Yahoo DFS Baseball: Saturday Plays and Strategy

Yahoo DFS Baseball: Saturday Plays and Strategy

This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.

Saturday is wall-to-wall baseball, but the focus here is on the evening slate consisting of the six games starting at 7:05 p.m. EDT or later. Enjoy your afternoon and then get your DFS lineups in. Here are your recommendations.

Pitching

Noah Syndergaard, LAD at ARI ($35): Syndergaard moved up the road from the Angels to the Dodgers, where at the very least he should get more run support. In his first start in Dodger Blue, the big righty went six innings while only allowing one run with six strikeouts against these same Diamondbacks. Arizona finished 14th in runs scored last year, but also carried a .304 OBP.

Jhony Brito, NYY at BAL ($): It's a tricky night for pitchers. This was going to be a Nestor Cortes recommendation, but he was pushed to Sunday. The Orioles will likely finish higher than the 20th in runs scored they finished last year, but they still offer the best opportunity here in terms of pitcher versus opponent. Brito's first MLB start went well giving up zero runs and striking out six over five innings. The one problem? Brito…isn't listed on Yahoo? I'm assuming that changes before this game, and probably by the time you read this.

Top Target

No surprise, Shohei Ohtani ($22) is still one of the best hitters around. Since 2021, he's produced a .935 OPS against righties and an 1.004 at home. Something seems to be wrong with Jose Berrios's fastball, and he's become eminently hittable since joining the Blue Jays with a 4.32 ERA while lefties have hit .279 against since 2021.

Bargain Bat

For the last couple of years, Marcell Ozuna ($9) hasn't hit for average, but he has still shown some power with 23 home runs over 124 games. While a righty, he's fared better against right-handers by posting a .763 OPS in those matchups during 2022. Meanwhile, Michael Wacha is a righty who's allowed right-handed hitters to go .276 against since 2021. He's on his fifth team in five seasons, and the fact he hasn't had a FIP lower than 4.14 over the past six years probably plays into that.

Stacks to Consider

Yankees at Orioles (Cole Irvin): Aaron Judge ($24), Gleyber Torres ($20), Oswaldo Cabrera ($10)

Irvin's first start with Baltimore was disastrous. The southpaw allowed eight hits and six runs across four innings against the Red Sox. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised since he posted a 3.98 ERA last year, but that was with Oakland as his home stadium and he struggled to a 5.26 on the road. Now an Oriole, Irvin can't rely on a pitcher's park and the Yankees can make his first home start with his new team another disaster.

It's not surprising Judge is off to a great start. He's not a one-season wonder based on a career .977 OPS. And since 2021, he's compiled a 1.081 road OPS. Torres is one of the faces of the potential rise in stolen bases as he's already got five and only had 10 last year while being caught five times. He hit 24 homers, so he can mix power with baserunning. Torres also registered an .829 OPS against southpaws in 2022. Cabrera only appeared in 44 games last year and slugged .429 during that time while producing a .796 road OPS.

Rockies vs. Nationals (Trevor Williams): C.J. Cron ($19), Ryan McMahon ($18), Charlie Blackmon ($16)

Williams carries a career 4.36 FIP, but the last couple of seasons he was moving back and forth from the rotation and the bullpen. The last time he appeared as a starter for a full season, he posted a 5.11 FIP and allowed 1.67 home runs per nine innings. Colorado is getting Williams at Coors Field, and I'm stacking two lefties against the righty.

Cron loves Coors as much as anyone considering his 1.003 OPS and .624 slugging percentage since joining the Rockies in 2021. McMahon also has an .804 OPS versus righties and an .826 at home during the same timeframe. Blackmon isn't as much of a home-run hitter, but he managed 22 doubles and six triples last year. The stadium is conducive to all sorts of hitters, and he's recorded a .282 average there the last couple seasons.

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. Chris Morgan plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: cmorgan3, DraftKings: cmorgan3.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Morgan
Chris Morgan is a writer of sports, pop culture, and humor articles, a book author, a podcaster, and a fan of all Detroit sports teams.
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