This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
With NFL preseason games going on, the thought of football on Monday nights looms. For now, though, Mondays remain about baseball. There are eight MLB games starting at 7:10 p.m. ET or later. Now, onto my DFS lineup recommendations to start the work week on the right foot.
Pitching
Logan Gilbert, SEA at KC ($10,000): Gilbert is coming off a stellar start, allowing only one hit with zero runs, zero walks and 12 strikeouts against the Padres. Now, that's only one start, but all in all Gilbert has a 3.43 FIP. He also has a matchup with a Royals team that is 28th in runs scored and in the bottom five in team OPS.
Miles Mikolas, STL vs. OAK ($8,000): Mikolas doesn't strikeout many batters, doesn't allow many walk and also keeps the ball in the park. That means a lot of balls in play, and that doesn't always go great, as his 3.75 FIP indicates. However, the Athletics are last in runs scored and team OPS, and they do not put a hurting on many pitchers. Oakland has a .221 batting average as a team, so Mikolas can handle this matchup.
Top Targets
With 43 homers, Matt Olson ($4,400) has already set a personal best on that front, and he's the odds-on favorite to lead MLB in home runs. The lefty has an 1.038 OPS against right handers, and an 1.068 OPS at home. Clarke Schmidt, meanwhile, has allowed southpaws to hit .292 against him in his career and has a 4.56 ERA on the road this season. Yeah, sounds good for Olson.
There's a decent chance that Nolan Arenado ($3,400) will hit 30 homers with 100 RBI for the third season in a row. His performance at home is a big part of that, as he's posted an .878 OPS in St. Louis. JP Sears is a lefty who is worse against lefties, at least in terms of batting average, but he has a 5.01 FIP and has allowed 1.79 homers per nine innings. Arenado has a .905 OPS against lefties since 2021, so I'll still take him Monday.
Bargain Bats
Jeff McNeil ($2,700) has had a tough season – he can get in line among Mets – but over the last three weeks he has an .801 OPS. Since 2021, the lefty has a .752 OPS versus righties and a .773 OPS at home. Quinn Priester's introduction to MLB has been rough. Through five starts he has an 8.75 ERA and has allowed lefties to hit .360 against him.
The surprise breakthrough of Ezequiel Duran ($2,600) has been clearly bolstered by two things. He has a .991 OPS against lefties and a .932 OPS at home. Patrick Sandoval has a 3.86 ERA, and since 2021 righties have hit .255 against the southpaw.
Stacks to Consider
Diamondbacks at Rockies (Chris Flexen): Corbin Carroll ($4,300), Ketel Marte ($4,000), Christian Walker ($3,900)
Well, a dude with a 7.92 ERA who has allowed 2.75 homers per nine innings is pitching at Coors Field, so yeah, I'm looking to stack. Flexen is a righty, sure, but also that doesn't matter. Lefties have hit .356 against him, while righties have hit .336 against him, so it is really just about smashing this matchup with gusto however you slice it.
Carroll will win NL Rookie of the Year, even if he's slumped recently. Let's not wring our hands over a young hitter with 21 homers and 36 stolen bases given a few dicey weeks. Maybe a trip to Coors, and a righty on the mound, will help. Carroll has a career .922 OPS versus right-handed pitchers and a career .947 OPS on the road. With a .281 average, 19 homers, seven triples and six stolen bases, Marte brings a mix of speed and power. While the switch hitter is better against lefties, he's slugged .497 against righties and .514 on the road, so it's all good. Walker's homer-hitting prowess comes into play here. He's notched 24 homers after hitting 36 last season. Walker has also already notched a career-high 33 doubles, but one can envision a double off the wall turning into a homer at Coors.
Padres vs. Orioles (Grayson Rodriguez): Juan Soto ($3,800), Ha-Seong Kim ($3,200), Xander Bogaerts ($3,100)
Like many young pitchers, Rodriguez is learning the limits of a big fastball in MLB, especially for a righty. There are the strikeouts, yes, but there's also the 5.84 ERA with 1.58 homers allowed per nine innings. Righties hit .264 against him, while lefties hit .288. Padres hitters will be making contact, and that's what this trio can do well.
Soto is better on the road, but his .832 OPS at Petco Park is not exactly bad. More to the point, his 1.001 OPS versus righties since 2021 more than makes up for the location of this game. As a second baseman with a .381 OBP, 15 homers and 27 steals, Kim really stands out on the DFS front. He's better against lefties and on the road, but he has an 1.034 OPS over the last three weeks, and I am considering that a bit of a balance of the scales. A career .290 hitter, Bogaerts having a .271 average qualifies as down for him. However, he still has 12 homers and 13 stolen bases. Also he has a .360 OBP against righties and a .356 OBP at home, so he is in the right circumstance to be rostered.
