This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Soon enough, we'll have to make do with light days on the MLB schedule. It'll be the postseason, though, so that's fine. Thursday? It's just a breather for a lot of teams. Only five games start in the traditional evening hours, which is to say after 7 p.m. EDT. Looking at those matchups, here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Lance McCullers, HOU vs. OAK ($9,700): McCullers returned from injury and immediately made his case to be in the postseason rotation. He's made five starts and posted a 2.20 ERA. McCullers has always been elite at suppressing home runs for a starter, but that may not even come into play with the A's. They rank 29th in runs scored and team slugging percentage, after all.
Miles Mikolas, STL vs. CIN ($9,000): Mikolas is at home so it's all good. Over the last two seasons (he didn't pitch in 2020) he has a 2.57 ERA at home. This year, though, he has a 2.23 ERA in his home park. The Reds are 18th in runs scored, and also has a .308 OBP as a squad.
Top Targets
In addition to possibly returning to the 20-20 club, Jose Altuve ($6,400) has slashed .291/.378/.512. Also, he has a .945 OPS at home. James Kaprielian, meanwhile, has a 5.19 FIP, and he's also only struck out 6.28 batters per nine innings. That's a profile that works particularly poorly against Altuve.
While he's on a bit of a cold stretch, Nolan Arenado ($5,900) has a track record to trust. He has a career .883 OPS, and this year he's slashed .298/.360/.553 and hit 29 home runs. Maybe facing Chase Anderson is what Areando needs. The Reds righty has a 7.15 ERA over the last three seasons.
Bargain Bats
Over the last three weeks, Brandon Nimmo ($4,900) has an .860 OPS. Weirdly, this year the lefty has a .627 OPS at home, and that did give me pause. However, last year his home OPS was .885, and the year before it was .904. That makes me feel like his home numbers in 2022 are a fluke. JT Brubaker's 4.36 ERA, though, is not a fluke. He has a career 4.85 ERA and career 4.31 FIP.
The Royals have decided to see what Michael Massey ($2,400) can do at second base. He has an .829 OPS over the last two weeks, and an .830 OPS on the road (in what is admittedly a meager sample size). The southpaw had a .987 OPS in Triple-A this year as well. Dylan Bundy has a 4.68 ERA, in line with his career 4.71 ERA.
Stacks to Consider
Twins vs. Royals (Daniel Lynch): Carlos Correa ($5,000), Jose Miranda ($3,300), Gio Urshela ($2,800)
Lynch has a career 5.35 ERA, and over his last seven starts he has a 6.11 ERA. Not only that, in those seven starts he allowed eight home runs across 35.1 innings. The lefty has a serious issue with right-handed batters as well. In his career, righties have teed off on Lynch to the tune of a .298 average.
Correa is living up to the Twins' hopes recently, as he has an 1.012 OPS over the last three weeks. On top of that, this year he has a .900 OPS versus lefties and an .877 OPS at home. Miranda is Minnesota's designated hitter, with an emphasis on "hitter," as he doesn't walk much but has hit .277 and slugged .455. The rookie has an .856 OPS versus left-handed pitcher for good measure. Urshela has a similar profile to Miranda, which is to say hitting for average, not walking much, and showing some power. He's a career .271 hitter, and Urshela has slugged .445 against lefties and a .442 OPS at home.
Padres vs. Diamondbacks (Madison Bumgarner): Manny Machado ($5,300), Josh Bell ($4,400), Ha-Seong Kim ($3,900)
Bumgarner was once the hero of San Francisco. Now, he's a guy with a 4.99 ERA in 63 starts as a Diamondback. Since the start of July, he has a 6.32 ERA. The southpaw also has allowed righties to hit .277 against him in his time with Arizona, so I have three guys who at least sometimes hit right handed in this stack.
Through the ups and downs of the season Machado has started steady, and over the last three weeks he has a .997 OPS. He also has a .928 OPS on the road. Bell hasn't gotten off to the best start with the Padres, but he has a .765 OPS over the last three weeks. The switch hitter also has an .802 OPS versus lefties. Machado can succeed at Petco, but Kim really needs to be on the road. In away games he has a .756 OPS, and he also has a .784 OPS against lefties.
