Kansas City Royals outfielder MJ Melendez is starting at designated hitter and batting cleanup on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Melendez started in left field and bat leadoff in Monday's series opener and went 1-for-3 with a walk drawn. Maikel Garcia is returning to the leadoff spot Tuesday and Michael Massey is dropping to eighth in the order.
numberFire’s models project Melendez ($2,700) for 9.3 FanDuel points on Tuesday. Per our MLB Heat Map, the Royals' implied total is 4.62 and the game total is 8.5. Luis Ortiz is expected to work as the Pirates' primary pitcher on Tuesday. He has been horrendous this season, with a 7.68 xERA, 50.0% hard-hit rate, and 14.5% strikeout rate.
Source: MLB.com