This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Saturday's all-day MLB slate has a full 15 games on the docket beginning at 1:00 PM Eastern time. Below, you'll find which individual pitchers and hitters are primed to provide the best value, as well as the top lineup stacking options in this expansive slate.
Pitching Overview
Saturday's pitching slate is an eclectic one, including a few prominent names that have struggled early and some less notable guys who are pitching well. While there are plenty of possible directions to go on the mound, one name that stands out is Carlos Carrasco ($47). One poor start to open the year isn't cause for major concern, and his 29.5 percent strikeout rate last season coupled with a Blue Jays offense that's already flirted with being no-hit a few times in the early going gives Carrasco an immense ceiling.
Owners chasing upside will find plenty of it with 24-year-old Brewers starter Corbin Burnes ($36), who gave up three home runs but struck out 12 Cardinals over five innings in his season debut. His stuff is nasty - Burnes threw a 2,900 rpm fastball in his last start that broke a Statcast spin rate record previously held by two little-known guys named Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. The strikeouts should keep coming against a Cubs team that's off to a slow start.
Mets lefty Steven Matz ($32) at pitcher-friendly Citi Field (which recorded a league-low .731 park factor last season) should also be a popular pick against the Nationals. Same goes for Pittsburgh's Trevor Williams ($40), who posted a 1.38 ERA over 71.2 innings in the second half last season and picked up where he left off with six shutout frames against the Reds in his 2019 debut. Williams will once again face Cincinnati here.
Key Values/Chalk
Lorenzo Cain ($18, .368 career wOBA vs. lefties) and Ryan Braun ($15, .421 career wOBA vs. lefties) should both enjoy facing Cubs southpaw Cole Hamels, who is clearly on the downside of his career at age 35 after posting a 4.62 FIP in 2017 and 4.49 FIP in 2018.
Adam Frazier ($13) is off to a strong start out of the leadoff spot for the Pirates, and the left-handed hitter is set up for further success against unimpressive Reds righty Tanner Roark. Yoan Moncada ($21) has previously struggled to live up to his billing as a top prospect, but his red-hot start for the White Sox is becoming hard to ignore.
Both Cody Bellinger ($26) and Max Muncy ($23) are left-handed sluggers with a good chance of finishing among the top first basemen against righty Jon Gray at the hitter-friendly Coors Field, which had a 1.27 park factor in 2018.
Stacks
Even beset by a league-worst injury total, the Yankees are still teeming with power hitters ready to pounce on Orioles starter Dylan Bundy, who lasted just 3.2 innings against the Bronx Bombers in his first start of 2019 and surrendered a whopping 41 home runs in 2018. Gleyber Torres ($17) went 4-for-4 with two long balls Thursday and stands out as a guy to target, especially since quality hitters are much more scarce at his position compared to most other notable Yankees.
When facing left-handed starters this season, the Athletics have rolled out lineups consisting of entirely right-handed and switch hitters. There's a number of solid candidates in their ranks against southpaw Wade Miley, including Marcus Semien ($16), who's off to a hot start, hits first or second in the order against lefties and produced a .341 wOBA against them on the road last season.
Perhaps the Red Sox can finally begin to put their slow start behind them against subpar righty Luke Weaver. While regression was expected after seemingly all of Boston's players erupted for career years last season, Mookie Betts is finally waking up after a slow start and Andrew Benintendi ($16) could soon climb above a .700 OPS with some luck.
