Welcome to October! Though, um, not the MLB playoffs. Those started with four Game 1s on Tuesday. Now? We have four Game 2s on Wednesday! The first pitch is at 1 p.m. EDT (Go Tigers!) and we will find out which of these series end, and which go to a third game. Here are my MLB DFS lineup recommendations.
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Pitching
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, LAD vs. CIN ($10,000): Even with the way the Tigers scuffled down the stretch, the general consensus was that the starkest difference in team quality is in the Dodgers-Reds series. Cincy finished 14th in runs scored, numbers boosted by a hitter-friendly home park they will not be playing in Wednesday. Yamamoto crushed it in his second MLB season, especially down the stretch. Over his final seven starts he had an 1.53 ERA.
Casey Mize, DET at CLE ($8,900): This is where I roll the dice on big picture versus recently bias. Mize was fine this season, posting a 3.87 ERA and 8.40 K/9 rate. On the campaign, the Guardians were bad offensively. They finished 28th in runs scored with a .296 OBP. September went differently for both Detroit and Cleveland, but, hey , this is October.
Top Target
Cleared after hurting his forearm late in the regular season, Jazz Chisholm ($3,500) will hope to continue his fantastic year into the playoffs. The infielder had a 30/30 campaign and slugged .528 at home -- unsurprising, given that Yankee Stadium is often kind to southpaw sluggers. Brayan Bello had a 3.06 ERA on the road compared to a 3.53 ERA at home, but he had a 1.1 HR/9 rate on the road as opposed to a slim 0.7 HR/9 rate at Fenway. As such, the righty may be at risk of allowing a homer or two to a lefty like Chisholm.
Bargain Bat
After a long layoff due to injury, Xander Bogaerts ($3,000) was able to get in gear down the stretch. Over the final four games of the regular season he had five hits, two of the extra-base variety, and he added two hits in Game 1 of this series. He didn't show a ton of power in general, but he did slug .429 against lefties. Shota Imanaga is lined up to start Game 2 for the Cubs, and he was homer happy down the stretch. He ended the regular season on a nine-game streak of allowing a homer, including five outings with multiple homers allowed.
Stack to Consider
Dodgers vs. Reds (Zack Littell): Freddie Freeman ($3,700), Mookie Betts ($3,500), Max Muncy ($3,400)
The Reds do have two high-level starting pitchers, but plopped down between them is Littell in Game 2. He was slightly better with Cincinnati than with Tampa, but in 10 starts he had a 4.76 FIP, 6.92 K/9 rate, and 1.69 HR/9 rate. Yes, that represented an improvement in play. I slid one righty into this stack, because since 2023 righties have hit .265 against Littell. However, he's right-handed, and these two Dodgers lefties are available, so naturally I went in that direction.
Freeman had that odd injury early in the year that seemed to hinder him, but when all was said and done he slashed .295/.367/.502 with 24 homers and 39 doubles. That's why he's a future Hall of Famer. He's in form, having posted a .904 OPS over the final three weeks of the regular season. Betts never managed to get into gear, as both he and Mike Trout have withdrawn their names from the "best player in the game" conversation officially (to the extent such things are official, which is to say not at all). However, he did have an .888 OPS over the final three seasons of the season, and he did slug .461 at home this year. For the second season in a row injuries really cut into Muncy's campaign, but since 2023, he's posted an .897 OPS against righties, and an .918 OPS at home.
