This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
You will have plenty of opportunity to watch baseball Wednesday afternoon, but the tradeoff is a relative dearth of DFS options in the evening. Only six games are on the slate at 6:40 p.m. EDT or later, with the second leg of a doubleheader between the Angels and Reds not included. With all that in mind, here are my lineup recommendations for your roster construction Wednesday.
Pitching
Kevin Gausman, TOR at BAL ($11,000): The Orioles have a top-10 offense, but Gausman has been a top-10 pitcher, so with limited options, I'm not afraid to go that way. He has a 2.83 FIP, has struck out 11.66 batters per nine innings, and is on pace to allow fewer than one home runs per nine for the third season in a row. If you are matchup agnostic when it comes to talent, Gausman is the way to go.
Charlie Morton, ATL vs. NYM ($10,000): Gausman is the bet on talent. Morton is the bet on "Hey, he'll probably get a win." An innings eater, the veteran has a 3.54 ERA and gets support from baseball's best offense. The Mets are mediocre offensively, literally 16th in runs scored, but with Jose Quintana on the mound, I think Atlanta is a heavy favorite to win, and Morton will likely earn that "W."
Top Target
It's not surprising that Kyle Tucker ($4,000) has 25 homers and 24 stolen bases. What's notable to me is that he's smashed his fellow lefties to the tune of an 1.016 OPS. Now, Chris Sale has only faced 39 lefty batters, but he's let them hit .278 against him. The veteran with a 4.50 ERA also is not going to make it through five innings, so Tucker should get a chance to face a righty a time or two as well. Not that he needs it.
Bargain Bat
I mentioned Quintana earlier, and in six starts for the Mets he's been amazing against lefties. His .050 average allowed to southpaws is remarkable even over a sample size of 22 batters faced. Righties, though, have hit .273 against him. Marcell Ozuna ($3,000) has seen his power surge this year, having slugged .506 with 27 homers. Crucially, he has a .977 OPS versus left-handed pitchers.
Stacks to Consider
Blue Jacks at Orioles (Jack Flaherty): Brandon Belt ($2,900), Daulton Varsho ($2,600), Kevin Kiermaier ($2,400)
I'm doing a three-southpaw stack, even if these are far from the biggest bats in the Blue Jays lineup, but with good cause. Flaherty's really scuffled with the Orioles, posting a 7.07 ERA in three starts. That's only a sliver of my reasoning, though. As per usual, the former Cardinal has been playing valet, as he's allowed 4.51 walks per nine innings. On top of that, though, Flaherty has allowed lefties to hit .304 against him. Thus, this stack.
Belt, in his first year with Toronto, has an .874 OPS against righties since 2021. He's also been hot, posting an 1.137 OPS over the last three weeks. Varsho has 16 homers and 15 stolen bases, but as much as anything it's the location of this game that matters to me. The first-year Jay has been brutal north of the border, while his .763 OPS on the road at least makes him look like a viable big leaguer. Kiermaier has hit .273 with six homers, five triples, and 11 stolen bases. It's easier to steal on a righty, but all six of those homers have come against right-handed pitchers as well.
Nationals at Yankees (Luis Severino): Lane Thomas ($3,400), CJ Abrams ($3,000), Dominic Smith ($2,500)
I'm… excited for a Nationals stack? The power of Severino! Every pitch he gets to make is a testament to the Yankees giving up on this season. He's posted a 7.98 ERA overall, and an 11.08 OPS over his last eight starts. I had to have two lefties in this stack, as Yankee Stadium is good for southpaws, and Severino is even better for them. The pitcher has given up a .362 average to left-handed hitters in 2023.
Thomas is a righty, but he's also the best hitter for the Nationals, which is a reminder of just how weird this team is (in a fun way). He's hit .288 with 20 homers and 15 swiped bags, and he has an .863 OPS over the last three weeks. Abrams still has improvements to make, but he's a 22-year-old shortstop with 13 homers and 33 stolen bases. The lefty doesn't have big power, but he's slugged .458 against righties, and that's more than enough for this matchup. As a big first baseman, Smith's lack of power for his size and position has always been the drawback. This year, he has a .729 OPS against righties and a .739 OPS at home. Against Severino, I'll go with a southpaw like Smith over a righty with a better overall hitting profile.
