This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
It's a jam-packed Sunday of MLB action! While the Peacock game between the Pirates and Giants is not included, we have 14 matchups worth of players to pick our DFS lineups out of. With the first pitch at 1:35 p.m. ET, here are my recommendations to try and help end your weekend on a high note.
Pitching
Joe Ryan, MIN at OAK ($50): Though Ryan has had a couple rough starts recently, he still has a 3.49 FIP. Plus, getting lit up by Atlanta does not mean he'll get lit up by Oakland. In fact, given how bad the Athletics are offensively, ranking last in runs scored and team OPS, I would be surprised if they test Ryan much.
Bryce Miller, SEA vs. DET ($40): Miller is back from an IL stint due to a blister on his finger, and the rookie gets to return at home, where he has a 3.27 ERA. The Tigers have been a smidge better offensively recently, but they still rank 28th in runs scored and team OPS.
Martin Perez, TEX vs. CLE ($26): At this salary, it's well worth taking a shot on Perez. Yes, he has a 4.81 ERA after posting a 2.89 ERA in his first season back with the Rangers. However, the southpaw has a 3.23 ERA at home. Also, one of the key concerns surrounding Perez is the fact he's allowed 1.57 home runs per inning. Cleveland is last in home runs so it isn't built to take advantage of that.
Top Targets
With an OPS over 1.000 against righties and at home, Corey Seager ($25) is easy to trust in a scenario like Sunday. He and the Rangers are hosting rookie Tanner Bibee, who has a 4.65 ERA on the road.
Perhaps the only joy in Milwaukee this season is the revival of Christian Yelich ($21), who has slashed .281/.372/.457 with 12 homers and 21 stolen bases. Sure, his power numbers don't wow on the whole, but he's slugged .490 against righties. In his first season with the Reds, Ben Lively has a 4.84 FIP and has allowed 1.74 homers per nine innings. He's also a righty, which is right up Yelich's alley.
Bargain Bats
The Yankees get another game at Coors Field on Sunday, which has me turning to shortstop Anthony Volpe ($18). He is very much an all-or-nothing player, but he has 13 homers and 16 stolen bases at a position where offense isn't as easy to come by. Since 2021, righties have hit .315 against Chase Anderson. Additionally, since joining the Rockies this season he has a 7.66 ERA and has allowed 2.82 home runs per nine innings.
It's been a bounceback season for J.D. Martinez ($18), his first with the Dodgers, but his new home stadium has not been key to his resurgence. In fact, he has a .655 slugging percentage on the road. Furthermore, 20 of his 23 home runs have come against righties. Max Scherzer, likely a Hall of Famer someday, is 38 now, and he has a 4.53 FIP. He's also allowed a whopping 1.85 home runs per nine innings.
Stacks to Consider
Angels vs. Astros (Cristian Javier): Shohei Ohtani ($24), Mickey Moniak ($18), Matt Thaiss ($9)
Javier's last start was skipped in hopes of getting him on track. Just how off track was he? Well, over his last three starts the righty posted a 15.19 ERA. On the season, lefties have hit .296 against him, so even before he came unglued, Javier was not excelling against hitters like these three.
Baseball's best hitter has a bit of an issue with his middle finger, but the concern there seems to be more with Ohtani's pitching. As for his hitting, he has an OPS over 1.000 against both righties and lefties, and since 2021 he has an 1.000 OPS at home as well. The first-overall pick in 2015, Moniak at least seems to be a viable platoon outfielder in his age-25 season. He can't hit lefties, but he has a 1.069 OPS versus righties. The catcher Thaiss has a .770 OPS against righties, and all five of his home runs have come in those matchups. For his position, and at this salary, that suffices.
Twins at Athletics (JP Sears): Carlos Correa ($12), Kyle Farmer ($7), Michael Taylor ($7)
I can't recall seeing a matchup with lower salaries. One guy across both these teams has a salary over $12. Sears has a 3.97 ERA, which is unimpressive, but his 4.88 FIP is even worse. He's also allowed 1.72 home runs per nine innings. While lefties have hit Sears well, the Twins lack any who have had success against their fellow left-handers, so it's three righties for me in this low-salary stack.
Correa's struggles in 2023 are well-chronicled, but he has five hits in this series thus far. Plus, since 2021 he does have an .859 OPS against lefties. With Minnesota's injuries, and with a lefty on the mound, I expect Farmer in the lineup. He effectively owes his MLB career to being a utility guy you can stick in your lineup against southpaws. Over the last three seasons he has an .854 OPS versus left-handed pitchers. Taylor hit a home runs Saturday, giving him 11 of them to go with his 11 stolen bases. He doesn't make a ton of contact, but since 2021 he has hit .255 against lefties.
White Sox at Atlanta (Kolby Allard): Luis Robert ($25), Eloy Jimenez ($17), Jake Burger ($12)
Allard's career has come full circle. He debuted with Atlanta before spending the last four seasons with the Rangers. Through it all, he's been, well, bad. The lefty has a career 5.99 ERA and has allowed 1.81 home runs per nine innings. Now, Allard may be a stopgap option in the rotation, and he likely won't be in the game for too long. However, Atlanta is also dealing with injuries in the bullpen, and with three righties in this stack, a lefty coming out of the bullpen is not a concern.
Robert has racked up 26 home runs to go with eight stolen bases. He's continued to dominate against lefties, as he has an 1.046 OPS versus southpaws since 2021. Jimenez has been steady this year, with similar numbers against lefties and righties, and at home and on the road. That's encouraging in a way, as are his career .275 batting average and .498 slugging percentage. I was on the fence about Burger, a third baseman with a sensible salary. He's been way better at home in his career, but he also has an .893 OPS against lefties in his career. Well, Saturday he picked up a double and his 20th homer, so I'll give him a shot Sunday.
