through three starts he has a 5.62 FIP and lefties have hit .367 against him. Owing to that, I'll take a shot on last season being the anomaly for Houck.
Last season was rough for Ty France ($2,600), but in the four seasons prior to that he averaged .274 with good doubles power. In his first campaign with the Twins he's averaged .298 to kick off his tenure. I wanted a bargain-level Twin with contact skills for this matchup. Moving from the bullpen to the rotation, Clay Holmes has a 4.30 ERA, and both righties and lefties have hit .276 against him. However, he's also yet to allow a home run. I wouldn't want to bet on a Twin going yard, but France could get a hit or two.
Stacks to Consider
Royals at Yankees (Carlos Carrasco): Bobby Witt ($4,000), Vinnie Pasquantino ($3,100), Kyle Isbel ($2,500)
Carrasco has an interesting quirk for an MLB player. It's called, "being bad at pitching." He has a 7.71 ERA through three appearances with the Yankees this season. Over the prior four seasons Carrasco totaled up a 5.32 ERA. He doesn't even rack up strikeouts like he did back in his Cleveland days, and since 2023, lefties have hit .278 against him and righties have hit .310. I still have two southpaws in this stack, though, as Yankee Stadium tends to be kind to such hitters.
Witt has a .391 OBP with six doubles and five stolen bases. While he's light on home runs so far, Carrasco has allowed at least 1.65 homers per nine innings in three of the prior four seasons. Pasquantino hit .262 with 19 homers and 30 doubles last year in only 131 games. Since 2023 he has a .778 OPS against right-handed pitchers. The Royals have started the year slowly offensively, and I will admit I opted for Isbel as my second lefty because he had three hits Sunday. He did have eight triples and 11 stolen bases last year, so he can do damage on the base paths.
Tigers at Brewers (Tyler Alexander): Spencer Torkelson ($3,200), Gleyber Torres ($3,100), Javier Baez ($2,200)
Though Alexander has a 2.82 ERA this season, he has a 4.02 FIP, and Tigers fans won't be surprised about that fact. The former Detroit pitcher has a career 4.50 ERA and 4.62 FIP. He's also allowed 1.62 homers per nine innings. Finding a three-righty stack from the Tigers was tricky, but since Alexander is a lefty I wanted to go in that direction.
Torkelson is having quite the rebound season. He's slashed .309/.409/.673 and hit five home runs already. I'm thinking Tork's second 30-homer season is in the offing. Torres has missed most of the season, but he's a career .266 hitter who tallied 20 homers and 20 doubles in two of the prior three seasons. When he's played, the former Yankee has managed an OPS over 1.000 to this point. Baez is no lock to draw into the lineup, but with a lefty starting for the Brewers, there's a good chance he does. The shortstop has hit .286 with three doubles this year.
