Happy Sunday, folks! We have a full slate of baseball to play with today. As always, we’re bringing you some of the top plays to consider when putting together your MLB DFS lineups.

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Pitcher

 
Jesus Luzardo is coming off the first loss of his career against the Rangers this past Monday. Despite not picking up the win, he still put together a quality start with 7 Ks for the second game in a row and scored 36 fantasy points in the process. Now he’ll head to Houston to play against a team he picked up a win against earlier this season while only allowing two runs.

Johnny Cueto got knocked around by the Dodgers in his last outing allowing six earned runs over four innings. His performances have been up and down all season but he’s also had to face the Dodgers in three of his seven appearances this season. In his previous two games before his last outing, he had solid performances against both the Angels (41 FPTS) and A’s (34 FPTS) allowing just two earned runs in each game. He should have no problem walking through his NL West cellar mates the DBacks in this outing who carry a 1-9 record over their last 10 games.

Justin Dunn is coming off easily his best performance of the season against the Rangers. He threw six scoreless innings but didn’t even allow a hit through four while racking up 46 fantasy points. He’ll now face the Angels for the third time this season. He had average outings in his first two matchups allowing a total of five runs over seven innings with just five Ks. With his form looking much better at this point in the season and the Angels still underperforming, Dunn is probably your best option in the $6k range.

C/1B

 
Despite a two-game slump, Mitch Moreland continues to carry some of the most upside in the C/1B category with his 13.83  FPPG though he’s priced as just the fourth most expensive option on Sunday. While both the Red Sox and Nats lineups have struggled to put runs on the board this season, each team’s starting pitching options for Sunday have struggled greater at keeping runners off the basepaths. Nats starter Austin Voth is just the slump buster Moreland needs right now. Voth hasn’t pitched beyond the fourth inning in either of his last three starts and has allowed a combined 11 earned runs and 15 hits over his last 7.2 innings pitched.

Vlad Jr. continues to be one of the most consistent studs at the C/1B position. He hasn’t fallen under 9 fantasy points in each of his last 10 games and has gotten a hit in each of his last 11. He’ll continue to wreak havoc against a helpless Orioles team who will be trotting out newly-acquired Jorge Lopez for his first start with the team. Lopez is bringing his 8.38 ERA with him which will fit right in with Baltimore.

Joey Votto was slumping hard as of late but seemed to have gotten that frustration out on Saturday. Inserted into the leadoff spot in the lineup for a double-header, Votto went 3-for-6 with a solo homer, a double, and an ejection. Assuming he’s still in the lineup on Sunday, he’ll look to carry that momentum against Cubs starter Tyler Chatwood. Votto has a career .400 BA (6-for-15) against Chatwood.

2B

 
Second base remains a tough spot to predict in MLB DFS lineups, and when you’ve got one of the top players at the position with a matchup this good, it’s really hard to pass that up. Cavan Biggio went 2-for-4 against Baltimore on Saturday with two hits and two RBIs. He’s logged at least one hit in seven of his last eight games and is long overdue for a big knock.

Jake Cronenworth has seen his salary creep up passed the $3k mark as of late but still remains a solid value at his current price point. He has notably hit right-handed pitching well this season and will be going up against right-hander Ryan Castellani at hitter-friendly Coors Park. Cronenworth had a solid Saturday in Colorado going 1-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, and a walk.

3B

 
Eugenio Suarez blew up on Friday giving you 40.9 fantasy points against the Cubs only to disappoint in the double-header on Saturday going 0-for-7 with a walk. I’ll go back to the well here with him for Sunday going up against a pitcher he’s fared well against in the past. Suarez has a career .500/.917/.621 slash line against Cubs starter Tyler Chatwood over 12 career at-bats. Suarez’s 0-for on Saturday brings him to a medium risk but there’s a lot to like about this matchup.

Matt Chapman is probably one of the only high-risk plays I will be looking at on this slate. He’s going up against Framber Valdez who has been just filthy this season and held the A’s to just one run earlier this season. Chapman, however, has broken out of a mini-slump that plagued him in his last series against the Rangers. He’s gone 3-for-6 in his last two games against Houston including a home run on Saturday.

