This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Since the MLB season only really got going Thursday, this Monday is busier than usual. However, owing to a schedule bifurcated between the evening and the afternoon we have eight games starting at 7:05 p.m. ET or later. That's where my DFS recommendations lie, so let's get down to it! Good luck!
Pitching
Tyler Anderson, LAA at STL ($9,000): Anderson had a 3.81 ERA in 31 starts last season, but his road ERA was 2.77. He's also a lefty, which is good given that the Cardinals have a few key left-handers in their usual lineup. St. Louis ranked 22nd in runs scored in 2024, and the lineup looks worse right now, especially if Jordan Walker doesn't take a major step forward.
Drew Rasmussen, TAM vs. PIT ($8,000): Rasmussen is an excellent pitcher when healthy, and as a guy with three elbow surgeries to his name, health has often been an issue with him. Perhaps that's why he largely pitched out of the bullpen for the Rays last season in spite of the fact he had a 2.78 ERA over 36 starts across the two prior campaigns. For now, Rasmussen is starting again, and the Pirates finished 24th in runs scored last season. Given that they didn't really make additions to the offense this offseason, finishing in the bottom 10 once more seems likely.
Top Targets
Though he didn't have the best time in Japan, Freddie Freeman ($3,800) has picked up two home runs since the Dodgers returned to the United States. Since 2023, the southpaw has a .944 OPS versus righties, which will come into play Monday. Grant Holmes is grabbing a start for Atlanta. He didn't debut in MLB until his age-28 season, and he let lefties hit .271 against him while pitching out of the bullpen for much of the campaign.
He already has a home run to his name, and Brent Rooker ($3,700) has hit at least 30 home runs in each of the last two campaigns. That's while he was playing his home games in Oakland. Now, the Athletics are chilling in Sacramento for a minute, and the expectation is that park will be decidedly kinder to hitters. Rooker managed to hit 39 homers last season, so what is to stop him from getting to 40 this year? Ben Brown has grabbed a spot in the Cubs' rotation for now, but the 25-year-old has a career 3.72 ERA.
Bargain Bats
Last season, Jake Cronenworth ($3,000) had a .779 OPS versus righties and a .784 OPS at home. Those aren't remarkable numbers, but for a second baseman they more than suffice. Luis L. Ortiz has made the move from Pittsburgh to Cleveland. He brings with him a career 4.60 FIP, not to mention a career 1.83 K/BB rate.
After a lost season in 2024, Spencer Torkelson ($2,800) has gotten off to a strong start to 2025. That may serve as a reminder that he hit 31 homers and 34 doubles in 2023. While power rarely plays in Seattle, I still like this matchup with Emerson Hancock. He has a career 5.23 FIP, and the righty's main issue is that he simply doesn't strike batters out. To date Hancock has managed a paltry 5.57 strikeouts per nine innings.
Stacks to Consider
Angels at Cardinals (Miles Mikolas): Mike Trout ($3,900), Taylor Ward ($3,000), Luis Rengifo ($2,900)
Mikolas is as reliable as any pitcher, but not in a way that benefits the Cardinals. He's not going to walk anybody, but he's also not going to strike anybody out, and then he will also allow a bit over one home run per nine innings. That formula has yielded him a FIP between 3.87 and 4.27 in each of his last five campaigns. Also, over the prior two seasons both lefties and righties hit .283 against him. The Angels don't have a remarkable lineup, but they have enough for a stack against Mikolas.
I am relying on Trout's track record for this stack, and that track record has admittedly gotten less impressive in recent seasons. Even so, he posted an .860 OPS over the prior two campaigns, which counts as "down" production for him. Last year, for the second time in three seasons, Ward had a 20/20 campaign. He also tends to be better on the road, where he has an .798 OPS since 2023. Rengifo missed a lot of last year, and his power dipped, but the speed stood out. Also, the average. In 78 games he batted .300 and stole 24 bases.
Astros vs. Giants (Jordan Hicks): Yordan Alvarez ($4,000), Jose Altuve ($3,500), Isaac Paredes ($3,000)
Moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation, Hicks couldn't air out his 100-mph fastball, and his numbers suffered. His strikeout rate fell to 7.88 per nine innings and he posted a 4.36 FIP. I wish the Astros had more lefties to pick from, given that southpaws hit .290 against Hicks last year, but I was able to grab one and then round out this stack nonetheless.
Alvarez is the lefty, and he's also the one who has hit more than 30 home runs in each of the last four seasons while collectively slugging .571 over that time frame. Also, you can't target him with a lefty out of the bullpen, given that since 2023 he has a .968 OPS versus southpaw pitchers. Altuve has hit well to start this season, well enough that his bat still plays in left field as opposed to second base. Perhaps this isn't surprising. After all, he's a career .306 hitter who went 20/20 last year for the first time since 2017. Paredes is still new to the Astros, but he hit 19 home runs last season and had 31 the year prior. Though he did struggle versus righties last season, in 2023 he had an .860 OPS in those matchups, so I'm not concerned.
