Sunday slates are always one of my favorites of the week. We have all but two teams playing between 1ET and 4ET, leading to one of the largest slates of the week. It’s also nice to have these lineups and weather reports well before lock, and that’s something that shouldn’t be overlooked from a DFS perspective. Anytime there are fewer variables, things are easier on us. With that in mind, let’s kick things off with the pitchers!
Starting Pitcher Rankings
Sunday slates are always one of my favorites of the week. We have all but two teams playing between 1ET and 4ET, leading to one of the largest slates of the week. It’s also nice to have these lineups and weather reports well before lock, and that’s something that shouldn’t be overlooked from a DFS perspective. Anytime there are fewer variables, things are easier on us. With that in mind, let’s kick things off with the pitchers!
Starting Pitcher Rankings
Starting Pitcher Strategy
We’ve had a ton of aces the last few days, and that’s inevitably going to lead to the backend of the rotations coming into play. That’s just what we have here, with one of the worst pitching pools all season. With that said, there are a bunch of middling arms, and we haven’t quite dipped into the end of the rotations. This is usually where the breakout guys take the mound, and that’s certainly the case in our recommendations!
Cash Game Recommendations:
Patrick Sandoval (LAA) vs. OAK
Sandoval is sprinkled all over my season-long leagues, and I don’t understand why so many people were sleeping on this guy in draft season. The left-hander broke out in the second half of last season, providing a 3.31 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 10.3 K/9 rate over his final 12 starts. That’s carried over into this season, generating a 1.91 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. All of that is horrifying news for Oakland, with the A’s ranked dead-last in OBP, OPS, and xwOBA.
Freddy Peralta (MIL) vs. WAS
Peralta just had one of the games of his career on Monday, throwing seven scoreless innings against the defending champs. He also dropped 10Ks in that masterpiece, giving him a 2.95 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 32 percent K rate since the beginning of last season. Those are unbelievable averages, and it puts him in play against a Nats team that has one of the worst lineups in baseball outside of Juan Soto. In his last meeting with Washington, Freddy fired seven run-one innings en route to 50 FanDuel points.
GPP Recommendations:
Triston McKenzie (CLE) vs. DET
McKenzie is quite possibly the skinniest human I’ve ever seen, but this guy throws fire. The righty has a 2.70 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 8.9 K/9 rate since the opening start of the year. That’s tough to find from a player in this price range, and it should continue against Detroit. The Motor City Kitties rank 29th in both OBP and OPS while scoring the fewest runs in baseball. That looks even worse with Triston tallying a 0.00 ERA, 0.38 WHIP, and 11.1 K/9 rate across 13 innings in his two matchups with Detroit last year.
UPDATE: Cleveland’s game on Saturday was postponed, so Shane Bieber will start over McKenzie. We had Bieber written up yesterday, so all the same rules apply!
Corey Kluber (TB) at BAL
Kluber had one nightmarish start last week but has been amazing aside from that. In fact, CK has a 2.48 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and a 9.1 K/9 rate in his other nine starts. We can overlook the dud against the Angels because that’s simply one of the best offenses in baseball. Baltimore is nowhere near them, ranked 22nd in OPS and 25th in wOBA. We also don’t mind that Kluber has a 3.00 ERA in his four starts against Baltimore since the start of last season.
Top Lineup Stacks
Using Tampa is always one of my top strategies on every slate. They always have more value than any other team because of the platoon games they love to play, and it keeps all of them way too cheap. It also makes for an excellent stack because you can use whoever you want with them. We clearly don’t mind that they face a pitcher with a 5.10 ERA and 1.60 WHIP.
The Brewers are pretty similar to Tampa Bay. Both of these lineups lack star power, but they’re both brilliant lineups. That also keeps the Brewers relatively cheap, making them tough to fade against Aaron Sanchez. The Washington righty has a 7.94 ERA and 1.68 WHIP this season while amassing a 5.61 ERA and 1.57 WHIP over the last three years.
Hearn is in for a rough night. This lefty has struggled with everyone else this season, pitching to a 5.46 ERA and 1.69 WHIP. That’s awful news with how this offense is rolling, with Houston sitting Top-5 in nearly every offensive statistic this month. All of the righties are also problematic for Hearn because it makes them a tough lineup to navigate from the left side.
