This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Hopefully you had a nice weekend, but MLB never (or rarely) sleeps. There are seven games starting at 7:20 p.m. ET or later Monday. It may not be the weekend, but you can still have fun, especially if you find some DFS success. These are my recommendations.
Pitching
Luis Castillo, SEA vs. OAK ($10,500): Castillo picked up where he left off after the trade to Seattle to start the season, but he's had a couple of rough starts recently. However, he still has a 3.25 FIP through nine starts, and his home ERA remains an impressive 2.52. The Athletics have been all-or-nothing, as they barely make contact but have hit some homers along the way. Even so, they remain in the bottom five in runs scored.
Bailey Ober, MIN vs. SF ($10,300): Quietly, this could be a pitcher's duel in Minnesota with Ober facing Alex Cobb. After having a 2.91 FIP in 11 starts in 2022, he has a 2.99 FIP through five starts this season. Ober has allowed two home runs all season, both in the same start, and the Giants are below average in terms of runs scored.
Top Targets
Considering that Matt Olson ($4,100) had two 30-homer seasons with the Athletics, it's no surprise he hit 34 of them in his first season with Atlanta. This year, he already has 13 homers, and he's also posted a .375 OBP. The lefty will get to face Gavin Stone on Monday, a promising prospect making his second MLB start. His first start went poorly, as he allowed four earned runs in three innings while striking out a single batter.
Even while suffering from a sophomore slump, Julio Rodriguez ($3,500) has seven homers and eight stolen bases. We should get used to that type of production, as he had 28 homers and 25 stolen bases in 2022. Kyle Muller was bad with Atlanta, but he's been a disaster with Oakland. In particular, he has a 10.31 ERA on the road and has allowed righties to hit .289 against him in his career.
Bargain Bats
The Marlins have a poor offense, but they get to make a trip to Coors Field to start this week, so that should help. Bryan De La Cruz ($3,400) is a career .274 hitter, and he has five homers and two stolen bases this year. This will be Chase Anderson's first start with Colorado at Coors Field, and over the previous three seasons he posted a 6.81 ERA.
With more opportunity than in the past, Zach McKinstry ($2,500) is paying off for the Tigers. He has a .273 average with three homers and six stolen bases. Last year, the lefty did have five homers, three triples and seven swiped bags in 57 games. I'll take the southpaw against Brady Singer on Monday. Singer is having a tough campaign, posting a 7.09 ERA. He has also allowed lefties to hit .303 against him.
Stacks to Consider
Angels vs. Red Sox (Tanner Houck): Mike Trout ($3,900), Hunter Renfroe ($3,000), Jared Walsh ($2,100)
Moving from the bullpen to the rotation has not worked out for Houck. He's posted a 5.48 ERA through eight starts. Unsurprisingly, his strikeout rate is down, and he's allowed more home runs. For now, Houck is still in the rotation, and the Angels can take advantage of that.
Trout actually has the worst numbers of his career so far, but that still means he has a .281/.371/.515 slash line with 10 homers. Mostly his issue has been against lefties, and since 2021 he has a .634 slugging percentage against right-handed pitchers. Renfroe has been much better at home this year, though I don't know if that says much, given that he is on his fifth team in five seasons. That's not due to a lack of skill on his part, as he's slugged .486 over those five campaigns with two 30-homer seasons in the mix. Walsh just returned to the lineup after dealing with health issues. Maybe those issues were responsible for his down 2022 numbers as well. In 2021 he has a .994 OPS against righties, and even last year he had 12 home runs against right-handers pitchers.
Rockies vs. Marlins (Edward Cabrera): Kris Bryant ($3,300), Ryan McMahon ($3,300), Charlie Blackmon ($3,300)
It seemed, on the surface, like Cabrera may have made some sweeping improvements in 2022. However, his 4.59 FIP tells a different story, and his walk rate remained quite high. This year, his walk percentage is up to 16.4, and his FIP is up to 4.80. Now, a walk isn't as damaging as giving up homers, which is relevant with a game at Coors Field, but Cabrera has also allowed 1.43 home runs per nine innings in his career.
Bryant has not had a ton of opportunity to take advantage of Coors yet, but he has hit .288 this year with a .366 OBP and five homers. In his last full season the one-time MVP posted a .481 slugging percentage with 25 home runs, so eventually his power numbers show improvement. McMahon has four homers and three stolen bases. His .790 OPS since 2021 versus righties speaks to the left hander's issues with getting on base, but he does also have an .829 OPS at home in that time. Blackmon's power has been down for a bit, but he still hits for average, including a .276 average this year. Doubles and triples still have value, though, and he has an .805 OPS at Coors since 2021.
