This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
There's plenty of Saturday afternoon baseball with 11 games scheduled for a first pitch between 1:05 and 4:10 p.m. EDT. There aren't a lot of home parks to target, so we'll primarily focus on the slate's best pitching/hitting matchups.
Pitchers
The bad news is that it's not a great day for pitching, particularly at the high end of the pool. The upside is that the top option is clearly Garrett Crochet ($10,900) as he's the only one on significant sample innings with a strikeout rate above 30 percent and a SIERA below 3.00. The Rays were one of the AL's hottest teams a few weeks ago, but they're back to being a league-average offense.
There are three options in the second tier worth considering in George Kirby ($9,300), Shane Baz ($8,900) and Brandon Woodruff ($8,600). Kirby has found his stride across his last two starts by posting a 14:0 K:BB through 12.1 innings while only allowing one earned run. A matchup against Detroit isn't ideal, though he still boasts the skill to deliver. Baz has also been in good form, yet going up versus the Red Sox isn't very promising. The opposite is true of Woodruff, who looked surprisingly good in his season debut and now gets the face the Nationals.
Lower down the list, Emmet Sheehan ($7,500) and Tanner Bibee ($7,400) stand out as decent values. Sheehan is able to work five innings, but is still likely to have his workload limited against the Giants. He offers a safe floor, yet the ceiling is likely low. Bibee has performed poorly during his last two outings, though a matchup against the White Sox can cure a lot of issues.
Find out which projected starters are going and when with RotoWire's Probable Pitchers page!
Top Hitters
Sean Burke has given up at least one homer in five of his last six starts, including three last time out. He's worth targeting with an overall 1.57 HR/9, and there's no better option than Jose Ramirez ($5,400).
There should be interest in both sides of the Atlanta-St. Louis game as Atlanta's rotation is thin with Nathan Wiles the next uninspiring candidate up who looks set to cover the majority of the work on Saturday. Erick Fedde has been inconsistent this season while producing long inconsistent stretches and vulnerable to allowing crooked numbers. Brendan Donovan ($4,200) is tops on the Cardinals while Matt Olson ($5,300) and Ronald Acuna ($6,300) should be selected from Atlanta.
Value Bats
The Pirates aren't a team we should really ever look to for offense, but Saturday could be an exception with the inexperienced Travis Adams on the mound for the Twins. Don't invest significantly in their lineup, though Nick Gonzales ($3,100) and Tommy Pham ($2,500) are solid considerations who can open up salary elsewhere.
Jac Caglianone ($2,700) is slowly starting to get his footing in the Majors while Frankie Montas hasn't looked comfortable yet as he conceded a pair of homers in each of his last two appearances. The small downside is that Caglianone is still only hitting sixth in the lineup, but his salary is low enough to offset that.
Stacks to Consider
Reds vs. Rockies (Bradley Blalock): Matt McLain ($3,900), Elly De La Cruz ($5,700), Austin Hays ($4,900)
This is clearly Saturday's best stack. We mentioned in the intro there aren't many standout hitter parks on this slate, though one exception is Great American Ball Park. The Reds also have the benefit of an exploitable matchup against Blalock, who holds a 2.6 K-BB%, 1.89 WHIP and 1.93 HR/9 across 46.2 career big-league innings.
Brewers vs. Nationals (Shinnosuke Ogasawara): Sal Frelick ($4,100), Jackson Chourio ($4,600), Christian Yelich ($4,800)
We don't have much of a sample with Ogasawara in North America or even in the Majors. What that information suggests is that he's likely to allow a lot of contact yielding plenty of baserunners. That's exactly what occurred during his big-league debut on Sunday as he surrendered seven baserunners and four earned runs over 2.2 innings against Boston. The Brewers should be able to experience a similar level of success on Saturday.
Use our DraftKings MLB Lineup Optimizer to discover more expert recommendations, customize the player pool, set exposure percentage and mass-enter DFS lineups.