Core Studs
| POS |
PLAYER |
DK SALARY |
FD SALARY |
| 1B |
Freddie Freeman (LAD) |
$5,400 |
$4,000 |
| 3B |
Alex Bregman (HOU) |
$5,200 |
$3,500 |
| OF |
Christian Yelich (MIL) |
$5,000 |
$3,400 |
| OF |
Charlie Blackmon (COL) |
$4,800 |
$3,600 |
| 2B/SS |
Wander Franco (TB) |
$5,300 |
$3,200 |
- Freeman got off to a slow start with his new team, but he’s been the same MVP since then. Freddie has a .330 AVG, .433 OBP, .538 SLG, and .971 OPS over his last 29 games played. He should be able to keep that going against Zach Eflin, with the righty registering a 4.52 ERA and 1.31 WHIP for his career.
- We’ve been using Bregman against lefties for years. It’s simply one of the safest things you can do in DFS, with Bregman falling just shy of a .400 OBP and 1.000 OPS against them. It’s not like Hearn is a scary southpaw either.
- It’s been a tough few years for Yelich, but it looks like he’s recapturing the form that made him an MVP candidate. The slugging southpaw has a .286 AVG, .390 OBP, .543 SLG, and .943 OPS over his last 19 games played. He’s also been much better against righties throughout his career, and it’s not like Sanchez will slow him down behind his 8.00 ERA.
- Using Blackmon at home against righties has been a go-to for years. He has his OPS north of .900 in both of those circumstances since 2016. That alone makes him tough to avoid, especially since he faces a guy with a 4.41 xFIP in a hitter’s haven like Coors Field.
- If we’re stacking the Rays, Franco needs to be the focal point of that stack. He’s their best hitter, tallying a .283 AVG and .781 OPS since his call-up. That might not sound special, but it looks beautiful when considering that this guy has legitimate 25-25 potential. Getting the platoon advantage against a guy with a 1.60 WHIP is the cherry on top!
Value Plays/Punts
| POS |
PLAYER |
DK SALARY |
FD SALARY |
| 2B |
Max Muncy (LAD) |
$5,300 |
$3,000 |
| OF |
Jordan Luplow (ARI) |
$4,300 |
$2,600 |
| OF |
Jesse Winker (SEA) |
$3,200 |
$2,700 |
| OF |
Jeff McNeil (NYM) |
$4,500 |
$3,500 |
| 1B |
Yuli Gurriel (HOU) |
$4,000 |
$3,000 |
- Muncy has been terrible for most of the season, but this dude will find it. He’s got a hit in seven of his last 10 games, providing a .375 OBP in that span. That’s the guy we’ve become accustomed to, with Max maintaining a .368 OBP and .873 OPS since joining the Dodgers in 2018. He’s also been much better against right-handers in that span, which makes him a bit too cheap.
- Luplow has been a southpaw smasher throughout his career. His career OPS is north of .900 against them, amassing a 1.005 OPS against them this year. That’s difficult to overlook no matter the matchup but facing a guy with a 1.41 WHIP since 2014 is quite the treat too!
- Winker has been abusing right-handed pitching for the majority of his career. He’s got a .394 OBP, .543 SLG, and .937 OPS against them since 2020. That always puts him in the heart of this order, and we certainly don’t mind that he faces a pitcher who surrendered nine runs across 1.2 innings in his most recent outing.
- If McNeil hit in Coors Field regularly, he’d probably lead baseball in batting average. We’re talking about a guy with a .300 AVG and .365 AVG for his career. That’s hard to do in nearly 1,600 at-bats, and one must assume he’ll pick up a handful of hits in this weekend series.
- Not many of the Stros are cheap, but Gurriel is the best value of the bunch. What makes him so valuable here are his splits, posting a .311 AVG, .369 OBP, .542 SLG, and .911 OPS against them since 2020. You can’t ask for any more from such an affordable player, and he makes for a great pairing with studs like Bregman, Alvarez, and Altuve.
Hitter Strategy
After a successful night on Saturday, we’re going back to the well with a similar strategy. Many of the same offenses are in play, with the Astros, Rockies, Mets, Rays, Dodgers, Mariners, Blue Jays, Guardians, Brewers, and Yankees all in fantastic spots. With 26 teams in action, you can pretty much go whatever route you please! My strategy is to pay up for one pitcher and go cheap at the second spot. From there, I can mix and match all of these premier lineups that we have available!
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Joel Bartilotta is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Joel, check out his archive and follow him @Bartilottajoel.
