This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
There's an octet of baseball games on the slate for DFS purposes. That means 16 teams worth of players to pick from. With the first pitch at 7:05 p.m. ET, here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Clayton Kershaw, LAD vs. MIL ($9,900): Kershaw looked solid enough in his return to action, going five innings and only allowing one run against the Rockies. When he's healthy, the lefty still has it, as he has a 2.51 ERA in 17 starts. The Brewers have a sub-.700 OPS as a team, and since Kershaw is a lefty, he can keep Christian Yelich in check.
Luis Castillo, SEA at KC ($9,600): Castillo has a 3.14 ERA this year after having a 2.99 ERA last year, even though his home-run rate has nearly doubled and is well above his career 1.09 HR/9 rate. He's been perhaps a bit unlucky, but there is little to fear from the Royals. Kansas City is 28th in runs scored and in the bottom five in team OPS.
Top Targets
One of baseball's elite hitters (and stats stuffers), Mookie Betts ($6,200) has slashed .289/.389/.579 with 31 homers and 94 runs. He has an 1.081 OPS against lefties and an 1.078 OPS at home as well. Southpaw Wade Miley has a 2.90 ERA, but a 4.41 FIP, so I will go with the high-level bat of Betts on Wednesday.
A scorching-hot Austin Riley ($5,800) has an 1.038 OPS over the last three weeks. While he is slightly better against lefties, he has a .953 OPS at home, which balances that out. Randy Vasquez has an 1.89 ERA over his first four MLB appearances, but has a 5.11 FIP. Notably, he had a 4.76 ERA down at Triple-A before getting called up.
Bargain Bats
Nico Hoerner ($5,100) has a .281 average to go with his 30 stolen bases. He doesn't have a ton of power, but since 2021 he has an .803 OPS at home. It's easier to steal second on a righty, and Mike Clevinger is a righty. Clevinger also has a 4.85 ERA on the road while allowing righties to hit .258 against him.
Since returning from injury, Justin Turner ($4,600) has hit two homers in three games. In his first season with the Red Sox, the righty has a .925 OPS against southpaws. MacKenzie Gore has been a steady presence in the Nationals' rotation, but he has a 4.62 ERA (and a 4.62 FIP, which is fun), so it has been 23 games of mediocre pitching from the lefty.
Stacks to Consider
Padres vs. Orioles (Dean Kremer): Juan Soto ($5,700), Jake Cronenworth ($4,200), Trent Grisham ($3,100)
Kremer has Goldilocks between his 2021 and 2022 campaigns, but that doesn't mean a ton since his 2021 was so poor. The righty has a 4.96 FIP and has allowed 1.70 homers per nine innings. Since lefties have hit .286 against Kremer, I have three southpaws in this stack.
Soto has a .407 OBP, priming him to finish with an OBP over .400 for the sixth time in his six-season career. His performance against righties is the crux of that, as he has a .968 OPS in those matchups. Since 2021, Cronenworth has a .755 OPS against righties and a .763 OPS at home. He's also been hot, posting a .941 OPS over the last three weeks. Grisham has 11 homers and 12 swiped bags. The thing that is perhaps key to me, though, is his 26 doubles, which may be the most-likely source of DFS success at Petco on Wednesday.
Rangers vs. Angels (Reid Detmers): Marcus Semien ($5,800), Adolis Garcia ($5,400), Nathaniel Lowe ($4,500)
The Angels dragged their feet a bit in naming a starter for Wednesday, but I have seen Detmers' name thrown into the mix (for what it's worth, have also seen Griffin Canning). That's even though Detmers has a 10.30 ERA over his last six starts. Hey, the Angels' season is lost, and Shohei Ohtani's arm is bugging him. They have nothing to lose. Detmers is a lefty, so I have two righties in this stack.
Semien has 19 homers and 11 stolen bases. Last year, his first with the Rangers, he really struggled at home. This year, though, Semien has an .862 OPS in home games. Garcia has brought the power with gusto, having slugged .516 with 30 homers. This year he has a .916 OPS against lefties and an 1.030 OPS at home. Lowe has an .883 OPS at home this season. While he's a lefty, since 2021 he has an .801 OPS versus southpaws. Meanwhile, Detmers has allowed left-handed hitters to bat .260 against him in that same time frame.
