This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Neither the NHL nor the NBA playoffs are in action Monday, so it's all about MLB! There are nine games on the slate for DFS purposes, with the first pitch at 7:05 p.m. ET. Here are my MLB DFS lineup recommendations for your Monday. Good luck!
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Pitching
Robbie Ray, SFG vs. KAN ($10,200): Ray's strikeouts are a little down (though his walks are still an issue), but he has a 3.04 ERA. Also, interestingly, he has a 6-0 record through nine starts. Of course, that's a little bit of a quirk, but it's still worth noting from a DFS perspective. The Royals are in the bottom five in runs scored, and they are also not well set up to take advantage of an issue that has propped up for Ray in the past. Namely, Kansas City is last in home runs.
Luis Castillo, SEA at CWS ($8,700): Castillo has been erratic, mostly pitching well but having things go wrong when they go wrong. And yet, all in all, he has a 3.65 ERA, right in line with his 3.64 ERA from last season. The White Sox seem like an unlikely team to take Castillo to task, though. Once again, they are in the bottom five in runs scored and team OPS, and they are one of the teams with a sub-.300 OBP.
Top Targets
It's not just that Corbin Carroll ($4,400) has rebounded from last year. Side note: It must be nice to be so young and have a year with 22 homers and 35 stolen bases qualify as a "down" campaign. The lefty already has 14 home runs and nine stolen bases, but on top of that he has five triples. Five! That includes an OPS over 1.000 against righties. Landon Knack, a righty, had a 3.65 ERA last season, but this year he's shuttled back-and-forth between Triple-A and MLB and has a 5.89 ERA with the Dodgers.
Speaking of rebounding, Julio Rodriguez ($3,100) hasn't gotten back to where he was when both he and Carroll were looking like future MVPs. However, Rodriguez does have seven homers and five stolen bases. It does help him to be on the road, though, as Seattle's pitcher-friendly park has hurt Rodriguez. Maybe like Teoscar Hernandez he needs to flee the city for Los Angeles. Since 2023, Rodriguez has an .822 OPS on the road. Davis Martin has a career 4.32 ERA, and over the last two seasons his fellow righties have hit .290 against him.
Bargain Bats
After a slow start, Max Muncy ($2,900) has hit a couple homers in the last week. That's encouraging, as is the fact he has an OPS over .850 both against righties and at home over the last three seasons. I thought Brandon Pfaadt would improve this year, and I have been totally vindicated…in Arizona. Pfaadt has an 1.78 ERA at home, but an alarming 6.64 ERA on the road.
It's been more of the same for Nolan Schanuel ($2,600), which is what happens when a franchise is focused on fast-tracking players over upside. Which isn't to say Schanuel is bad, but he lacks the usual power of a first baseman. Still, he's hit .265 with two homers, a triple, and seven doubles. The lefty has a .725 OPS versus righties and a .735 OPS on the road, both of those better than the other side of those splits. J.T. Ginn has a career 4.34 ERA, and the righty has allowed lefties to hit .305 against him.
Stacks to Consider
Phillies at Rockies (Kyle Freeland): Trea Turner ($3,900), Nick Castellanos ($3,300), Alec Bohm ($3,100)
I'll keep it simple but instructive. Here are Freeland's ERAs over the last five seasons: 4.33, 4.53, 5.03, 5.24, 6.15. This year, his home ERA is an eye-popping 9.77. Since 2023, righties have hit .308 against Freeland. Thus, I have three right-handed Phillies for this game at Coors Field.
Turner's power has been a bit down this year, though he still has seven doubles and 10 stolen bases. Last year he fell one stolen base short of having 20 homers, 20 swiped bags and 20 doubles, and that was in 121 games. He's been better at home since joining the Phillies, but this is Coors Field. That balances things out. This year Castellanos has averaged .278 and picked up 12 doubles in 46 games. Since 2023 he has an .883 OPS versus left-handed pitchers as well. Bohm started slow, but over the last three weeks he has an .878 OPS. On the year he's been bad against lefties, but he had an .808 OPS against them in 2024, and a .929 OPS against them in 2023. Things should pick up.
Brewers vs. Orioles (Dean Kremer): Christian Yelich ($3,000), Brice Turang ($2,900), Sal Frelick ($2,700)
You know, a team that is trying to put a manager-firing-worthy start behind them isn't really helping matters by trotting Kremer out there. I know injuries are responsible for Kremer's spot in the rotation, but he has a 5.36 ERA, 6.08 K/9 rate, and 1.79 HR/9 rate. Sure, that's worse than normal for the righty, but it isn't worse than 2021 when he had a 7.55 ERA in 13 starts. Lefties have hit .301 against Kremer this year, so I went with a three-southpaw stack from the Brew Crew.
Well, it was a nice run for Yelich there, but this season has brought back up old concerns. However, he still has seven home runs and eight stolen bases, and where he's absolutely cratered is against lefties. When he's faced right-handed pitchers his OPS is .787. That's down from recent year, but by no means concerning. Turang has limited power, but a second baseman who can get on base at a .366 clip and steal 12 bases in 44 games has value. Such a player can also put himself in position to score 32 runs in that time frams as well. Frelick lacks for power, but last year he had four triples and 18 stolen bases. This season he has two triples, and since he's running more he's up to eight swiped bags. Also, in his rookie season, and so far this season, he's managed to slug over .400 at home. Of course, the season in between is the one that offers up a full-season sample size, but at least that's something.
