This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Baseball and Mother's Day go somewhat hand in hand, especially since Dallas Braden's big day however many years ago. You may have stuff to do Sunday, but you should still take a moment to put together some DFS lineups. There are nine games on the slate for DFS purposes, with the first pitch at 1:35 p.m. EDT. Here are my recommendations.
Pitching
Max Scherzer, NYM at WAS ($10,200): It's been a tough campaign for Scherzer, but he's posted a 2.38 ERA the previous two seasons. Mad Max feels like the kind of pitcher who gets up to face his former team. The Nationals provide an easy matchup for Scherzer ranking bottom-five in runs scored.
Logan Gilbert, SEA at DET ($9,400): Gilbert has compiled two straight solid starts to go with a 2.69 FIP and 3.79 ERA overall. Detroit isn't last in offense and that's a little surprising, but it's still down in the bottom-three.
Marcus Stroman, CHC at MIN ($8,500): Stroman has recorded a 2.28 ERA through eight appearances and only really has one subpar effort, which came against the mighty Dodgers. The Twins are simply fighting to keep their team OBP over .300, so Stroman should be able to handle this matchup.
Top Targets
Atlanta's Ronald Acuna ($6,300) is primed to be an MVP candidate when the season ends, which isn't surprising since he once fell three steals short of a 40/40 season. This year, he's slashed .342/.433/.559 with seven homers and 17 swipes. Yusei Kikuchi enters with a 3.35 ERA, but a 5.01 FIP. That's what happens when you allow 1.91 home runs per nine innings, in line with the 2.06 he gave up last year.
Wander Franco ($5,900) didn't end up missing any time after tweaking his neck, and he's hit .304 with seven homers and 12 stolen bases. While a switch-hitter, I imagine he'll be swinging from the left side against Clarke Schmidt. In his first season as a starter, Schmidt's allowed 2.04 home runs per nine innings and lefties have hit a staggering .378 against.
Bargain Bats
While Willy Adames ($4,400) has experienced a down year, his issues have primarily been versus lefties and on the road. Neither of those come into play Sunday against the Royals. Jordan Lyles is right-handed and righties have hit .284 against him since 2021. He's also posted a 6.20 ERA in 2023. Even while scuffling, Adames has still managed seven homers after 31 last year.
Jesus Sanchez ($3,600) has been surprisingly good having slashed .290/.364/.551 with three home runs and three stolen bases. And over his career, the lefty has a .790 OPS versus righties. Presumably out of desperation, the Reds have turned to Luke Weaver as a starter. He carries a career 4.91 ERA, and that number has jumped to 7.36 through four outings this season.
Stacks to Consider
Mariners at Tigers (Joey Wentz): Julio Rodriguez ($5,700), Ty France ($4,100), Teoscar Hernandez ($3,700)
Wentz has made seven starts so far, the same number as 2022 - his MLB debut. Most of his numbers are strikingly similar, but he's gone from not allowing any homers to 1.85 per nine innings. And that's how Wentz has ended up with a 5.52 FIP. Righties are doing all the damage against the southpaw, which is why I'm stacking three of them Sunday.
Rodriguez has seen his average and BABIP drop quite a bit in his sophomore season. And yet, he's still tallied seven homers and seven steals while slugging .474 against lefties. France has had the inverse campaign of Rodriguez as his power is down but he's hitting for average at .276 with a .361 OBP, and since 2021 he's gone .290 versus lefties. Hernandez, like J-Rod, is also making limited contact, but he's dominated southpaws with a 1.055 OPS over the last couple seasons.
Cubs at Twins (Louie Varland): Cody Bellinger ($4,400), Ian Happ ($4,300), Matt Mervis ($2,400)
Varland has made eight MLB starts stretching over two seasons, and it seems clear why he's yet to grab a regular role in the Twins' rotation. He's currently holding a 4.51 FIP while giving up 1.69 home runs per nine innings. And this year, lefties have hit .320 against Varland.
Bellinger is enjoying a rebound campaign slashing .270/.338/.496 with seven homers and nine stolen bases. Happ is a switch-hitter, but prefers facing righties with an .816 OPS against them since 2021 and over 1.000 in those matchups this year. Mervis is a 25-year-old call-up with limited MLB experience thus far, but posted a .973 OPS in Triple-A across two seasons.
