This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
First, a Mother's Day shoutout to Dallas Braden. Now, onto the DFS recommendations. There are nine games included on the slate for DFS purposes. First pitch is at 1:35 p.m. EDT. Good luck Sunday!
Pitching
Zack Wheeler, PHI at MIA ($11,200): Wheeler has allowed all of one earned run over his last four starts. Now, he gets a chance to face one of MLB's worst offenses. The Marlins hold a sub-.300 OBP, and the offense looks even worse with Luis Arraez now in San Diego.
Bailey Ober, MIN at TOR ($8,600): Ober's first start of the season was a disaster, yet he's recovered with a 2.55 ERA through his last six outings. The Blue Jays have been surprisingly poor offensively to start the season sitting bottom-five in runs scored.
Logan Allen, CLE at CWS ($7,700): Allen's sophomore season has been mostly "slump", yet he posted a 3.81 ERA as a rookie. My hope is that this matchup with the White Sox will help get the Guardians hurler back on track. Chicago ranks last in runs and team OPS and seem destined to finish the campaign there.
Top Targets
Kyle Tucker ($4,100) has been a 25/25 player the last two seasons, but he's leaned toward power so far this year with 12 homers alongside six stolen bases and a .391 OBP. Jack Flaherty has a 2.97 FIP so far for the Tigers, yet he's a righty and I'll happily roster the lefty Tucker against him.
Since returning from a back injury, Christian Yelich ($3,900) has looked no worse for the wear. He's only appeared in 15 games, yet he's slashed .346/.414/.692. Miles Mikolas doesn't strike out or walk many batters with a 4.23 ERA the last five seasons as he allows a lot of contact. Yelich has batted .273 against righties since 2022, which should help him on Sunday.
Bargain Bats
Last year, Max Kepler ($3,400) enjoyed a bounceback season with 24 homers and a .816 OPS. This seasons, he's been even better slashing .329/.386/.544. Alek Manoah is getting another start for the Blue Jays even though he allowed six earned runs in 4.0 innings during his first MLB start of 2024. And that comes after he struggled to a 5.87 ERA in 2023.
Jake McCarthy ($2,600) lacks power, though he's stolen over 20 bases during each of the last two campaigns even though he's only appeared in 99 games in each. The southpaw will face righty Dean Kremer on Sunday, who comes in with a career 4.52 FIP. He also lists a 6.06 home ERA this season.
Stacks to Consider
Guardians at White Sox (Michael Soroka): Jose Ramirez ($3,900), Josh Naylor ($3,700), Will Brennan ($2,600)
After missing two full seasons due to injury, Soroka returned for Atlanta last season and posted a 6.56 FIP. Now with Chicago, he clearly didn't shake off the rust with a 6.69 FIP through eight starts with a woeful 0.87 K/BB rate. Since Soroka is a righty, I have three Guardians who can hit left-handed.
Even with a sub-.300 OBP to start 2024, Ramirez has produced nine homers and five steals. While a switch hitter, he's recorded an .869 OPS versus righties since 2022. Naylor has slugged .565 and already knocked 11 home runs. And after struggling with fellow lefties (but posting an .856 OPS against righties) in 2022, he's managed an OPS over .800 against southpaws the last two seasons. With Steven Kwan out, Brennan is basically locked into the lineup as long as righties are on the mound as he's had a .725 OPS against them. He also stole 13 bases in 138 appearances last year.
Cubs at Pirates (Bailey Falter): Seiya Suzuki ($3,300), Cody Bellinger ($3,100), Patrick Wisdom ($2,800)
Falter has allowed 1.72 home runs per nine innings. The lefty is in his first full season with the Pirates with a 4.91 FIP through seven starts. Falter also doesn't rack up many Ks, another plus when picking this Cubs stack.
Suzuki is back from the IL, and this scenario is ideal for him. Last season, he produced an .852 OPS against lefties and an .892 on the road. Bellinger and Falter are both lefties, but don't be deterred. Since 2022, Bellinger actually has an .815 OPS against southpaws where lefties have also batted .297 against Falter. Wisdom will likely be in the lineup with a southpaw on the mound. He's slugged .475 the last four seasons with at least 23 homers in each of the previous three campaigns. Wisdom has also slugged .528 against lefties across the last three seasons.
