This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
It's the middle of the week, but don't let your enthusiasm for DFS baseball wane! There are eight games on the docket starting at 7:05 p.m. EDT or later. To try and make the most out of this Wednesday, here are my DFS lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Marcus Stroman, CHC at WAS ($10,500): Stroman has a 2.29 ERA, and he's had only one bad start this year. That was against the Dodgers, the only team to hit a home run off him thus far. The Nationals are at the bottom of MLB in home runs, and that's with having made a trip to Coors Field early in the season. Stroman should handle this matchup.
Shane Bieber, CLE at NYY ($9,600): Bieber has a 3.11 ERA, but that's while he's only struck out 6.21 batters per nine innings. Even last year, when his strikeout rate dropped quite a bit, he struck out 8.91 hitters per nine. The Yankees are in the bottom 10 in runs scored, and it might take them more than a New York minute to climb up the rankings. They're dealing with a few key absences, including Aaron Judge.
Kyle Gibson, BAL at KC ($9,300): Gibson has a 4-0 record, but he has made three good starts and three bad starts. Two of those good starts were against the Tigers and Athletics, both bad teams. The Royals? They are just as bad offensively. In fact, they are last in MLB in team OBP, sitting below .300 on that front.
Top Targets
We know Vladimir Guerrero ($3,900) has power. Sure, he hasn't matched his 2021 performance since, but he's still slugged .481 across the last two campaigns. Plus, he's more than just an all-or-nothing slugger. No, Vladito has a .311 average and .390 OBP in 2023. Nick Pivetta has a 5.11 ERA through five starts, but don't chalk that up to sample size. The 30-year-old pitcher actually has a career 5.02 ERA.
You can pencil Jose Ramirez ($3,600) in for a 20/20 season as long as he's healthy. While he's a switch hitter, since 2021 he has a .918 OPS versus righties. Clarke Schmidt is clearly miscast as a starter for the Yankees. He has a 6.84 ERA, and he truly doesn't seem able to handle lefty hitters. Over the last three seasons, lefties have hit .338 against Schmidt, but this year that number is up to .396. I feel comfortable predicting what side of the plate Ramirez will be stepping up to.
Bargain Bats
For now, Joey Wiemer ($3,000) is in the Brewers' lineup. So far, he has two homers and three stolen bases, and he showed base-stealing acumen in the minors. Timing is everything, and Wiemer is drawing into the lineup while the Brewers are visiting Coors Field with Kyle Freeland taking the mound. Since 2021, the lefty has a 5.46 ERA at home. While some posit Wiemer's future is as a platoon outfielder, a lefty pitcher is who the rookie would be brought in to face anyway.
Healthy and back in the lineup, Randal Grichuk ($2,700) is ready to get after it for the Rockies. He enjoyed his first campaign with Colorado, posting an .851 OPS at home. However, Grichuk also had a .926 OPS versus southpaws. Wednesday, he will face lefty Eric Lauer. Lauer has a 5.77 FIP and has allowed 2.08 home runs per nine innings.
Stacks to Consider
Mariners at Athletics (JP Sears): Julio Rodriguez ($3,600), Teoscar Hernandez ($2,800), Ty France ($2,800)
Last year Sears made the move from the Yankees' bullpen to the Athletics' rotation, and it did not go well. The lefty posted a 4.69 FIP with Oakland. This year, though five starts, he has a 5.85 FIP. Sure, the A's have a pitcher-friendly park, but Sears has allowed 2.5 home runs per nine innings even at home this season. A couple of these Mariners have been banged up or under the weather, but they should be good to go for this game Wednesday.
Rodriguez is not performing like he did as the AL Rookie of the Year, save for his counting stats. Even with his batting average down, Rodriguez has five homers and six stolen bases. Hernandez has seven homers with his new team, and he loves to face a lefty. Since 2021, the former Blue Jay has an 1.089 OPS versus LHP. France is a career .276 hitter, so I think he is going to pick it up. He's also coming off his first 20-homer season, and he stole his first career base this season!
Orioles at Royals (Zack Greinke): Cedric Mullins ($3,800), Austin Hays ($3,100), Gunnar Henderson ($2,500)
Greinke wouldn't be the first professional athlete to hold on too long. Last year, in his age-38 season, he got by on guile and luck, posting a 3.68 ERA even though he struck out fewer than five batters per nine innings and allowed both lefties and righties to hit .286 against him. In 2023 though, Greinke has a 6.10 ERA. He's allowed seven home runs over his last four starts, righties have hit .292 against him, and lefties are smacking him around to the tune of a .321 average. Thus, I have two lefties in this stack.
Maybe Mullins isn't actually a power hitter, and it's unlikely he'll ever hit 30 homers again. However, he is a legit base stealer, as he has 11 swiped bags already after having over 30 in each of his last two campaigns. Since 2021 the lefty has an .844 OPS versus righties, so when he shows power, it's in these matchups. Hays is off to a hot start. He's slashed .293/.343/.505 with four home runs. Last year he hit 16 homers, but he had 35 doubles. Henderson reached MLB as some people's top prospect. So far, he hasn't lived up to the hype, but mostly he's struggled against his fellow lefties. In his career, he has an .829 OPS versus right-handed batters.