Evan Longoria will look to tee off on the DBacks for the third game in a row on Sunday. He’s put up over 20 fantasy points in back-to-back games while going 4-for-8 with two doubles, one HR, two RBIs, three runs, and a walk over that span. He’ll be facing reliever-turned-starter Taylor Clarke who has been decent this season but didn’t pitch more than four innings in his start on Monday.

SS

 
The White Sox and Royals combined for 15 runs on Saturday and though the White Sox couldn’t pick up the win, it certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying from Tim Anderson. He went 4-for-5 on the day with two doubles, one run, and one RBI. The righty gets a cushy matchup against Royals LHP Kris Bubic today who brings an 0-4 record to this game. Bubic gave up four runs and nine hits in just 3.1 innings in his last outing.

Xander Bogaerts had himself a day on Saturday going 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, a double, and a stolen base, all good for 40.7 fantasy points. Like Mitch Moreland above, there is a lot to like about the matchup today against Nats starter Austin Voth and with Zack Godley on the mound for Boston, we could find ourselves in a higher-scoring affair here easily. Bogaerts remains one of the top-hitting shortstops in the league but has been priced outside of the top five.

J.P. Crawford has been seeing the ball well for the Mariners as of late. He’s scored at least 9 fantasy points in each of his last four games with two multi-hit performances over that span. He has also shown the upside for a big game recently when he put up 37.9 points against the Padres. The lefty will be facing Angels RHP Griffin Canning on Sunday. Canning has yet to record a win yet this season and has touted a 6.75 ERA over his last three starts.

Outfield

 
Betts started this series off quiet against the Rangers but is heating up at the right time. He put up 24.2 fantasy points against Texas on Saturday going 1-for-2 with a double, three walks, a stolen base, and a run. He’ll now face Rangers starter Kyle Gibson who he has had some success against in his career. Betts has a career .389/.889/.538 slash line against Gibson in his career with three home runs in just 18 at-bats.

We’ll keep attacking the matchup the White Sox have against the Royals here with outfielder Eloy Jimenez who comes in under $4k. Jimenez strung together back-to-back 30+ fantasy point performances this week before putting up just 9.2 points on Saturday. His 11 HRs rank third-most this season and he also brings an impressive .316 BA to this game. He will also get the righty/left advantage against Bubic.

Jorge Soler brought his boomstick with him to Chicago. Soler is making solid contact as of late with two homers in his last five games. He put up 28.2 fantasy points against the White Sox on Friday and 15.7 on Saturday. He’s having a good series and it could get better on Sunday against Dane Dunning who is making just his second career start. Dunning was decent in his first outing striking out seven in 4.1 innings while allowing three earned runs. His inexperience, however, is just the type of thing a power hitter like Soler should be able to take advantage of.

Three Studs Worth Their Salary

• Kenta Maeda (SP – MIN) $9,700 at DET: Maeda remains one of the most reliable starters in the league and should snap the Tigers’ four-game winning streak.
• Manny Machado (3B – SDP) $4,200 at COL: Machado has five home runs over his last seven games and has been quiet by his standards thus far at Coors. I expect an outburst here today.
• Juan Soto (OF – WAS) $4,800 at BOS: Soto has put up over 20 fantasy points in three of his last five games and gets a great matchup today against Zack Godley.

Three Notable Players to Fade

• Sandy Alcantara (SP – MIA) $8,600 vs. TAM: Alcantara is set to start his first game since Opening Day after being placed on the COVID list. There’s no telling how he will perform or what kind of a pitch count he may be on, making him a super risky play.
• Anthony Rendon (3B – LAA) $3,800 vs. SEA: Rendon was seeing the ball better Saturday walking three times and hitting a double with two RBIs, but he’s still just 1-for-8 over his last three games. I also expect Justin Dunn to have another solid outing here.
• Starling Marte (OF – ARI) $3,200 vs. SFG: Marte may look like a decent value given his hitting streak, but that could end on Sunday. He’s just 3-for-28 in his career against Johnny Cueto with nine Ks.

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John Ferguson is a featured writer and editor at FantasyPros. For more from John, check out his archive and follow him @FantasyFerguson.