Yahoo DFS Baseball: Saturday Picks

Yahoo DFS Baseball: Saturday Picks

This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.

Saturday's main MLB slate features no shortage of action, with 13 games on tap after 7:05 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 slate.

Pitching Overview

There are some familiar faces in new places following the trade deadline, but the top two pitching options are guys who have been rolling for teams in playoff contention.

Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals ($54) and Aaron Nola of the Phillies ($51) will both bring plenty of momentum into matchups with the Diamondbacks and White Sox, respectively. The former has allowed just four runs in 31.2 innings while posting a 44:7 K:BB over his past five starts. Meanwhile, the latter faces an easier matchup and has been almost equally hot. In his last eight starts, Nola has limited the damage to 12 runs over 54.1 innings while posting a 63:19 K:BB.

Staying in the NL East, trade deadline acquisition Marcus Stroman ($36) will make his debut for the suddenly surging Mets in Pittsburgh. Given his 2.96 ERA and 3.52 FIP as a member of the Blue Jays this season, Stroman should provide a high floor relative to his affordable valuation against a below-average Pirates offense.

Tigers' lefty Matthew Boyd ($42) will be a risky option with great upside in Texas. The Rangers can put up runs in a hurry, but they also strike out a league-high 9.96 times per game while Boyd is proficient at racking up whiffs with a 32.5 percent strikeout rate.

Value Plays/Chalk

While the Phillies, Yankees and Blue Jays are all primed for success, certain individuals outside of those three stackable lineups also stand out as options to target.

First baseman Matt Olson ($18) represents the most prominent lefty in Oakland's lineup, making him a strong choice against Cardinals' right-hander Dakota Hudson. Hudson has some of the league's most polarized righty/lefty splits, holding batters from the right side to a .295 wOBA while surrendering a .390 mark to those from the left.

Pirates' righty Chris Archer has surrendered a home run in all but one of his last 16 starts, while left-handed hitting Mets outfielder Michael Conforto ($18) has mashed 16 of his 21 home runs this season against righties en route to a .386 wOBA in that split.

Indians' righty Adam Plutko has actually fared substantially worse against batters from the right side with a .361 wOBA allowed while limiting those from the left to a .305 mark. Angels' outfielder Mike Trout ($24) is primed to widen that gap further. He is on fire even by his own lofty standards, having launched 14 home runs during his last 22 games.

Stacks

Phillies vs. Ross Detwiler (White Sox)

Rhys Hoskins (1B - $19), Jean Segura (SS - $17), J.T. Realmuto (C- $18)

Detwiler has looked brutal over a small sample this season with a 6.35 ERA and 6.84 wOBA in 22.2 innings, and the 77 right-handed batters to face him in 2019 have a .480 wOBA. With plenty of capable right-handed batters in their lineup, the Phillies are primed to add to the southpaw's struggles. Hoskins boasts a .443 wOBA against lefties, Segura has compiled a .387 wOBA in that split, and Realmuto enters with a respectable .375 mark at the light-hitting catcher position. Outfielder Scott Kingery ($16) could also be worth a look as a cheaper alternative or addition to the aforementioned household names.

Yankees vs. Brian Johnson (Red Sox)

Aaron Judge (OF - $19), DJ LeMahieu (2B - $23), Edwin Encarnacion (1B - $19)

It's important to check back to make sure these guys are actually in the lineup since this is the second game of a doubleheader, but doing so should be worth it considering Johnson has struggled with a 6.43 ERA and 5.59 xFIP in 14 major-league innings this season. New York's righty-laden lineup knows how to punish vulnerable lefties: Judge's wOBA against lefties sits at .424, LeMahieu's hot on his heels at .415, and Encarnacion has hit 10 home runs over 96 at-bats in that split to go with a .391 wOBA. 

Blue Jays vs. Dylan Bundy (Orioles)

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3B - $20), Bo Bichette (SS - $21), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (OF - $19)

The Blue Jays are rarely looked at as an offense to stack, but an exception can be made against the one team looking up at Toronto in the AL East standings. Bundy has surrendered a .406 wOBA in righty-on-righty matchups at Camden Yards en route to a 6.16 ERA in 49.2 home innings, and he's extremely vulnerable to the long ball with 64 home runs allowed since the start of last season. Guerrero Jr. is starting to live up to his top prospect status and certainly has the power to take Bundy deep, having racked up four home runs, 17 RBI and 12 hits over his last six games. Bichette's another highly regarded rookie primed to capitalize on Bundy's struggles against righties, and has looked comfortable at the major-league level with a .409/.480/.682 line through five games. Gurriel Jr. just returned from a jammed knee and has displayed tremendous power with 18 home runs in 73 games this year.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Sasha Yodashkin plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: Youngsash, DraftKings: Yashdogg,Yahoo: Sasha, Fanball: Yashdogg.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sasha Yodashkin
Sasha has been contributing NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and Tennis content to RotoWire since 2015, with an emphasis on DFS. He is a huge New York sports fan who has been playing fantasy sports since middle school.
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