This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Since all hands were on deck for the Fourth of July, it's been a bit since MLB teams got a day off. Monday sees a lot of teams finally getting a breather. There are five games on the slate starting at 6:40 p.m. EDT or later. From that quintet of contests, here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Andrew Abbott, CIN vs. COL ($9,500): Abbott has a 3.28 ERA this season, and he's been consistent. Other than a tough outing against the Cardinals, he really hasn't had any bad days on the mound. The lefty has only allowed more than three runs twice out of 17 starts. Though the Rockies are middling in terms of runs scored, they also play their home games at Coors. On the road, the offense is a different story.
Top Target
This has not been the season the Reds were hoping for, but Elly De La Cruz ($4,200) has held up his end of the bargain, and then some. He has 15 homers and 43 stolen bases in only 90 games. While he's a switch hitter he has an .841 OPS versus righties, and an .858 OPS at home as well. Ryan Feltner had his start pushed a day, and that will suit De La Cruz just fine. The Rockies righty has let southpaws hit .313 against him.
Bargain Bat
Sunday was a nice afternoon for Jarred Kelenic ($3,100) who picked up his 10th homer and fourth stolen base while lifting his batting average to .272. After starting his career not viable against anybody, the southpaw is now able to handle righties respectably, including a .786 OPS in those matchups this season. Yilber Diaz, a righty, will be making his MLB debut for Arizona, and he started the season at Double-A. He'll likely need some time to adjust to MLB hitters.
Stack to Consider
Twins at White Sox (Chris Flexen): Byron Buxton ($3,200), Willi Castro ($2,900), Max Kepler ($2,700)
Flexen has a 5.08 ERA in his first season with the White Sox. That's bad, but it's better than the 6.86 ERA he had last year. Flexen has also allowed at least one home run in his last five starts as well. This year, lefties have hit .276 against him, but since 2022 righties have hit .290 against him, so I figured mixing and matching made sense.
Royce Lewis is hurt again, but at least right now Buxton is healthy and hitting well. He has an 1.151 OPS over the last three weeks, and having slugged .535 over the last six seasons, he's a fine choice against a homer-happy pitcher. The switch-hitting Castro has a .357 OBP (which is why he often leads off) and has five triples to go with 10 stolen bases. He stole 33 bases last year, so there's potential for him to do more on the base paths. Since 2022, Kepler has slugged .426 against right-handed pitchers. He's hit .259, which is not bad in the modern hitting climate, and lefties have hit double the homers compared to righties in over 70 fewer plate appearances against Flexen.
