Before you settle in for all the NFL action Sunday (go Lions!), be sure you select your MLB DFS lineups. There are 11 games on the slate, with the first pitch at 1:35 p.m. EDT. So here are my recommendations. (Go Lions! Yeah, I know I already said that. They're playing the Packers! I had to say it twice!)
Pitching
Dylan Cease, SDP at COL ($9,400): Sunday's pitching options are pretty rough. How rough? Enough so that I'd be willing to take a shot on Cease at Coors Field. The Rockies have a terrible offense and are going to finish 29th in runs with a sub-3.00 OBP even though they play in the best hitter's park. Cease is imperfect, but misses plenty of bats by notching a 11.71 K/9 rate while the Rockies rank 29th in strikeouts. Even if he gives up a few runs, they'll likely be paired with several Ks and a win.
Michael Wacha, KAN vs. MIN ($7,600): Wacha's ERA is heavily influenced by his 5.22 on the road. At home, he's recorded a 3.60 while only allowing 1.1 homers per nine innings. I know that's not a remarkable HR/9 rate, but it's better than his 1.7 HR/9 away mark. The Twins are also fully in "playing out the string" mode, and I think they'll finish the season 25th in offense.
Taijuan Walker, PHI at MIA ($6,400): Walker is the lowest-salaried starter on Sunday. And given that, I'd take a shot on him and spend more at other positions. He's posted a 3.63 road ERA while the Marlins are barely out of the bottom-10 in runs scored (literally 20th). And their best hitter Kyle Stowers is injured. If you're looking to roll the dice, there's a clear strategy here.
Find out which projected starters are going and when with RotoWire's Probable Pitchers page!
Top Targets
Compiling a 30/30 campaign is impressive regardless, though Jazz Chisholm ($3,800) could do that even though he's only appeared in 109 games. He's also slugged over .500 against righties and at home. Max Scherzer will eventually be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but right now he's a pitcher in his age-40 season with a 4.92 FIP and 1.93 HR/9 rate.
Willy Adames ($3,700) evidently decided to take a "better late than never" approach to his first season as a Giant. After a slow start, he's now up to 27 homers as a shortstop. Adames also has an 1.005 OPS the last three weeks. Meanwhile, Sonny Gray enters with a 6.44 ERA from his last nine starts while his fellow righties have hit .288 against overall.
Bargain Bats
I'm not going to sneeze at double-digit homers and stolen bases, especially when paired with a .366 OBP. And that's what TJ Friedl ($3,000) delivers. The southpaw has also gone .275 against righties. Brandon Sproat will be making his MLB debut on Sunday. He's one of the better pitching prospects, though he's not Jonah Tong or Nolan McLean having posted a 3.91 FIP at Triple-A.
Even though Nolan Gorman ($2,800) only has 14 home runs, that's not terrible for a second baseman or for someone who's only made 97 appearances. He's also slugged .469 at home this season. Kai-Wei Teng has endured a tough time in MLB thus far with an 8.19 ERA in 29.2 innings.
Stacks to Consider
Padres at Rockies (Tanner Gordon): Fernando Tatis ($4,100), Ryan O'Hearn ($3,400), Jake Cronenworth ($3,200)
I won't be taking a chance on Gordon just because the pitching options are subpar on Sunday. After all, he holds a career 7.05 ERA and 6.65 K/9 rate. I'd have liked to get more than one righty as Gordon is right-handed since they've batted .368 against during his career. But Manny Machado is too cold right now given his salary, Xander Bogaerts is hurt and you don't need a catcher for your lineup, though I'm still happy with this two-lefty stack.
First up is Tatis, who is right-handed with an .846 OPS versus his fellow righties. It's not an issue to pick two lefties against Gordon as they've managed a .294 average against. O'Hearn has been mediocre since arriving in San Diego, yet lists an .802 OPS versus righties on the year and was consistently better on the road while with the Orioles. Cronenworth has a .952 OPS the last 14 days with an overall .784 OPS versus righties and .786 on the road.
Tigers vs. White Sox (Davis Martin): Riley Greene ($3,600), Spencer Torkelson ($3,300), Kerry Carpenter ($3,100)
As I wait with a degree of impatience for the Tigers to handle their business well enough to clinch the AL Central, matchups like this offer some relief. Martin comes in with a career 4.32 ERA, but this season his road number is 4.57. He's also posted a 4.86 FIP, 6.57 K/9 rate, and 1.40 HR/9 rate. Hopefully these three Tigers will deliver you a successful DFS stack, and deliver the team a win.
30 homers, 30 doubles, and 100 RBI can cover up other issues, and Greene is doing that as he literally strikes out more than anyone in baseball. He's also slugged .578 against righties. I wanted one righty since Martin has similar success (usually a lack thereof) against both lefties and righties, with the latter going for a slightly-higher average. Both Torkelson and Gleyber Torres have been scuffling of late and the former offers more power potential (he's going to have his second 30-homer season) and hasn't been as reliant on facing lefties to produce. This is what Carpenter lives for - it's where he becomes "Kerry Bonds" - as the lefty has slugged .528 against righties and .591 at home.
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