This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
What's up Sunday? MLB has the day to itself, at least among the major American pro sports leagues. If anything else is up athletically, enjoy it! I'm focused on the 10 games included on DraftKings' MLB slate with first pitch at 1:35 p.m. ET. Here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Justin Verlander, HOU vs. MIA ($10,500): For a 39-year-old pitcher coming off a serious injury, Verlander feels borderline miraculous with a 2.13 ERA while only allowing more than three runs once. The Marlins are surprisingly middling in runs scored given that they finished 29th last season. Even so, I have no fear of Miami when it comes to Verlander.
Kyle Wright, ATL vs. PIT ($10,100): Wright was considered a good pitching prospect, but he had never shown it…until this season posting a 2.39 ERA and striking out 9.71 batters per nine innings. The Pirates are currently fighting the Athletics to be 28th in runs scored instead of 29th. Wright should be able to manage that easily.
Michael Kopech, CWS vs. TEX ($8,100): In his first chance to be a healthy full-time starter, Kopech has averaged 95.4 MPH on his fastball to go with an 1.94 ERA. The Rangers' offseason additions haven't gotten them out of the bottom-10 in runs scored, which is probably helped by a sub-.300 team OBP.
Top Targets
Though his arm issue is keeping him at DH, Bryce Harper ($5,900) has not been hindered as a hitter with a 1.039 OPS over the last three weeks and a 1.069 against righties since 2020. It's expected that Luke Weaver, a righty, will be on the mound for Arizona along with a career 4.66 ERA.
Call me skeptical about Jose Quintana's 3.19 ERA. Over the previous three seasons, that number's been at 5.13. I do believe in Austin Riley ($5,600) because he's enjoying his second straight strong campaign slashing .291/.357/.527 during that span.
Bargain Bats
It's been a tricky year for Cedric Mullins ($4,900) after he went 30-30 last season. The lefty has only hit .237 in 2022, but he's also produced six homers and 12 stolen bases. Mullins will be facing righty Brad Keller, who's struggled to a 6.31 ERA across the last six seasons.
Ji-Man Choi ($3,800) is batting .277 and has an .813 OPS against righties since 2020. Cole Sands got a call up from Triple-A even though he posted a 7.23 ERA, and that's resulted in an 8.49 mark in the majors.
Stacks to Consider
Yankees vs. Cubs (Kyle Hendricks): Anthony Rizzo ($5,500), Giancarlo Stanton ($5,300), DJ LeMahieu ($5,000)
Hendricks slipped last season and posted a 4.89 FIP. This year, he's been even worse with a 5.43 ERA. On top of that, he's given up 10 home runs over his last seven starts, and pitching at Yankee Stadium isn't ideal for those on the mound.
Rizzo has crushed 15 home runs with a .959 OPS at home. He's also a lefty, and Hendricks has allowed southpaws to hit .287 against him the last two seasons. Stanton boasts a career .542 slugging percentage, and this year has hit 13 home runs and slugged .524. LeMahieu is getting on base at a .343 clip. And while he doesn't offer a lot of power, he does have an .851 home OPS.
White Sox vs. Rangers (Jon Gray): Luis Robert ($5,400), Jose Abreu ($4,600), Andrew Vaughn ($4,100)
Gray has moved on from Colorado, but his numbers aren't any better with a 5.28 ERA that includes a 5.94 on the road. He's also allowed righties to hit .271 against with the Rangers, and I'm stacking three righties.
Robert is able to make plenty of contact even without the help. He's a career .290 hitter and this year has recorded six home runs and 10 stolen bases. Abreu has picked it up after a slow start with a 1.047 OPS in the last three weeks. He's also a career .288/.350/.510 hitter, so he should be just fine. In his sophomore campaign, Vaughn is showing why he was such a high draft pick with a .288/.340/.473 slash line to go with six home runs.
Royals vs. Orioles (Dean Kremer): Bobby Witt ($5,500), MJ Melendez ($4,400), Andrew Benintendi ($3,900)
Kremer got a chance to return to the rotation even though he slumped to a 7.55 ERA last year. It didn't go great as he allowed three runs in 4.1 innings. He's somehow getting another shot starting, and that bodes well for the Royals.
Witt has registered seven homers and 10 stolen bases, and he's been quite good against righties like Kremer. In those matchups, the rookie has posted an .820 OPS. You can slot Melendez in at catcher, but his bat is strong enough he often DHs for KC with the first-year player slashing .267/.341/.491. In his first season as a Royal, Benintendi hit .276 with 17 home runs and eight stolen bases. This year, he's at .308 with a .372 OBP.
