This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Welcome to the 2025 MLB season! Sort of! As is becoming the norm, we get a small taste of the MLB season over a week before the regular season kicks off in earnest thanks to a two-game series over in Asia. The defending champs, the Dodgers, are set to take on the Cubs in Tokyo, with the first game happening Tuesday. Of course, that means it is time for some single-game MLB DFS!
Now, the first pitch is at 6:10 a.m. ET, so unless you are the earliest of birds you'll want to get your lineups in before you go to bed. At FanDuel, you get $35,000 in salary to dole out to five players. Your MVP earns double points, while your Star earns 1.5 times the points. Also, on FanDuel you can't select pitchers. While Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga being on the mound is immensely exciting for the fans in Tokyo, you can't roster either of them.
MVP
Teoscar Hernandez, LAD vs. CHC ($7,500): So many stars for the Dodgers, and my MVP is…Teoscar Hernandez? Allow me to explain. Yamamoto had an impressive, if injury-laden initial season in MVP, and his underlying numbers are exciting. Imanaga also had good standard numbers in his first MVP campaign, but I think he might be in for a downturn in 2025. His 2.91 ERA was paired with a 3.71 FIP. He had a .264 BABIP and allowed 1.40 home runs per nine innings. Thus, I wanted a Dodger as my MVP. However, Imanaga is a lefty, and Mookie Betts is under the weather and will not play. Thus, Hernandez. The righty hit 33 homers and stole 12 bases in his first season as a Dodger, and he had a .931 OPS against southpaws.
STAR
Will Smith, LAD vs. CHC ($6,500): I laid out my logic vis-à-vis right-handed Dodgers against Imanaga with Hernandez, so I won't repeat myself. Though Smith's comparative prowess as a hitter for a catcher isn't relevant in a single-game scenario, he's still the third-best righty bat for the Dodgers. He has an .861 OPS versus lefties since 2022, and he won't mind being away from Dodger Stadium. In that same time frame he has a .765 OPS at home but an .811 OPS on the road.
UTILITY
Kyle Tucker, CHC vs. LAD ($9,000): Owing to pitching matchups, I wanted my two players earning elevated point totals to be Dodgers, but I certainly want a Cub or two in the lineup. Tucker was my pick for AL MVP heading into the 2024 season, and if not for injury he may have made a run for it. Over 78 games he posted a .993 OPS with 23 homers and 11 stolen bases. That includes an 1.082 OPS versus righties. Tucker immediately slots in as the best hitter for the Cubs, and probably in the NL Central.
Seiya Suzuki, CHC vs. LAD ($7,500): I did not set out to have a Japanese player in my lineup, but having the Tokyo-born Suzuki rostered for the Tokyo Series is a nice bonus. We sort of know the deal with Suzuki now. He'll miss a decent slice of the season, he'll hit a little over .280, he'll take about 60 walks, and he'll hit 20-ish home runs. Suzuki also has speed, having hit six triples in each of the last two seasons and stealing 16 bases in 2024. Though Yamamoto is a righty, he was worse against his fellow righties last season. Those batter hit .263 against him.
Andy Pages, LAD vs. CHC ($4,500): I needed a low-salary player to close out this roster, and Pages slides into conveniently. The righty is slated to be the starting centerfielder for the Dodgers this year, and with a lefty on the mound that will almost assuredly be the case Tuesday. As a rookie, he had the kind of hitting profile more commonly found in young lefties. That is to say Pages struggled with same-sided pitchers, but excelled against opposite-handed hurlers. He had a .647 OPS versus righties, but a .917 OPS against southpaws. With Imanaga on the mound, this is the kind of game Pages can handle, and at this salary one extra-base hit would be enough to give you bang for your buck.
