This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Summer is around the corner, and the start of May is just a couple days away. Monday, the penultimate day of April, features nine MLB games starting at 7:07 p.m. ET or later. Looking for some DFS success? Maybe these lineup recommendations are the first step towards that.
Pitching
Joe Ryan, MIN at CWS ($10,900): Ryan's 3.45 ERA through five starts offers up a sense of another solid season for the mid-rotation starter, but he actually has a 2.83 FIP. He also has an excellent matchup. While the White Sox and Athletics are now closer to one another in terms of runs scored, the Sox are still last on that front, and also last in team OPS.
Max Fried, ATL at SEA ($7,800): Fried started the season with two bad starts, and because it's still so early in the season, that's left him with a 4.97 ERA. However, over his last three starts the lefty has an 1.77 ERA, a reminder that over the prior four seasons he posted a 2.66 ERA. The Mariners have scuffled to start the season and are in the bottom 10 in runs scored, as well as the bottom five in strikeouts.
Top Targets
Petco Park is spacious, the kind of park where a guy with a lot of speed could do some damage. Like, say, a guy who had seven triples in 98 games as a rookie, or a guy who has picked up an inside-the-park home runs in 2024. You know, somebody like Elly De La Cruz ($4,600). He's a switch hitter more in theory than in practice, given his major struggles against lefties, but he has an .857 OPS versus righties in his career. I don't know if Matt Waldron's two bad starts in 2024 being at home means anything, but I do know he has a career 4.95 FIP.
Many lefties can't hit southpaw pitchers, but Freddie Freeman ($3,300) is not most lefties. Just last season, he had a whopping 1.008 OPS versus his fellow left-handers. That's notable because, in addition to his career 5.02 FIP, Tommy Henry has consistently struggled with lefty hitters. The Arizona southpaw has allowed them to bat .289 against him.
Bargain Bats
Though he barely got on base at a 30-percent clip in 2023, Nelson Velazquez ($2,800) made some noise by slugging .586 and hitting 17 home runs in only 53 games. Notably, though he's right handed, he slugged .646 against righties. Yariel Rodriguez went from Cuba to Japan to Canada, as the Blue Jays are his first MLB team. He's a pseudo-starter for now, a guy who tops at 4.0 innings, but he also has a 4.09 FIP and has allowed 1.56 homers per nine innings.
He's 38 and doesn't have much tread left on his tires by this point, but Carlos Santana ($2,500) is still at it, and he's even managed to emerge as the regular first baseman for the Twins. Though he is a switch hitter, since 2022 he has an .801 OPS versus lefties, and with the number of southpaws the Twins employ, he's basically a lock to play against lefty pitchers. Garrett Crochet is left-handed, and also perhaps not cut out to be a starting pitcher. Through six starts, he has a 6.37 ERA.
Stacks to Consider
Phillies at Angels (Griffin Canning): Bryce Harper ($3,600), Kyle Schwarber ($3,400), Brandon Marsh ($3,000)
Canning is headed in the wrong direction. Last season, after missing all of 2022, he had a 4.32 ERA. This year, though, his ERA is up to 7.50. Canning has gone from allowing 1.56 homers per nine all the way up to 1.88. Also, lefties have hit .333 against him this year, which plays directly into Philly's hands.
Harper is still working to get his average and OBP in line with his usual production, but his power is there. The two-time MVP has slugged .468 and hit six home runs. Since 2022, he has a .909 OPS versus righties. Schwarber will never match Harper in terms of a well-rounded approach at the plate, but he can match him for power. He's slugged .488 in his career and has seven home runs in 2024 after hitting over 45 in each of the prior two seasons. Marsh will be facing his former team, and his career has taken off since he joined the Phillies. Over the last two years he's slashed .280/.366/.475, and he's hit six homers and has three stolen bases in 2024.
Pirates at Athletics (Joe Boyle): Bryan Reynolds ($3,100), Oneil Cruz ($2,900), Jack Suwinski ($2,700)
Getting a cup of coffee with the Athletics in 2023, Boyle had an 1.69 ERA over three starts, but a 3.12 FIP. Notably, righties hit only .083 against him, but lefties batted .278. Now, this year it has only been five outings for Boyle, and only 5.2 more innings than he pitched in 2023, but he has a 7.06 ERA and 4.49 FIP. This year, southpaws are hitting .283 against him. Thus, however you slice it, I'm happy to stack a few more guys who hit left-handed that call the Keystone State home, professionally speaking.
Reynolds is a switch-hitter, one without significant splits, but he has an .802 OPS versus righties since 2022. What is notable, from a splits perspective, is how much better he is on the road. Reynolds has an .849 OPS in away games in that aforementioned time frame. Hey, remember Cruz? He was Elly De La Cruz before Elly De La Cruz, but injuries have robbed him of a chance to establish himself for the Pirates. Pittsburgh's Cruz has three homers and three stolen bases, and the only season wherein he saw substantive playing time he had an .837 OPS against righties. Suwinski has struggled to start the season, and he will never threaten to win a batting title in the best of times, but last year he emerged with 24 homers and 13 swiped bags. Whilst posting those numbers the southpaw had an .856 OPS versus right handers and an .884 OPS on the road.
