This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Happy Memorial Day! Though it's an extended weekend, there is limited MLB action Monday evening. There are five games on the DFS docket, with the first game starting at 6:10 p.m. ET. Here are my MLB DFS recommendations.
Pitching
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, LAD at CLE ($10,600): Yamamoto was great when healthy last year. This year he's stayed healthy and has been equally good. Last year he had a 10.50 K/9 rate with a 2.60 FIP. This season he has a 10.55 K/9 rate with a 2.83 FIP. Yamamoto has only really had one poor start out of 10 outings. Cleveland is below average in terms of runs scored, so Yamamoto should be able to manage things.
Ryne Nelson, ARI vs. PIT ($7,400): I recommended Yamamoto because he's a great pitcher. Conversely, I'm recommending Nelson because of his salary and this matchup. Nelson had a 4.24 ERA last year. This season he has a 4.60 ERA mostly pitching out of the bullpen. However, the Pirates are last in runs scored and have slugged .328 as a team. Yes, that is their slugging percentage.
Top Target
Sure, Manny Machado ($3,300) has only hit five home runs, but he has 16 doubles and seven stolen bases. Also, he's posted a .321 average, bolstered by an OPS over 1.000 against lefties. It's a different approach at the plate for Machado, but it has worked for him and the Padres. The lefty Ryan Weathers has a career 4.95 ERA and 1.60 HR/9 rate. Although, Weathers' 25.9 line-drive percentage this year may mean more in terms of Machado's racking up of doubles.
Bargain Bat
Well, Chandler Simpson ($2,800) has delivered as promised. He may lack for power, but he has a .296 average and has already stolen 14 bases in only 25 games. Simpson's future, and perhaps present, is being one of the two-or-three best base stealers in MLB.
Stack to Consider
Yankees at Angels (Jack Kochanowicz): Cody Bellinger ($3,500), Ben Rice ($3,200), Jasson Dominguez ($3,100)
Kochanowicz didn't look cut out for MLB last year when he had a 4.61 FIP and staggering 3.44 K/9 rate. This season, the righty has gotten his K/9 rate all the way up to…5.87. That is, of course, still strikingly low. However, he's also up to 4.53 walks per nine innings, meaning his K/BB rate is a woeful 1.30. That has helped pave the way toward a 5.62 FIP. Lefties have hit .327 against Kochanowicz, and hit eight of the nine homers he's allowed, so all three of these Yankees can hit left handed.
Bellinger is somewhere between his first season with the Cubs in 2023 and last year's numbers in Chicago, but last year he did have 18 homers and nine stolen bases. The one-time Dodger is also in fine form, as he has an 1.145 OPS over the last three weeks. Rice doesn't have a locked-in, day-to-day role with the Yankees, but he's out there much of the time. Having 11 doubles and 10 homers helps on that front. This is also the kind of matchup Rice likes, as he has an .892 OPS versus lefties and a .929 OPS on the road. Dominguez has six home runs and six stolen bases. He's a switch hitter, but that doesn't mean he has any success against lefties. Versus righties like Kochanowicz, though, he has an .885 OPS.
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