This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Good news! Wednesday features four MLB games. The two AL series move to new locations for Game 3s, while the NL series have arrived at Game 4s, which means one, or both, of the Senior Circuit series could be ending. First pitch is at 3:08 p.m. EDT. Here are my DFS lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Seth Lugo, KC vs. NYY ($9,900): The Yankees are not an easy matchup, but in the end when I looked at all the pitchers likely to be available, I felt the best option was to go with the best pitcher. That would be Lugo. He posted a 3.00 ERA, a 3.24 FIP, and only allowed 0.70 homers per nine innings, which is particularly encouraging given New York's lineup. In fact, in September, he pitched 7.0 innings of shutout ball and racked up 10 strikeouts against this very Yankees team.
Top Target
While Mark Vientos ($3,500) came up big in Game 2 in Philly (even if the Mets lost), he's surely happy to be at home for a couple games. After all, the slugging righty had a .912 OPS at Citi Field this year, and he also had an .884 OPS versus lefties regardless of venue. Ranger Suarez was justifiably an All-Star this season, but he really came apart at the seams down the stretch. Over his last 11 regular-season starts the lefty posted a 6.54 ERA.
Bargain Bat
It makes sense that Nick Castellanos ($3,200) has started the postseason well, given that he had an 1.222 OPS over the last three weeks of the regular season. While he dropped from 29 homers last year to 23 this year, and from 37 doubles to 30 doubles, the righty actually improved his line-drive and flyball rates while dropping his groundball rate, so he was a bit unlucky. Jose Quintana had a 3.64 ERA at home, compared to a 3.86 ERA on the road, but he actually allowed a whopping 1.8 homers per nine innings at Citi Field.
Stack to Consider
Padres vs. Dodgers (Landon Knack): Fernando Tatis ($4,100), Jackson Merrill ($3,500), Jake Cronenworth ($2,800)
The Dodgers are expected to go with Knack for Game 4 because, well, they are out of healthy pitchers. It may not be a lengthy start, this is the postseason after all, but that's a starting point for a stack. The rookie righty had a 4.71 FIP and 1.83 HR/9 rate, and the Padres have a chance to knock him around a bit, and then take their best hacks at the Dodgers' bullpen after that.
Tatis has already popped four homers in this postseason with an average (.556) that would make for a fine slugging percentage. It's a continuation of the end of the regular season when he slugged .571 over the last three weeks. Though Tatis is a righty, he had an .881 OPS versus right-handed pitchers in 2024. Merrill's rookie season has earned a lot of love, which makes sense, given that he had 24 homers, six triples, and 16 stolen bases. While he had issues with his fellow lefties, the outfielder had an .891 OPS against righties. This matchup is to Cronenworth's tastes. He had a .779 OPS versus right-handed pitchers, and also a .784 OPS at home.
