This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
What's on tap this particular Sunday in May? How about 13 games on the DFS docket? All 30 teams are in action, but there's a doubleheader between the Guardians and Mets, so those games aren't included. You still have plenty of options for your DFS lineups, including these recommendations.
Pitching
Justin Steele, CHC at PHI ($44): Thanks to a 2.44 ERA and strong run support, Steele has a 6-1 record. He's also allowed home runs in only one game this year. The Phillies may have power, but they also have a lot of lefties. Steele is a southpaw who has held southpaws to a .207 average in his career, so this matchup is not to the Phillies' favor.
Merrill Kelly, ARI at PIT ($43): Kelly has a 2.92 ERA through nine starts, plus an 1.19 ERA on the road. He's also struck out 9.46 batters per nine innings most of his career. The Pirates started the season hot, but have slipped to a 24-20 record and have fallen into the bottom half of MLB in runs scored.
Josiah Gray, WAS vs. DET ($38): Maybe Gray is actually going to look like the guy who was a top pitching prospect and a key piece in a big trade once upon a time. Over his last eight starts he has a 2.08 ERA. The Tigers, meanwhile, are last in runs scored and just were held to two runs in a game started by Patrick Corbin.
Top Targets
You could easily get away with calling Yordan Alvarez ($24) the top power hitter in baseball. He has a career .586 slugging percentage, and the lefty doesn't struggle against southpaws like many of his brethren. He has a .952 OPS against right-handers since 2021 and a .931 OPS against left-handers. Alvarez will start Sunday and will get to face righty James Kaprielian, whose 10.17 ERA is so bad that the Athletics — the team with arguably the worst rotation in baseball — briefly sent him down to the minors.
Frequently leading off for the Nationals, Lane Thomas ($19) has a .292 average with six homers and four stolen bases. Plus, since 2021 he has an .879 OPS against left-handed pitchers. Southpaw Joey Wentz was middling in a handful of starts in 2022, but this year he has a 5.28 FIP and has allowed 1.72 home runs per nine innings.
Bargain Bats
Corbin Carroll ($17) is racking up counting stats, and unlike prior rookies like Bobby Witt, he can actually show off a true hit tool as well. His six homers and 11 stolen bases are joined by a .281 average and .369 OBP. This year, Roansy Contreras has a 5.57 ERA at home, and lefties have hit .295 against him.
Oddly, MJ Melendez ($17) is a lefty who has consistently hit better against lefties in his career. However, I still want him in this matchup. One, he has a .795 OPS over the last three weeks. Two, Lance Lynn has a 6.66 ERA, has allowed 11 home runs in 51.1 innings, and has been lit up by lefties to the tune of a .358 average.
Stacks to Consider
Rangers vs. Rockies (Connor Seabold): Adolis Garcia ($24), Corey Seager ($18), Nathaniel Lowe ($18)
Now, Seabold hasn't pitched a ton in the majors, but he's pitched enough where his career 7.48 ERA stands out as particularly bad. By the way, he's only joined the Rockies for this season, having previously been with the Red Sox. In his career righties have hit .344 against Seabold, but lefties have hit .360. Thus, I have two lefties in this stack.
Garcia is a righty, but he's shown massive power, notable for a guy who's already hit 31 home runs once in a campaign. This year he's slugged .548 with 14 home runs, with 10 of those homers coming in Texas' ballpark. Seager is back healthy, and since 2021 he's slashed .271/.364/.471 versus righties. Last year, his first with the Rangers, he had a .901 OPS at home. In his time with Texas, Lowe has a .280 average and .355 OBP. While he's traditionally done quite well against southpaws for a lefty, this year his performance on that front is down. However, he still has an .832 OPS against righties.
Mariners at Atlanta (Jared Shuster): Teoscar Hernandez ($15), Cal Raleigh ($14), Julio Rodriguez ($13)
Called into action due to injury, Shuster doesn't seem quite ready for MLB just yet. Through three starts, he has a 7.24 ERA and has walked more batters than he's struck out. He's a lefty, so I am going with three guys who hit right-handed for the Mariners.
Hernandez has eight home runs this year, and he's consistently mashed lefties in his career. In fact, since 2021 he has an 1.049 OPS when facing southpaws. Raleigh has seven home runs after going yard 27 times in 2022. The catcher is a switch hitter, but what's notable is that he is way better on the road. He has an .844 OPS on the road in his MLB career. Rodriguez's slash line is down from his rookie campaign, but he still is bringing the counting stats. He had 28 homers and 25 stolen bases as a rookie and has seven of the former and eight of the latter this season.
Dodgers at Cardinals (Jack Flaherty): Freddie Freeman ($25), Max Muncy ($19), James Outman ($17)
I couldn't resist stacking three lefties against Flaherty. He's primed to walk over five batters per nine innings for the second season in the row, a key reason why he has a 4.99 FIP over the last two campaigns. Why three lefties, though? Because lefties have hit .341 against Flaherty in 2023, while righties have been held to a .190 average.
An elite hitter like Freeman (career slash line of .299/.386/.510) doesn't need the help of a matchup like this one. Of course, it does benefit him, as he has a .950 OPS versus righties over the last three seasons. A guy with three 35-homer seasons already, Muncy has 15 home runs already in 2023. This year he has been particularly good against righties and on the road, having an OPS over 1.000 in both scenarios. The rookie Outman has a .351 OBP with nine homers and six stolen bases. Including his cup of coffee in MLB in 2022, the centerfielder has a .942 OPS against right handers in his career.
