This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
The prevalence of April showers is well-known. So it isn't surprising that the weather has complicated MLB scheduling as of late. This weekend will end up featuring a handful of makeshift doubleheaders, and Sunday's weather could end up impacting starting times or even whether or not a game even gets played. All we can do is work with the schedule on the slate with seven games on the Sunday DFS docket and the first pitches at 1:35 p.m. EDT. Here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Hunter Brown, HOU at KAN ($9,300): I felt pretty good about Brown coming into 2025 after he found his footing and managed a 3.49 ERA during his sophomore campaign. And through five starts, he's taken it to a whole new level by posting a 1.16 ERA with a 2.03 FIP that's also pretty good. The Royals, a team down in the bottom-five in runs scored, don't seem likely to threaten Brown.
Joe Ryan, MIN vs. LAA ($8,500): Ryan has registered three strong outings this season with two that haven't gone well. All in all, he's managed a 4.00 ERA after a 3.60 ERA in 2024. Ryan's K/BB rate remains excellent at a 9.33. It seems the Angels will be better offensively than last year when they were ranked bottom-five, though they're currently bottom-10 with a sub-.300 OBP.
Top Targets
The skill set of Steven Kwan ($4,900) has always featured speed and the ability to hit for average, but this year he's added some atypical power slugging .505 with four homers in addition to his standard .350 and four steals. Don't read anything into Brayan Bello's 1.80 ERA as he made one start this year, and it was against Seattle. And his longstanding issue with lefties - like Kwan - was still there as the 14 left-handed Mariners he faced went .300 against.
It's fun when Byron Buxton ($4,800) is healthy in those short bursts of time. He offers incredible power having slugged .528 the last six seasons. And Buxton has so far produced six homers, six stolen bases, and two triples. Jose Soriano doesn't allow many long balls, yet lists a career 3.74 FIP while righties have hit .265 against.
Bargain Bats
Jeremy Pena ($3,800) rebounded in 2024 and looked more like his rookie self batting .266 with 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases. This season, he's already at three and five of each. And over the last three campaigns, the shortstop has posted an .821 OPS versus lefties. Kris Bubic is a southpaw who's off to a hot start, though I'm not buying in as he was in the bullpen last year and struggled to a 4.85 ERA the previous four mainly as a starter.
Francisco Alvarez ($3,300) is back! He's a catcher who registered 11 homers in 100 games last year, with 25 homers across 123 the one before that. Lefty Mitchell Parker has an 11.39 ERA, but a 3.40 FIP after a 3.84 in 2024. He's also only managed a 5.57 K/9 rate, and that's going to make it hard to sustain success.
Stacks to Consider
Tigers vs. Orioles (Dean Kremer): Spencer Torkelson ($4,600), Kerry Carpenter ($4,000), Jace Jung ($2,400)
It's not like Kremer came into this year with high expectations. This is his age-29 campaign and carries a career 4.28 ERA. However, Kremer has fallen below the expectations set by that track record with a 6.84 from five outings while already conceding seven homers. Righties have also hit .278 against with lefties going .356. And that's why I wanted two southpaws for this stack.
Torkelson is a righty, but he's been the Tigers' best hitter slashing .263/.364/.586 with eight homers and eight doubles. And he went deep 31 times during 2023. Carpenter has notched five home runs and has proven quite effective against righties with a .902 OPS versus them the last couple campaigns. Jung, a 2022 first-round selection, has only played in a couple MLB games this season after 34 last year. However, he's a lefty with pedigree and an .838 OPS in Triple-A the last two years.
Brewers at Cardinals (Erick Fedde): Jackson Chourio ($5,200), Christian Yelich ($4,800), Sal Frelick ($4,000)
Fedde was a subpar pitcher with the Nationals for six seasons where he never finished with a FIP lower than 4.65. He went over to Asia for a year, returned to MLB and did OK for the White Sox and Cardinals. Fedde has posted a 3.30 ERA over five starts, yet that's with a 5.07 FIP. His K/BB rate is also sub-1.00. Things are going to get worse on the stat sheet for him, and this Brewers trio could help make that a reality.
Chourio is proving his rookie season was no fluke as he's batting .280 and has already accumulated 10 doubles and six home runs. All that's missing are the swipes as he had 22 last year with only two so far. Yelich is at five homers and five stolen bases, and to the extent he's had issues this year it's been a return to his days of struggling with his fellow lefties. He's still been productive versus righties with an .891 OPS the last three seasons. Frelick doesn't offer much power, but he does have a .384 OBP. He's also legged out two triples and seven steals.
