This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Baseball and Sunday afternoons go hand in hand. The main slate of games for DFS contests on DraftKings covers eight afternoon games, with the first starting at 1:35 p.m. ET. Time to get to the recommendations.
Pitching
Justin Verlander, HOU at WAS ($10,300): Verlander is back healthy and looking as good as ever. with a 1.55 ERA to kick off the campaign. The Nationals are in the middle of MLB in terms of runs scored, but I think they may end up heading downward given their lineup.
Nestor Cortes, NYY at CWS ($10,000): Cortes is off to one of the most-intriguing starts of any pitcher having posted a 1.41 ERA and 2.35 FIP while striking out 11.81 batters per nine innings. Meanwhile, the White Sox are off to a rough start to the campaign in the bottom-seven in runs scored and have produced a sub-.300 OBP.
Tarik Skubal, DET vs. BAL ($6,000): Skubal has rounded into the form that made him a top prospect. He's recorded a 2.41 FIP through six starts, and has three where he hasn't allowed a single earned run. The Orioles, meanwhile, rank in the bottom-five in scoring.
Top Targets
Vladimir Guerrero ($5,200) has been racking up hits and is riding an 11-game streak while still boasting plenty of power. And of course, he slugged .601 with 48 home runs last year. In his first season as a Ray, Corey Kluber has struggled to a 4.55 ERA.
Over MLB's last four full seasons, Tommy Pham ($4,700) has produced double-digit homers and stolen bases. His average is poor this year, but he's posted a .358 OBP and has four homers and three stolen bases. I'm not a believer in Jose Quintana's 2.70 ERA since it was 4.51 over the previous five seasons.
Bargain Bats
It would appear Ty France ($4,300) is making a play for a batting title. He's at .328, which isn't all that surprising given his .298 the last three years. Carlos Carrasco maintains a 3.19 ERA, but it was at 6.04 in 2021 for the Mets across 12 starts.
Is Bryan Reynolds ($4,000) going to go back and forth between good and bad seasons? I hope not, and also I don't think that's necessarily the case. He slashed .302/.390/.522 with 24 homers and five stolen bases last year. Reynolds' .256 BABIP in 2022 says he's been unlucky. Hunter Greene hasn't been unlucky - he's just been terrible with a 7.78 FIP while allowing 11 homers across 26 innings.
Stacks to Consider
Astros vs. Patrick Corbin ($5,400): Jose Altuve ($5,000), Alex Bregman ($4,900), Yuli Gurriel ($3,900)
It's business as usual for Corbin, and not in a good way. He's posted a 6.06 ERA after having a 5.82 last season and a 4.66 the year before that. The lefty has also allowed righties to his .302 against during that time.
Altuve doesn't really steal bases anymore, though he has two in 2022. He does hit for power with six home runs and a .500 slugging percentage. Bregman has recorded a career .279/.376/.505 slash line, and this year he's at a .355 OBP and a .448 slugging percentage with five homers. Gurriel is off to a rough start, but hit .319 last season. And since 2020, he's registered an .896 OPS.
Brewers vs. Elieser Hernandez ($6,500): Christian Yelich ($5,700), Rowdy Tellez ($5,500), Willy Adames ($5,400),
Hernandez is on pace to have a FIP over 5.00 for the fourth time in five seasons. He's also allowed 2.02 home runs per nine innings. That looks good to me, and the Brewers are primed to take advantage.
Is Yelich starting to find that old form? He's notched a .350 OBP and .467 slugging percentage to go with five home runs and three stolen bases. I've got another lefty for you in Tellez, who has slugged .504 with seven homers. Adames hit .262 with 25 home runs in 2021. While he's only gone .209 so far, he's crushed nine homers, eight which have come against righties like Hernandez.
