This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
As MLB prepares for the last week of the regular season, Monday is a day off for almost every team. I imagine the day was left largely open in part to schedule possible makeup games. There are a mere three contests Monday evening, all of them on the West Coast. As such, first pitch is at 9:38 p.m. ET. I am still delivering DFS recommendations, though. Here they are.
Pitching
Logan Webb, SF vs. SD ($10,200): Webb is tied for the MLB lead in quality starts, which, you know, is something. He can rack up those innings not just because he is elite at suppressing homers, but because he's walked a mere 3.8 percent of batters he has faced. On top of that, he has a 2.45 ERA at home since 2021. The Padres aren't bad offensively, but I'll still gladly go with Snell in San Francisco.
Top Target
With only six teams in action, and with some top pitchers going, finding more than a couple enticing options just isn't happening. For a top target, that means betting on talent, and Julio Rodriguez ($4,300) has plenty of that. He also has plenty of counting stats, with 31 homers, 36 stolen bases, 100 RBI and 100 runs scored. Justin Verlander is a big name, but he has a 3.93 ERA in nine starts with the Astros. He's also allowed righties to hit .244 against him.
Bargain Bat
The average baseball fan probably hasn't spent a second thinking about the Angels since Shohei Ohtani was ruled out for the rest of the season, joining Mike Trout in that designation. Understandable, but among the bats left standing – a bleak crew to be sure – there's Brandon Drury ($3,000). Drury has an .857 OPS at home in his first season with the Angels. Jon Gray will likely go for the Rangers, his 3.61 road ERA is actually better than his home ERA so they can get away with it, but he hasn't gone deep in a while. Owing to the potential of a parade of bullpen arms, I wanted a right-handed bat.
Stack to Consider
Rangers at Angels (Patrick Sandoval): Corey Seager ($4,400), Josh Jung ($3,300), Mitch Garver ($3,200)
Sandoval doesn't allow many home runs, but that's about the extent of the positive things I can say about him as a pitcher. He has walked 4.38 batters per nine innings and has a 23.1 line-drive percentage. On top of that, he has a 4.66 ERA at home, so getting stuck with a start at the Angels' ballpark doesn't play to his strengths, to the benefit of the Rangers.
Sandoval is a southpaw, and lefties tend to have issues with such pitchers. Seager, though, has an .845 OPS against southpaws since 2021, so I trust him in those matchups, especially given that he's had the best offensive season in the American League. Jung has picked up where he left off after returning from injury, and he has 23 homers and 25 doubles in 115 games. He also has an .983 OPS against lefties in his career. Garver has slashed .273/.373/.509 with 18 homers in only 81 games. While he's barely gotten to face southpaws this year, he has an .865 OPS against them since 2021.
