It was a wild weekend across MLB, with the Red Sox making some huge headlines. It's strange to see organizations like the Red Sox, Mets and Phillies struggle so mightily, but it's really fascinating from a neutral perspective. Baseball feels more competitive than ever right now, and that's something we love to see in such a long season. With all that said, we're going to kickstart the article with a Dodgers pitcher, so let's get into it!
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Pitching
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, LAD vs. MIA ($9,500)
While the league feels more competitive across the board, there's no doubt that the Dodgers are the cream of the crop. Yoshi has been a major part of their success since his signing, posting a 2.64 ERA and 1.02 WHIP throughout his career. His numbers are even more impressive this season, amassing a 2.48 ERA and 0.89 WHIP. The consistency might be his biggest asset, though, scoring at least 37 FanDuel points in four of five starts. Yamamoto should be able to reach that threshold in a home start against the Marlins because he scored 43 FD points in their last matchup and enters this game as a -300 favorite.
Randy Vasquez, SD vs. CHC ($7,500)
It's surprising to see Vasquez sit at just $7,500. This pitcher is amid a breakout season in San Diego, sporting a 1.88 ERA and 1.08 WHIP across five starts. He's also averaging over 20 DraftKings points per game, which is the fourth-highest total on this slate. That's bizarre since he's eighth in salary, especially since he has a home start against Chicago. The Cubs have been one of the best offenses, but they're only projected to score four runs in spacious San Diego. Not to mention, Vasquez allowed two runs or fewer in all three career starts against them.
Top Targets
Cal Raleigh, SEA ($5,000) vs. Connor Prielipp
Raleigh got off to a nightmarish start this season, but this superstar catcher is back on track now. He's homered in three of his last five fixtures while posting a .458 OBP and 1.315 OPS in that span. That's more in line with the stud we saw last season, with Cal compiling a .359 OBP and .948 OPS. The best part about this is that he faces a southpaw who's only made one career start, with Raleigh registering a 1.032 OPS against lefties last season. A Seattle stack could be in play against this inexperienced rookie, with Julio Rodriguez ($4,500) and Josh Naylor ($3,400) looking like solid values.
Max Muncy, LAD ($4,600) vs. Chris Paddack
Muncy goes on these stretches where he looks like one of the best power bats in baseball, and that's what we're seeing right now. This slugger has five homers over his last nine outings while totaling a .541 OBP and 1.573 OPS in that span. That doesn't even include his three-homer game a couple of weeks ago, and we always want to use him against righties. Muncy has maintained a .399 OBP and .924 OPS against right-handers since 2024. The matchup with Paddack is fantastic too, and we'll discuss that more in the stack section!
Bargain Bats
Jorge Soler, LAA ($3,500) vs. Anthony Kay
Soler was once one of the best power hitters in baseball, and he's recaptured some of that with the Angels. He's been hitting cleanup in LA, collecting a .780 OPS so far this season. Most importantly, he faces a lefty here. Soler has a .366 OBP and .830 OPS against southpaws since 2024. The biggest concern for Soler has been his strikeouts, but that doesn't matter here since he faces a rookie with a 5.57 ERA, 1.57 WHIP and 5.6 K/9 rate. This Angels team is full of talented righty bats, with Mike Trout ($6,000), Zach Neto ($5,500), and Jo Adell ($4,500) looking like great pairings with Soler.
Konnor Griffin, PIT ($3,400) vs. Dustin May
There's no doubt that Griffin has earned this $3,400 salary with some subpar play, but many experts have this guy pegged as a future superstar. He was the top-rated prospect for a reason, providing a .336 AVG, .420 OBP and .950 OPS throughout his minor league career. He also had 21 homers and 68 steals across 127 games, so it's just a matter of time before he starts doing that here. We're starting to see glimpses of it, averaging 9.0 DK points per game across his last 12 outings. Matching up with May only adds to Griffin's intrigue, with the Cardinals' arm accruing a 5.84 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. Oneil Cruz ($6,100), Brandon Lowe ($5,100) and Ryan O'Hearn ($4,600) all have the platoon advantage against May as well if you want to stack the Pirates.
Stacks to Consider
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Miami Marlins (Paddack): Shohei Ohtani ($6,300), Kyle Tucker ($5,800), Freddie Freeman ($5,200), Muncy ($4,600)
There weren't many stacks that stood out today, but the Dodgers look like the safest one on this slate. To put it simply, this is the best lineup in baseball. That's an easy way to look at it, but they rank first in OBP, wOBA and xwOBA. That's bad news for a struggling veteran like Paddack, who's posted a 6.38 ERA and 1.54 WHIP this year.
We have to kickstart our LA stack with the best player in baseball. That's Ohtani, who has a .409 OBP and 1.073 OPS against righties over the last three years. He's also the leading scorer in DFS during that span. As for Tucker, he has a .388 OBP and .894 OPS against right-handers in that same stretch. Freeman has similar splits as those other studs, totaling a .384 OBP and .883 OPS against them across those three years. All of those guys are expensive, but they're much easier to fit in when using cheap players like Soler and Griffin.
