This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
We're down to the last four teams. The NLCS kicks off Sunday. The Dodgers, long a behemoth in the league, are back. The Mets list a large payroll, but for a while the playoffs seemed unlikely, much less being this close to a World Series. A 98-win team faces one at 89, and anything could happen. It all starts with Game 1 beginning at 8:15 p.m. EDT.
You get $50,000 in salary to divvy out to a six-player roster. One player is your Captain, who earns 1.5 times the points with an elevated salary to match. For Sunday's series-opening matchup, here's the lineup I landed on.
Captain
Teoscar Hernandez, LAD vs. NYM ($12,600): Hernandez enjoyed getting far away from Seattle's ballpark that suppressed his numbers last season, and he's posted an .884 home OPS this year. He also enjoyed the NLDS as he recorded a 1.067 OPS with two homers. While Kodai Senga will start for the Mets, this will probably go like his appearance against the Phillies where he went two innings max and was then replaced by lefty David Peterson. To Hernandez's credit, he managed a .931 OPS versus southpaws this season.
Flex
Francisco Lindor, NYM at LAD ($9,200): The Mets' star shortstop returned from injury to get the team into the postseason. He hit a grand slam to eliminate the Phillies. Lindor fell one stolen base short of 30 homers, 30 doubles, and 30 swipes for the second straight season. The switch-hitter notched an OPS over .830 against both righties and lefties. LA can throw whatever pitcher at Lindor, and he can handle the matchup.
Freddie Freeman, LAD vs. NYM ($7,800): Freeman is banged up, though maybe a couple days off helped his ankle. He's a high-level bat, even at this point in his career with a .965 OPS versus righties and an .865 against his fellow lefties since 2022. Senga barely pitched this year, but he's a righty who posted a 3.68 road ERA last season. If Freeman can get two at-bats against righties, that's good enough for me.
Pete Alonso, NYM at LAD ($7,600): I haven't mentioned Jack Flaherty yet, but he's starting for the Dodgers. He was really good with the Tigers, yet produced a 3.58 ERA in 10 starts with LA. Not bad, but not as imposing. Alonso has already been the hero a couple times this postseason while putting up an 1.161 OPS. While he was a bit better at home, he's slugged .498 on the road the last couple campaigns.
Brandon Nimmo, NYM at LAD ($6,800): Nimmo hasn't displayed much power in the playoffs, though he's gotten on base at a .387 clip. That's not too surprising given his career .371 mark. Over the last three seasons, the southpaw has an .800 OPS versus right-handed pitchers with an .840 OPS away from Citi Field. I'll take the lefty against a righty starter, especially with Dodgers lefty reliever Alex Vesia dealing with a back injury.
Gavin Lux, LAD vs. NYM ($5,800): Lux balances things out. I didn't really need three Mets and three Dodgers, but it's Game 1 and a bit of bet hedging makes sense. Lux hit .278 and slugged .444 in the NLDS. While the fact he did that as a second baseman doesn't matter in a positionless roster construction, that's still solid and the lefty did improve in the second half after tweaking his approach.
