This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Per usual, all 30 teams are scheduled to play Sunday, and all games are included in Yahoo's main fantasy slate. You'll have to have your lineups in by 1:10 p.m. EDT, but if you play DFS regularly, you're likely used to that. On to the recommendations.
Pitching
Lucas Giolito, CWS at MIN ($50): Giolito returns from an abdomen injury to take on the Twins, who have started a little slowly offensively and are in the bottom 10 in runs scored. Maybe they don't stay there, but Giolito is also an upper-echelon pitcher, so I trust him. Since 2019 he has a 3.44 ERA and has struck out double-digit batters per nine innings.
Adam Wainwright, STL at CIN ($47): As a 40-year-old pitcher, Wainwright has a 2.61 ERA. I'd be dubious, but as a 39-year-old pitcher he posted a 3.05 ERA in 32 starts. Some guys just keep their stuff for a long time. The Reds are in the bottom 5 in runs scored, and it's not surprising considering the hitters they lost this offseason.
Bryce Elder, ATL vs. MIA ($29): This is entirely a roll of the dice. Elder is a 22-year-old who has made two career starts, and they haven't even gone all that well. That said, he's pitching at home against a team that finished 29th in runs scored last year. He also has the team that won the World Series last year supporting him. If he goes five innings, I think Elder picks up the win, and at this salary that feels like enough.
Top Targets
Righties absolutely tee off on Aaron Civale, and when I think of a right-handed batter teeing off on somebody, Aaron Judge ($19) certainly comes to mind. Civale has allowed righties to hit .282 against him since 2020, and he's allowed 1.33 home runs per nine innings in his career.
The idea of Austin Riley ($17) as a top target before last season would have strained credulity. Then, he changed his swing and suddenly he was putting up an .898 OPS with 33 home runs and 107 RBI. So far, he's been able to sustain the improvement with a .268/.379/.500 slash line to start the 2022 campaign. Jesus Luzardo could stand to tweak some things in his game. He has a career 5.33 ERA.
Bargain Bats
Robbie Grossman ($17) had a late-career breakout campaign in 2021, his first season with the Tigers. He put up 23 home runs and 20 stolen bases while getting the most playing time of his career. Chad Kuhl's first two starts as a Rockie have gone well, but I'm not expecting that to continue. He's never had an ERA lower than 4.20 in his career, and he had a 5.30 FIP in 2021.
Entering the season as one of the top prospects in baseball, Julio Rodriguez ($13) has started slowly. However, he just had the best game of his young career, and he has already stolen five bases. That's certainly significant. Carlos Hernandez is off to a bad start himself, as he has a 7.27 ERA through two starts. He also has a career 4.44 FIP.
Stacks to Consider
Cubs vs. JT Brubaker: Seiya Suzuki ($20), Jonathan Villar ($14), Alfonso Rivas ($10)
My only fear is that the Cubs used up their weekend allotment of runs by crossing home plate 21 times Saturday. Brubaker has a 7.30 ERA to start this season, and a career 5.38 ERA to boot. If that wasn't enough, he's allowed 1.76 home runs per nine innings in his career.
It's too early to name Suzuki the National League Rookie of the Year, but he's well on his way so far. He's started his MLB career with a .372/.517/.721 batting line and 13 RBIs. Villar hit 18 home runs and stole 14 bases last season, and just picked up his first stolen base this season. He's also got on base at a .391 clip this year, and when he's on base, he's always a threat to swipe a bag. I wanted to grab a lefty, and I am betting Rivas draws into the lineup Sunday after he hit his first home of the season Saturday. In a cup of coffee last season he did slash .318/.388/.409.
Cardinals vs. Nick Lodolo ($30): Nolan Arenado ($20), Tommy Edman ($18), Tyler O'Neill ($21)
Lodolo's status as a top prospect has not manifested itself on the field just yet. He's made two starts and has an 8.00 ERA. The southpaw has allowed 13 hits, five walks and three home runs in nine innings. Someday, I bet he figures it out. Right now, he's got a tough Cardinals lineup looming.
Arenado's numbers did drop a bit in his first year as a Cardinal after spending his career as a Rockie, but even so he still racked up 34 home runs and 105 RBI. This year, he's slashed .492/.456/.784 with five home runs and is putting any concern he needs Coors Field behind him. Edman doesn't typically provide power, though last year he did add 11 home runs to 30 stolen bases. However, he's slugged .614 to start this season. O'Neill is off to a somewhat slow start to the season, but he'll be happy to see a lefty on the mound. He had an 1.026 OPS against left-handed pitchers in 2021, and has a .944 OPS versus them to start this season.
Rockies vs. Tyler Alexander ($29): Kris Bryant ($16), C.J. Cron ($21), Connor Joe ($19)
Alexander has mostly pitched out of the bullpen for the Tigers, with a career 4.13 ERA. In fact, in his last start he only went one innings because he needed 42 pitches to get through it. Since 2020, the lefty has let righties hit .278 against him, so I have three righties for this stack.
Bryant has an MVP in his trophy case, and after an understandably awful 2020 campaign, he rebounded with an .835 OPS with 25 homers and 10 stolen bases in 2021. He also has an .890 OPS against southpaws since 2020. Cron brings the power, having slugged .555 since the start of 2020. He already has six home runs this season as well. Joe is the surprise here. In 63 games last year he showed upside with a .285/.379/.469 slash line, but this year he's batted .333/.424/.608.
