This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
It's the final Sunday of July, and the final Sunday before the trade deadline. There are 15 games on the schedule, as per usual, with most of them taking place in the afternoon. The first contests begin at 1:05 PM ET. Here are some recommendations for your lineup.
STARTING PITCHER
J.A. Happ, NYY vs. KAN ($41): Happ will be making his first start since being traded to the Yankees, which should mean more offensive support than he got in Toronto. With the Blue Jays, he had a 3.88 FIP and struck out 10.26 hitters per nine innings. The Royals own the worst offense in the league when it comes to runs scored by a wide margin. That should help ease Happ in with his new team.
Clay Buchholz, ARI at SAN ($37): Buchholz has been unexpectedly good this year, with a 2.38 ERA in eight starts. On the road he's looked even better, posting a 1.57 ERA. The Padres sit in the bottom three in runs scored, and their ballpark is also quite conducive to pitchers.
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CATCHER
Evan Gattis, HOU vs. TEX ($13): Gattis certainly has power in his bat. He sports a career .482 slugging percentage, and comes into Sunday with a .490 slugging percentage and 20 homers. Mike Minor has a 4.72 FIP and has allowed 1.55 homers per nine innings, which bodes well for Gattis.
FIRST BASE
Matt Olson, OAK at COL ($19): Eighteen of Olson's 21 homers have comes against right-handed pitchers, along with a .482 slugging percentage in those matchups. German Marquez is a righty, who has struggled to a 5.00 ERA and has given up 1.36 home runs per nine innings during his career.
SECOND BASE
Scooter Gennett, CIN vs. PHI ($17): Gennett is averaging 7.0 fantasy points per game, thanks in part to his .317/.368/.503 slash line. Zach Eflin has a 3.73 FIP through 13 starts this season, but last year was decidedly worse at 6.14 – while his career marks stands at 4.99.
THIRD BASE
Miguel Andujar, NYY vs. KAN ($17): Andujar hasn't played many games in his MLB career, but the 23-year-old has been quite impressive thus far by carrying a career slash line of .300/.334/.506. Kansas City's Burch Smith hasn't quite matched Andujar's performance with a 5.06 FIP this year, even though he's pitched most of his games in relief.
SHORTSTOP
Paul DeJong, STL vs. CHC ($11): DeJong hasn't quite shown the same power he did last year when he hit 25 homers, but he still sports a .445 slugging percentage. He's also only played in 59 games, which partially justifies why he only has nine dingers. Kyle Hendricks is no longer the pitcher he was in 2016, as he has slumped to a 4.52 FIP in 2018.
OUTFIELD
Juan Soto, WAS at MIA ($21): Soto is no longer getting a ton of buzz, but his slash line of .314/.420/.575 remains quite impressive for a rookie. Miami starter Jose Urena enters with a 4.63 ERA, which is in line with his career number of 4.69.
A.J. Pollock, ARI at SDP ($19): Pollock has averaged 8.1 fantasy points per game and has crushed the ball when healthy. He's been particularly impressive against lefties, with a .949 OPS against them. Rookie pitcher Joey Lucchesi is a southpaw, and has also posted a 4.12 FIP and has allowed 1.24 homers per nine innings.
Mitch Haniger, SEA at LAA ($17): Haniger had an .828 OPS last season, and that number is .820 this year. He also has no issue from a splits perspective, so he can hit righties and lefties with aplomb. The first pitcher he will get a shot against Sunday is Felix Pena, who has only ever started six games – and enters with a 4.57 FIP through 75.2 career innings.
