This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
June started on a Sunday, which was a bit of convenient calendar synchronicity. The first Monday of the month, as per usual, features a handful of teams off for the day. However, we still have six games on the DFS docket, with the first pitch at 7:10 p.m. ET. These are my MLB DFS lineup recommendations to help you with your Monday decisions.
Pitching
Joe Ryan, MIN at ATH ($10,500): Ryan was quite good last year, as he had a 6.39 K/BB rate with a 3.43 FIP. Well, this season he's managed to be even better. Ryan's now up to an 8.00 K/BB rate and down to a 3.20 FIP. He actually has a 2.57 ERA, but both his 9.2-percent line-drive rate and 85.8 left-on-base percentage are going to be very hard to sustain. All in all, though, the Twins hurler is having a strong campaign, and he has an 1.50 ERA over his last six starts. The Athletics are average offensively, but average doesn't worry me with regards to Ryan.
Jack Flaherty, DET at CWS ($9,900): Flaherty has been spotty on the season, but it seems like he might be locking in. Over his last three outings he has a 2.45 ERA and 10.8 K/9 rate. One of his good starts earlier in the year was against the White Sox, whom he held to one run over 5.2 innings. That's not surprising, given that the White Sox are in the bottom five in runs scored and team OPS.
Top Target
Since 2023, Rafael Devers ($4,400) has a .920 OPS at home. He's a lefty, and so in that same time frame he has a .924 OPS versus righties. Germane for Monday, though, is the fact he has a .767 OPS against his fellow lefties in that time, and an .852 OPS this season. Tyler Anderson has a 3.39 ERA, but a 5.19 FIP in part because he's allowed 1.62 homers per nine innings. He also has a 4.78 ERA on the road. I went with Devers, a lefty who can be viable against southpaws, because Anderson has let lefties hit .273 against him this season. Also, left-handed hitters have hit five of the 11 home runs Anderson has allowed.
Bargain Bats
While Jung Hoo Lee ($3,100) has slowed down after his hot start, he has still hit .277 with six homers, two triples, 14 doubles and five stolen bases. That's a lot of production through only 57 games, even if he's leveled off. Speaking of leveling off, Stephen Kolek turned some heads when he allowed zero runs over his first two starts, including a complete-game shutout. However, those starts were against the Pirates and Rockies, aka the two worst offenses in baseball. Kolek has made three starts since, and in those starts he has a 7.71 ERA.
It's not surprising that Matt Wallner ($3,000) had a home run in each of his last three games of his Triple-A rehab assignment, or in his first game back with Twins. He's slugged .514 over the last three seasons, including a .544 slugging percentage against right-handed pitchers. Luis Severino is probably lamenting the Athletics moving out of Oakland. He signed with the Athletics this offseason, and while he has a 0.87 ERA on the road, his home ERA in Sacramento is 6.20.
Stack to Consider
Reds vs. Brewers (Aaron Civale): Elly De La Cruz ($3,800), TJ Friedl ($3,000), Spencer Steer ($2,600)
Civale has only made three starts this season, but over those starts he has a 6.00 ERA and 7.16 FIP. He has a career 4.07 ERA, but over his last four campaigns his ERA is up to 4.27. Since Civale is a righty, I have two lefties in this stack. However, I wanted to include one righty because, while the sample size is slim, right-handed hitters have averaged .273 against Civale this season.
De La Cruz has notched 12 home runs and 17 stolen bases. As we've come to expect, De La Cruz has been much better against righties, but this year he's also been decidedly better at home. The shortstop has an .868 OPS versus righties and an .869 OPS in Cincinnati. I think it's more likely De La Cruz is underperforming on the road, given that the Reds' ballpark has a reputation for being hitter-friendly. Friedl has four homers, two triples and nine stolen bases. Also, notably, he's batted .300. Friedl has an .889 OPS versus right-handed pitchers, but he has been worse this year at home. Since he had a .926 OPS at home in 2023, I think that might be fluky. I still think he's worth rostering. Last season, Steer had 20 home runs and 25 stolen bases. This year he has four homers and three swiped bags, even as he's started slow. Over the last three weeks he has a .794 OPS, though, and he has been better against his fellow righties than against lefties the last two seasons.
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