One thing during these MLB playoffs was that leads - especially late ones - were safe. Jose Altuve flipped the script on that Friday with a ninth-inning homer that sent Houston back home only needing one more win to return to the World Series. Game 6 has a first pitch of 8:03 p.m. EDT. For your DFS lineups, you get $35,000 in salary for five players. One is your MVP, who nets double points. Another is your Star, who earns 1.5 times the points. Now, onto my lineup.
MVP
Josh Jung, TEX at HOU ($7,000): Jung hasn't been walking at all, but you get away with it when you bat .316 and slug .684 with three homers. He gets to face lefty Framber Valdez on Sunday and registered a .995 OPS versus southpaws this season. Over Valdez's final 10 regular-season starts, he posted a 4.29 ERA. And in the playoffs, that number has ballooned to 11.57.
STAR
Corey Seager, TEX at HOU ($9,500): Seager is an established star, and a better hitter than Jung with a 1.013 OPS during the regular season and a 1.100 in the playoffs. I made him my Star because he's a lefty, like Valdez. However, I didn't steer clear of the matchup based on Seager's .881 OPS versus left-handers this year.
UTILITY
Alex Bregman, HOU vs. TEX (6,500): I wanted one Astro in my lineup, and Yordan Alvarez didn't fit from a salary perspective, so Bregman is the one. He may be a righty, though he produced an .850 OPS versus right-handers in 2023 and routinely has performed better in those matchups. And as good as Eovaldi has been in the playoffs, righties have gone .264 against since 2021.
Mitch Garver, TEX at HOU ($6,500): Garver hasn't gotten into the mix much in the playoffs, though he offers the kind of power that can pay off if you roll the dice. He slugged .500 and hit 19 homers this year, even though he only played in 87 games. The righty also managed a .938 OPS against southpaws. Valdez is not by nature homer-prone, but did allow 12 over his final 87.1 innings of the regular season (14 starts).
Jonah Heim, TEX at HOU ($5,500): Heim, as Texas' catcher, is at least guaranteed to be in the action. He recorded 18 homers with 28 doubles. The switch-hitter had an .856 OPS versus lefties, so he'll be happy to see Valdez. But if Heim has to flip around, he also posted a decent .733 against righties.
