Yahoo DFS Baseball: Sunday Picks
Noon baseball is back, so you have to get your lineups in a little earlier. Hey, you get 15 teams' worth of players that way, as Yahoo didn't feel like leaving the Twins and Tigers out of the fun on the final Sunday of the regular season. You have a ton of options for your DFS lineup, and I have a several recommendations to try and help you with your decisions.
Pitching
Tyler Anderson, LAD vs. COL ($48): Anderson has been a sterling pitcher since a bad day in San Francisco in early August. Over his last nine starts, he has an 1.85 ERA. The Rockies have, as per usual, been decidedly worse on the road, whereas Anderson has a 2.18 ERA at home on the season.
Robbie Ray, SEA vs. OAK ($47): As the Mariners celebrate returning to the playoffs, Ray will celebrate being at home. In his first season in Seattle, Ray has a 2.92 ERA in his new ballpark. Oakland should provide little competition for the high-strikeout pitcher. The Athletics are 29th in runs scored and last in team OPS.
Luis Garcia, HOU vs. TAM ($45): This may be a game between playoff teams, but not between top offenses. The Rays are actually fighting just to avoid finishing the season in the bottom 10, and finishing 20th wouldn't exactly be exciting either. Garcia, meanwhile, has a top-10 offense behind him, not to mention an 1.96 ERA over his last four starts
Top Targets
A catcher who can hit .275 with 21 home runs and 21 stolen bases? What's not to like about J.T. Realmuto ($19)? Plus, he gets a matchup with Patrick Corbin! Corbin has a 6.08 ERA and has allowed righties to hit .312 against him since 2020.
With a career .280/.348/.441 slash line, Ty France ($17) is a good fit for this matchup. James Kaprielian doesn't allow a lot of home runs, but he has a 4.76 FIP and has only struck out 6.4 batters per nine innings. Somebody with a keen batting eye, like France, can excel in this matchup. The fact France has an .807 OPS at home is also encouraging.
Bargain Bats
Jose Ramirez ($16) is oh so close to his second 30-20 season in a row, as he has 29 home runs and 18 stolen bases. Facing a righty will help, as he has a .913 OPS in those matchups. Max Castillo is indeed a righty, one with a 7.90 ERA since joining the Royals.
What Isiah Kiner-Falefa ($14) does is hit for average and steal bases. He's hit .263 in 2022 and has 20 stolen bases for the second season in a row. It tends to be easier to steal second against a righty, and indeed 20 of Kiner-Falefa's 21 stolen bases have come in those matchups. Kyle Bradish has a 5.11 ERA, but has also let righties hit .285 against him.
Stacks to Consider
Dodgers vs. Rockies (German Marquez): Freddie Freeman ($21), Max Muncy ($18), Cody Bellinger ($9)
Marquez has typically not allowed a lot of home runs, an impressive feat for a Rockies pitcher, but this year he's allowed 1.54 per nine innings. Granted, a lot of that has been at home, but he has a 3.57 ERA on the road in 2022, and a 4.05 ERA in away games since 2020. Lefties have hit .287 against Marquez this season, so I am stacking three southpaws.
Freeman hasn't lost a step after leaving Atlanta, as he's slashed .329/.412/.513 in his first season in Dodger Blue. He also happens to have an 1.007 OPS against righties since 2020. Muncy has had a down year, especially versus lefties, but he has 21 home runs all in all thanks in part to a .742 OPS against righties. Plus, since 2020 he has an .816 OPS at home. For all his issues at the plate, Bellinger still has 18 homers and 14 stolen bases. He also has a .761 OPS at home.
Rangers at Angels (Tucker Davidson): Marcus Semien ($25), Josh Jung ($17), Jonah Heim ($10)
Davidson could never find success with the Braves, and that remains true as an Angel. He has a 6.96 ERA in seven starts with Los Angeles. All in all, the southpaw has a 5.97 ERA and 5.51 FIP in his career. That certain bodes well for this stack.
Semien has 26 home runs and 24 stolen bases. He also won't mind being away from home, as he has an .848 OPS on the road. Jung, Texas' best hitting prospect, had an .846 OPS at Triple-A this year. Thus far, in a handful of plate appearances, he has a .958 OPS versus lefties. The catcher Heim may be a switch hitter, but for all intents and purposes he's to be deployed when a lefty is on the mound. Since 2020 he has a .790 OPS against southpaws.
Astros vs. Rays (Corey Kluber): Jose Altuve ($23), Kyle Tucker ($18), Jeremy Pena ($13)
Kluber gives up a lot of contact these days. Lefties have hit .279 against him, while righties have hit .268. That's partially why he has a 4.36 ERA on the year and a 5.15 ERA on the road. All that contact bodes well for the Astros, who have some formidable bats.
Altuve makes plenty of contact, as he's hit .295 this year while racking up 28 homers and 18 stolen bases. At home, he sports a .953 OPS for good measure. Tucker has racked up the counting stats even more than his teammate, as he has 29 homers and 25 stolen bases. He has an .894 OPS against righties since 2020 as well. The rookie Pena doesn't have much of a track record, but he does have 20 homers and 11 stolen bases. The shortstop also has a .783 OPS over the last two weeks.
