This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
As Yahoo does these days, Sunday means every game but the early Peacock start is included in the main DFS slate. This offers you a variety of options for your lineup, but why sift through all 28 teams when you can get a head start with these recommendations? Let's get to it!
Pitching
Nestor Cortes, NYY vs. HOU ($46): In his first season as a full-time starter, Cortes has a 2.31 ERA, after a 2.90 ERA last year while both starting and pitching out of the bullpen. That includes an 1.53 ERA at home. The Astros have some good batters in the lineup, but still rank middle of the pack in runs scored.
Yu Darvish, SD vs. PHI ($45): This matchup isn't easy, but Darvish has been so good this year he's still worth having in your lineup. Darvish has been stellar at home, with an 1.34 ERA at Petco Park. Darvish has a good shot at picking up his eighth win of the campaign.
Brady Singer, KC vs. OAK ($43): With Singer, it's all about the matchup. The Athletics are 29th in runs scored, and the Tigers are catching up with them slowly but surely. That's in part because Oakland already has the lowest team OPS in the majors. If a pitcher can't handle the Athletics, can he handle anybody? Singer won't have many better opportunities than this.
Top Targets
Even though Xander Bogaerts ($21) is a career .292 hitter, his .333 average this year is particularly impressive. The guy is an elite hitter, to be sure. Aaron Civale has a 7.25 ERA this year, and I wanted a righty since Civale has allowed righties to hit .287 against him since 2020.
In his first season with the Cardinals, Nolan Arenado ($18) hit 34 home runs, but his .806 OPS was still a little disappointing by his standards. Well, this year the former Rockie has batted .284/.350/.515 with 14 home runs, with a .937 OPS at home. Through the first five starts of his career, Matt Swarmer has somehow allowed 4.01 homers per nine innings.
Bargain Bats
Though Amed Rosario ($17) usually doesn't show much power, he has a .907 OPS the last three weeks. He also has eight stolen bases, and he has two seasons with double-digit homers and swiped bags. The righty faces southpaw Rich Hill, and the 42-year-old pitcher has a 4.35 ERA.
This year Mike Yastrzemski ($13) has greatly preferred facing a righty at home. His home OPS is .844, and his OPS against right-handed pitchers is .831. Tyler Mahle has a 4.57 ERA, even though he's only allowed 0.89 home runs per nine innings. That likely won't continue, as he's allowed 1.34 homers per nine in his career.
Stacks to Consider
Twins vs. Rockies (Ryan Feltner): Byron Buxton ($23), Luis Arraez($18), Max Kepler ($15)
Feltner has a 6.50 career ERA, in part because he's allowed 2.25 home runs per nine innings. Yes, a lot of that is Coors Field, but Feltner has allowed 1.5 home runs per nine on the road as well. Even with this game in Minnesota, it's still a nice opportunity to stack three Twins.
Want a guy to take advantage of a homer-friendly pitcher? You want Buxton. He has 19 home runs this year, and the last four seasons he's slugged .573. Arraez is not as much of a power hitter, but he often leads off because he's hitting .347 with a .426 OBP. That means he can be on base to be driven in by his teammates. A few seasons ago, Kepler hit 36 home runs. Last year, he had 19 homers and 10 stolen bases. The lefty has an .806 OPS against righties across the last three seasons as well.
Padres vs. Phillies (Kyle Gibson): Jake Cronenworth ($19), Luke Voit ($18), Eric Hosmer ($10)
In his first full season as a Phillies pitcher, Gibson has a 4.06 ERA. However, away from home he has a 5.40 ERA. The Padres may have a pitcher-friendly ballpark, but I am all for this stack nevertheless.
The lefty Cronenworth has a career .264/.341/.447 slash line and he has seven home runs this year. He also has an 1.087 OPS the last three weeks. A few righties in the Padres lineup have been solely feasting on lefties, but Voit has a .805 OPS versus right-handed pitchers. Meanwhile, Gibson has allowed righties to hit .278 against him. Hosmer doesn't have a ton of power, but he does have a .774 OPS against righties since 2020. Plus, in that time he has a .291 batting average at home.
White Sox vs. Orioles (Jordan Lyles): Luis Robert ($17), Andrew Vaughn ($17), Jake Burger ($16)
Lyles, with a career 5.19 ERA, is in his first season with the Orioles. This year he has a 4.92 ERA, even though his 1.14 home runs allowed per nine innings is well below his 1.74 home runs per nine allowed average the previous three seasons. Lyles is still getting smacked around by righties, though. He's allowed them to hit .293 against him in 2022.
Robert has hit .299, so it's not like he needs help to hit for average. He also has seven home runs and 11 stolen bases. Vaughn actually is hitting even better than his Cuban teammate. The former Golden Bear has slashed .320/.373/.483 with seven home runs. Burger has slugged .480 in his career, and he's loving some home cooking in 2022. He has an 1.022 OPS in home games this year.
