This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Let's end the weekend with a bang. There are 11 MLB games on the DFS docket for Sunday with the first one starting at 1:35 p.m. ET. You have options to sift through, and I'm here to help you speed up that process to land on some strong lineup choices.
Pitching
Lucas Giolito, CWS at TAM ($10,200): Giolito was having an impressive campaign until he got roughed up on the road against the Blue Jays in his last outing. Even so, he still has a 3.61 ERA and has struck out 12.54 batters per nine innings. The Rays are above the bottom-10 in runs scored, but also maintain a sub-.300 OBP.
Zac Gallen, ARI at PIT ($9,800): Gallen has bounced back after a mediocre 2021 with a 2.32 ERA. In fact, he's been even better than that since he's only allowed more than two runs in an outing once this year. The Pirates are all but locked into finishing in the bottom-five in runs scored yet again.
Luis Castillo, CIN vs. WAS ($8,400): Maybe Castillo is a slow starter? Last season, he began brutally and rebounded to finish with a 3.98 ERA. His first two starts were poor this year, but he's posted a 2.12 ERA in his last three appearances. Washington ranks in the bottom-10 in runs scored, and I like Castillo's chances of getting to pick up a win - in part, for reasons I'll get into later.
Top Targets
Though he isn't hitting like an MVP in 2022, Shohei Ohtani ($4,000) is still making fantasy players happy. After all, he's belted 11 homers and stolen seven bases, and let's not forget he produced 46 and 26 of each last year. The lefty will be facing right-handed pitcher Kyle Gibson, who enters with a 3.83 ERA and a 4.43 career mark.
Staying on the field has been the only issue for Luis Robert ($3,300). In 161 career games, he's slashed .293/.341/.494 with 30 home runs and 22 stolen bases. Lefty Ryan Yarbrough has recorded a 4.55 FIP this season, and last year wasn't a whole lot better at 4.45.
Bargain Bats
Anthony Santander ($3,300) doesn't really hit for average, but he can bring the power with nine homers and a .527 home slugging percentage since 2020. Zach Plesac has allowed 1.44 home runs per nine innings during his career and has given up a long ball in each of his last six starts.
I told you I'd get back to why I like Luis Castillo's chances of picking up a win, and a big one is opposing starting pitcher Patrick Corbin who's struggled with a 6.96 ERA this season and has allowed righties to hit .306 against since 2020. I'm going with Kyle Farmer ($3,100) here. He's produced five homers and stolen three bases, and has a .900 OPS against southpaws across the last two years.
Stacks to Consider
Astros at Royals (Jonathan Heasley): Jose Altuve ($3,600), Kyle Tucker ($3,500), Jeremy Pena ($3,300)
Heasley is a rare breed, a pitcher whose 4.79 career ERA actually flatters him and that goes along with a 6.29 FIP. Though he's a righty, righties have hit .298 against in the Majors, so I don't mind having two right-handed hitters in my stack.
Those 2020 numbers are the clear outlier for Altuve. He's gone .265/.345/.510 this year and with 10 home runs already it wouldn't be surprising if he hits over 30 for the third time in four seasons. Tucker went deep 30 times in 2021 with 14 stolen bases. He also has a .906 OPS against righties since 2020. Pena has been more than serviceable replacing Carlos Correa at shortstop batting .273 with eight homers and three swipes.
Guardians at Orioles (Dean Kremer): Jose Ramirez ($4,500), Josh Naylor ($3,500), Owen Miller ($3,300)
Kremer has been rehabbing down in Triple-A, and it's expected he'll make his first MLB start of the season Sunday. He doesn't bring great numbers with him as his career ERA of 6.84 will show. The Guardians don't offer a great lineup, but they do have enough for a nice stack - especially given one of the best hitters in baseball.
That would be Ramirez, who's slashed .298/.400/.646 with 14 home runs and seven stolen bases. This comes after he accumulated 36 and 27 in those categories last year. The lefty Naylor has slashed .277/.333/.491 and has an .898 OPS against righties. Miller is enjoying a breakout campaign hitting .280 and slugging .453.
Diamondbacks at Pirates (Zach Thompson): Josh Rojas ($3,300), Ketel Marte ($3,200), David Peralta ($2,900)
The Marlins were willing to let Thompson go, which probably should have told the Pirates something. As a full-time starter for the first time in his career, the righty has posted a 5.18 ERA. His major problem is that he's allowed 1.58 home runs per nine innings as a starter with Pittsburgh, so maybe he's not suited for the role.
When Rojas has played this year, he's slashed .288/.372/.438. That includes a .948 OPS against righties. It's been a few years since Marte produced his .981 OPS campaign with 32 homers and 10 stolen bases, but he still boasts a career .286/.345/.454 line. He got off to a slow start, but he's managed an .865 OPS the last three weeks. Peralta has crushed eight homers and has slugged .460 to go with a .778 OPS against righties since 2020.
