This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Pitching
Lance Lynn, LAD vs. MIL ($9,400): There are only four games for the main slate and Lynn is the pitcher with the best odds to win and is tied for the lowest over/under for runs (8.5) of those four games. He's scored at least 43 fantasy points in four straight games and gets the friendly confines of playing in Los Angeles tonight. The Brewers have a .294 wOBA on the road against right-handed pitching which is the fourth-worst in baseball.
Tarik Skubal, DET at CLE ($8,900): Skubal is something of a wild card considering he's scored 48, 14, 40 and 13 points in his last four contests leading up to this game. While they've been better as of late, the Cleveland offense has been mostly stagnant this season and they were sellers at the trade deadline. The Guardians are dead-last against left-handed pitching with a .294 wOBA and are actually an underdog in this game despite it being at home.
Top Targets
Pete Alonso, NYM vs. STL ($3,700): After a stagnant run coming out of the All-Star break, Alonso has heated up with five home runs over his last 10 games. He hit one out yesterday and has gone 3-for-7 against Adam Wainwright with two doubles and two walks. Wainwright has been awful this season with a 8.78 ERA and one has to wonder why he's still pitching in the majors being on the wrong side of 41 years old.
Francisco Lindor, NYM vs. STL ($3,600): It seems odd to list two players from the same team in this space but considering it's only a four-game slate and again, it's Wainwright, so this is how I'd start my cash game lineup. Lindor fills a positional scarcity need qualifying at shortstop and is averaging almost 12 fantasy points per game this season. On top of that he's scored fantasy points in 16 of his last 17 games showing very good consistency.
Bargain Bats
Buddy Kennedy, ARI vs. SD ($2,000): Anytime you can get a guy into your lineup for the bare minimum and who has two double vowels (if you count Ys but I don't think so in this case), three Ds and two Ns you have to. Kennedy should be in the lineup tonight against lefty Rich Hill and while he's not an elite prospect, he's only 24 and was raking at Triple-A. He has a .927 OPS at Reno and what stands out best is his batting eye as evidenced by a 70:65 BB:K rate.
Nolan Arenado, STL vs. NYM ($3,500): It seems like Arenado should be more of a hit against your salary cap given the small slate of games so he seems like a bargain. He has a .896 OPS against left-handed pitching since 2021 and pairing him with the two Mets and Paul Goldschmidt ($3,600) seems like the starting point for all cash games. Arenado has only gone 2-for-15 against Jose Quintana but both of those hits happen to be home runs.
Stacks To Consider
Mets vs. Wainwright: Alonso, Lindor, Brandon Nimmo ($3,000), Jeff McNeil ($2,700)
McNeil is in play for any type of contest considering he was hitting cleanup yesterday and could be again tonight. Along with second base eligibility, he's potentially and economical batter to use in the cleanup spot. A mix of both teams could ultimately be the key to winning; don't be afraid to deviate from the obvious players in GPPs.
Padres vs. Zac Gallen: Fernando Tatis, ($4,000), Juan Soto ($3,700), Manny Machado ($3,500), Gary Sanchez ($2,900)
At first glance this doesn't seem like a great matchup for the Friars going against Gallen. However, he has 4.72 ERA on the road and despite underperforming this season, San Diego still has a potent offense. Sanchez is the wild card here and he's been a boom-or-bust player recently with games of 35.4, 24.7, 47.4 and 37.4 fantasy points over his last 11 games. He also has games of six of fewer fantasy points in six of those other games speaking to the "bust" portion.
