This Sunday is even busier than usual for MLB with 13 games on the slate and the first pitches at 1:35 p.m. EDT. August is almost here. The trade deadline is this week. Here are my DFS recommendations.
Pitching
Brandon Woodruff, MIL vs. MIA ($10,500): Woodruff missed all of 2024 and most of this year due to injury, but he's hit the ground running with a 1.65 ERA and 12.67 K/9 rate through three starts. The Marlins may be just outside the bottom-10 in runs scored, yet they're closer to the bottom-10 than the top half. Woodruff already faced the Marlins, where he went six innings and allowed two hits, one run, and managed eight strikeouts.
Noah Cameron, KAN vs. CLE ($8,300): Cameron has posted a 2.61 ERA across 13 starts as a rookie. He may have a 3.78 FIP, but that's fine and not a concern when it comes to the right matchup. The Guardians are such a matchup as they're bottom-five offensively.
Tomoyuki Sugano, BAL vs. COL ($6,500): Among the pitchers on subpar seasons facing favorable opponents, I like Sugano the best. A lot of that is his salary. This is decidedly more reasonable to me than going with Zac Gallen ($7,900) against the Pirates. Sugano has struggled to a 4.54 ERA in his first season after spending many years in Japan. The Rockies rank 28th in runs and last in OBP. And they're not at Coors Field on Sunday while recently trading Ryan McMahon. Sugano is worth rolling the dice on.
Check out which projected starters are going and when with RotoWire's Probable Pitchers page!
Top Targets
Soon enough, Pete Crow-Armstrong ($5,900) will have 30 homers, 30 stolen bases, and 30 doubles. Doing that is remarkable, though it's even more amazing he'll reach that before September. While PCA has been less impressive on the road, his .946 OPS against righties works as Sean Burke is a righty with a 5.01 FIP.
Matt Olson ($5,500) has recently experienced a dip in power, but he's recorded a .394 OBP the last three weeks. On the season, he's hit 18 home runs and slugged .468. That's not remarkable for a first baseman, yet his ability to pick up hits and walks still offers plenty of value. There's a decent chance Olson gets on base a couple times against Jack Leiter based on his career 5.61 ERA and 1.81 K/BB rate.
Bargain Bats
Last year, Jordan Westburg ($4,500) popped up on radars with 18 homers, five triples, and six steals in 107 games. For someone eligible at second and third base for DFS purposes, that stands out. This year, injuries have limited him to 53 appearances that's resulted in 11 home runs. Westburg has also slugged .475 the last three weeks. He's also a righty, and Rockies' starter Austin Gomber is a lefty who enters with a career 4.92 ERA (including every road start with Colorado and over 100 innings at St. Louis) while righties have gone .288 against since 2023.
Though Jake Mangum ($4,300) lacks for power, he's batting .298 and has swiped 14 bags over 67 outings. The switch-hitter has registered a .364 OBP against righties and a .360 on the road. Brady Singer has posted a 7.48 ERA from his last five starts while lefties have hit .275 against the last three seasons. And of course, Mangum offers a chance to face him as a lefty.
Stacks to Consider
Dodgers at Red Sox (Walker Buehler): Will Smith ($4,800), Freddie Freeman ($4,600), Michael Conforto ($2,800)
I'm not envisioning a world where Buehler enjoys seeing his former team on Sunday. This year, his first with Boston, he's compiled a 5.72 ERA, 1.86 K/BB rate, and 1.80 HR/9 rate. Lefties have also gone .321 against Buehler, so I have two southpaws in this stack.
Smith is a righty and a catcher with a high salary for his position, so why include him? He's an elite hitter as a backstopper having slashed .325/.424/.544 with a .975 OPS against his fellow righties this year. While righties have only gone .217 against Buehler in 2025, they've produced 11 of the 17 homers he's given up, and that's in 70 fewer batters. So I'm taking a shot on Smith going deep off on his former battery mate. Freeman has been more inconsistent than usual, though he's notched an .843 OPS the last two weeks with an .889 versus righties overall. That's not the level of production he's established, but it's still quite good and encouraging with this matchup. Conforto is a played I'd only consider against a pitcher who is a righty and below-average. He hasn't been great this season, yet lists a .738 OPS the last three weeks and is worth a shot at this salary.
Twins vs. Nationals (Jake Irvin): Willi Castro ($4,100), Matt Wallner ($3,600), Kody Clemens ($3,100)
Irvin's luck is starting to run out, but he's still arguably been fortunate even with a 4.81 ERA as he's managed a 5.20 FIP while his K/9 rate has fallen to 6.32 and his HR/9 rate has risen to 1.65. He's also produced a 5.34 road ERA allowing 2.0 home runs per nine innings. Irvin's a righty who's let lefties bat .260 against since 2023, so all three of the players listed below can hit left-handed.
The switch-hitting Castro has 10 homers, two triples, and eight steals. He's also been much better on the road this year, which may be fluky as he's recorded a .754 OPS in Minnesota and .723 away the last couple campaigns. As for Wallner, he's continued to be better at home as per usual. During that same stretch, he's slugged .525 at home and .521 against righties. Clemens represents the Twins' under-the-radar find since acquiring him in a for-cash trade, and he's performed his best since arriving with an .858 OPS the last three weeks. He can't really play against lefties, though he's slugged .544 against righties with all 12 of his homers (across 164 plate appearances).
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