This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
PITCHER
Jacob deGrom, NYM at PHI ($47): DeGrom didn't get the win in his first start, but he managed six scoreless innings and six Ks. He'll see a lot of lefties in the Phillies lineup, but that strategy didn't work against him last year as deGrom gave up a .273 wOBA and was equally good at getting strikeouts with a 22.5 K%. The Phillies scored 17 runs in Saturday's win, but it's still a lineup that has one of the higher K%'s in the league (27.1%).
Jon Lester, CHC vs. LAD ($50): Lester seems like a reasonable selection here as his start was moved from Sunday to Monday because he'll face a roster that struggles against lefties. While they only have 80 plate appearances, the Dodgers have a 30.0 K% and .249 wOBA against lefties so far. Lester had no problems in the opener (5.0 IP, one ER, seven K) and is one of the bigger favorites of the day.
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CATCHER
Willson Contreras, CHC vs. LAD ($14): After resting Sunday, Contreras will be ready to face lefty Alex Wood. While Contreras was solid against all pitchers last season, his .365 wOBA and 19.0 K% against lefties stood out. The question will be if Wood can continue his success from a year ago when he was much better against righties than lefties. For his career, Wood still has a worse xFIP (3.70) against righties, and that's good enough reason to back Contreras.
FIRST BASE
Mark Reynolds, COL vs. SD ($17): His career numbers say otherwise, but Reynolds was great against righties last season (.371 wOBA), with that number improving to .405 in home games. Trevor Cahill has slightly better numbers against righties (3.38 xFIP) than lefties, but he'll at a disadvantage at Coors Field.
SECOND BASE
Joe Panik, SF vs. ARI ($14): Panik has gotten off to a hot start with a .559 wOBA in 15 at-bats against righties. It's an extremely small sample size, but he was still almost 50 points better against righties last season with a .313 wOBA compared to .267 against lefties. Taijuan Walker's 4.45 xFIP against lefties from last season also makes Panik a decent play.
THIRD BASE
Chase Headley, NYY vs. TB ($13): The problem with Headley against righties is a high K% (26.8 in 2016), but that shouldn't be a factor against Alex Cobb, who's coming off a season with a K% of 11.8 against lefties and a 5.08 xFIP. For the price, you can't do much better than this matchup.
SHORTSTOP
Addison Russell, CHC vs. LAD ($10): Russell hasn't faced many lefties this season, but his .343 wOBA against them last season is reason enough to back him against Wood, who is making his first start of the season. The other reason to consider Russell is obvious, as he comes in at just $10.
OUTFIELD
Charlie Blackmon, COL vs. SD ($20): Blackmon swatted his first home run Sunday. As mentioned, Cahill has better numbers against righties, which makes this a prime matchup for the lefty outfielder. Blackmon's .405 wOBA and 25 homers last season against righties will remain a talking point unless his early struggles continue.
Brett Gardner, NYY vs. TB ($16): Going a little cheaper in the outfield, the reasons for backing Gardner are mostly the same as Headley above. Cobb has trouble striking out lefties and Gardner's .331 wOBA is good enough to take him at home where he was even better with a .360 wOBA against righties last season.
Gregory Polanco, PIT vs. CIN ($13): There aren't many situations to take a lefty vs. a lefty, but this is one of them. Polanco struck out a bunch against southpaws last season, but still had a respectable .329 wOBA and solid .224 ISO against them. Combine that with Brandon Finnegan's 2016 numbers that saw him strike out less lefties (17.0 K%) than righties (20.6 K%) and a worse xFIP (5.11), and you have a good matchup for Polanco.
