The weekend of MLB action concludes with a nine-game DFS slate for Mother's Day and the first pitch at 1:35 p.m. EDT. Here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Jose Soriano, LAA at TOR ($9,500): While Toronto scoring 14 runs on Saturday (and Boston being rained out) got it out of the bottom-five in runs scored, that doesn't speak to an offense that's been off to a good start. The Blue Jays also beat up on Jack Kochanowicz, who isn't a viable MLB starter. Soriano, on the other hand, has an 1.74 ERA through eight outings.
Payton Tolle, BOS vs. TAM ($8,800): Tolle's big-league cameo last season didn't go well, though that was exclusively on the road as he posted an 1.93 ERA at home. After performing well in Triple-A, he's made three MLB starts where he's registered a 2.04 ERA. Tolle is only 23 and came into this year as a top prospect. I think he can handle Tampa's average offense that's really built around one or two big bats.
Jameson Taillon, CHC at TEX ($7,600): Taillon has notched a career 3.88 ERA and currently sits at 4.24. But at this salary and with this matchup, I'd still be willing to take a shot on him. Toronto may have been able to get out of the bottom-five for offense, though Texas is still down in the bottom-three.
See which projected starters are going and when with RotoWire's Probable Pitchers page!
Top Targets
It's usually mostly homers and walks with Kyle Schwarber ($5,600), yet it's been pretty much all those categories so far. But when you've gone deep 14 times through 40 games, you can get away with that. Tomoyuki Sugano's ERA is up to 3.41, and he's not exactly hiding that with a 5.35 K/9 rate, 1.46 HR/9 rate, and 4.94 FIP.
Switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman ($4,600) has bounced back nicely by slashing .318/.375/.591. While he's still struggled on the road, he's tallied an OPS over 1.000 at home - which is where he'll be playing on Sunday. Luis Severino is better on the road now that he's an Athletic, yet still has an ERA over 3.00 while away and a career 3.81 ERA before joining the team.
Bargain Bats
Even while hitting .238 last year, Christian Walker ($4,000) produced 27 homers and 24 doubles. He's currently at .288 with nine and nine from those two areas. Something is amiss with Andrew Abbott. The lefty comes in with a 6.25 K/9 rate, a 4.25 BB/9 rate, and a 5.13 ERA. That's not the norm for him, yet it's already been eight starts.
Jorge Soler ($3,400) struggled during his first season with the Angels, though he only logged 82 games. He's so far slugged .465 with eight home runs. Eric Lauer posted a 6.56 ERA with the Brewers in 2023. I'm noting that as he's delivered a 6.03 ERA with a 2.30 HR/9 rate.
Stacks to Consider
Athletics at Orioles (Chris Bassitt): Nick Kurtz ($5,300), Tyler Soderstrom ($4,100), Jeff McNeil ($3,200)
Bassitt is another pitcher whose strikeouts are down and walks are up. The ABS effect? It's probably too early to tell. What I know is that Bassitt holds a 5.91 ERA while lefties have hit .380 against, which is why I've included three southpaws below.
The fact Kurtz posted an 1.002 OPS as a rookie set the bar high, so I don't have complaints about a first baseman with a .418 OBP with five homers and five stolen bases. And he's still been great against righties. Soderstrom's numbers are also hindered by struggling more against lefties, though he's contributed five homers and 11 doubles. He also went .276 with 25 home runs last season while Bassitt is a righty. McNeil isn't hitting for power, but the second baseman has a .291 average. And since 2024, he's slugged .414 against righties.
White Sox vs. Mariners (Logan Gilbert): Munetaka Murakami ($5,900), Miguel Vargas ($4,900), Sam Antonacci ($3,200)
Gilbert is arguably lucky maintaining a 4.30 ERA given that he allowed four solo homers during his last start. Even before that, he often relied on his home ballpark to succeed. Gilbert posted a 2.24 ERA in Seattle last year with a 4.74 on the road. Given that, I think it's worth taking a shot on stacking against him.
Murakami has moved to America and has already flashed a lot of power. In addition to his 15 home runs, he's produced a .361 OBP. Vargas is at nine homers and six steals. While he's a righty, Gilbert's fellow righties have batted .282 against this season. The rookie Antonacci has shown no ability to hit against his fellow lefties, but has otherwise adapted to the Majors with a .390 OBP. And while he's only collected one home run from 21 appearances, he's also supplied two triples.
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