This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
The next time we wake up on a Sunday, it'll be October. Playoff baseball is right around the corner! Closer in proximity, timewise, are the 12 MLB games on the DFS slate. With the first pitch at 1:05 p.m. EDT, here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Freddy Peralta, MIL at MIA ($10,800): With their playoff circumstances effectively locked in, the Brewers likely won't tax Peralta's arm, but all it takes is five innings to qualify for a win. With the Marlins within the bottom-six in runs scored, I doubt they test him too much. And over his last 10 starts, Peralta has produced a 1.96 ERA while striking out 13.3 batters per nine innings.
Mike Clevinger, CWS at BOS ($10,000): Quietly, and aside from a bizarre outing against the Tigers, Clevinger has been pitching quite well. Even with that bad game, the righty has posted a 2.73 ERA from his last 14 starts and an 1.64 on the road. The Red Sox lineup is banged up and Clevinger has held lefties to a .219 the last two seasons, which is a concern for a few of the Sox's best hitters like Rafael Devers.
Cristopher Sanchez, PHI vs. NYM ($8,800): Sanchez has been better on the road, though he's also held lefties to .136 this season and a career .211. That spells doom for the southpaw bats of the Mets, of which there are many. They're below average in offense, so Sanchez should get a win if he goes at least five innings.
Top Targets
The only joy remaining in the Royals' season is seeing what kind of numbers Bobby Witt ($4,200) ends up with. At this point, he's notched 29 homers, nine triples, and 48 stolen bases, so some nice round-number landmarks are in the mix for the righty. Hunter Brown has registered a 6.07 ERA at home while righties have gone .271 against over his career.
The trials and travails of Trea Turner ($4,000) feel like a lifetime ago when you notice he's at he 26 home runs and 29 steals. He's been better against righties this year with a .792 OPS and an .881 at home. When a pitcher allows 1.68 homers per nine innings at Triple-A and then proceeds to only let one across 32.0 MLB frames, it doesn't feel sustainable. That is the story of Jose Butto, the Mets' projected starter.
Bargain Bats
His rookie season was solid, yet Seiya Suzuki ($3,100) has built upon it in 2023 by slashing .280/.351/.482 with a 1.179 OPS the last three weeks. Ty Blach may pitch for the Rockies, but he has a 6.14 road ERA with the club while righties have hit .353 against.
It's been futile, though Yoan Moncada ($2,900) has registered an .897 OPS the last three weeks. He's a switch-hitter, but his numbers against lefties and righties and at home or on the road have been fairly similar. On the other hand, Kutter Crawford has produced stark splits with a 2.71 road ERA and a 6.10 at home.
Stacks to Consider
Rangers vs. Mariners (Bryan Woo): Corey Seager ($4,400), Nathaniel Lowe ($3,000), Evan Carter ($3,000)
Woo has definitely displayed some positive elements to his game as a rookie, yet he's had a couple issues with a 4.04 road ERA while lefties have gone .295 against. Thus, a stack of three Rangers lefties.
Seager has hit basically everybody this year and could've walked away with the AL MVP had he been more available, but this matchup is particularly favorable for him with a 1.099 OPS against righties and a 1.107 at home. Lowe can't quite deliver what Seager does, yet he's still managed a .366 OBP and 38 doubles to go with an .819 home OPS and an .851 versus righties. Carter is a top prospect who's already hit the ground running since being called up. He hasn't looked overmatched even with the bulk of his experience coming at Double-A as he's slashed .325/.440/.675.
Guardians vs. Orioles (Kyle Gibson): Jose Ramirez ($4,000), Josh Naylor ($3,500), Steven Kwan ($3,400)
A new location for Gibson hasn't yielded different results with a 5.00 ERA, which means this could be his sixth season with a number over 5.00. His primary issue is clear, and it is the fact lefties have hit .296 against. Even if the Guardians haven't racked up a lot of runs, they offer a few lefty bats.
Ramirez is a switch-hitter with an .892 OPS versus righties since 2021. He's also compiled his third straight 20/20 season with a .278 average. Naylor has quietly slashed .310/.354/.497 with 17 homers and 10 stolen bases. He's boosted his numbers with a .921 OPS the last three weeks. While Kwan has dropped in all the slash line categories, he's arguably produced a better season as a sophomore with seven triples, 20 doubles, and stealing 20 bases while only being caught three times. And he still has a .748 OPS against righties.
Rays vs. Blue Jays (Yusei Kikuchi): Yandy Diaz ($3,600), Isaac Paredes ($3,000), Harold Ramirez ($2,800)
Kikuchi was pitching well for a while, but recently he's reverted to the homer-prone lefty with a career 4.78 FIP. He's also posted a 5.04 ERA over his last six starts where he's allowed four homers. Kikuchi has given up 1.66 long balls per nine innings during his career, and all three of these hitters boast some power.
As usual, Diaz has shown a key batting eye with a .327 average and .405 OBP. He's also slugged .515 and hit 21 homers. Paredes has more than some power going deep 29 times while slugging .484 to go with a .908 home OPS. Ramirez doesn't have the same pop as the other two, but he's batting .304. His power shows up versus southpaws by slugging .528 against them.
