This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
It's the beginning of the baseball season, which means a lot of excitement, but also a lot of concern regarding the weather. So, with that in mind, here are some daily fantasy recommendations from Friday's nine games starting at 7:07 pm EDT.
PITCHER
Alex Wood, LAD vs. SFG ($43): Wood surprised many last season when he posted a 2.72 GAA and 1.02 WHIP while striking out 151 batters in 152.3 innings. Now he is beginning the season against a Giants team that only scored 639 runs last year, which ranked 29th, and had a .309 OBP on top of that. Plus, Wood gets to start the year at home with a potent lineup behind him to offer offensive support.
David Price, BOS at TAM ($39): Price struggled through an injury-plagued 2017 campaign, but he managed to strike out 9.16 batters per nine innings. Meanwhile, his 2.89 BB/9 was well above his 2.29 career average. The Rays only managed 694 runs last year, and that was before they had their quasi fire sale this offseason.
CATCHER
Willson Contreras, CHC at MIA ($16): The Marlins are trotting out Caleb Smith, which is a name you shouldn't feel bad about being unfamiliar with. The 26-year-old has spent most of his career with the Yankees organization. He's only played 18.7 innings in the big leagues, and in that time, he has a 7.71 ERA. There's talk that Contreras will be batting fourth this year after he managed 21 homers and 74 RBI in 117 games last season.
FIRST BASE
Carlos Santana, PHI at ATL ($14): Santana is beginning his first season with the Phillies after a successful career in Cleveland that saw him rack up 174 homers and 587 RBI. He also has a career .365 OBP, as getting on base has never been an issue for the 31-year-old. The Braves are starting former top prospect Mike Foltynewicz, who — so far in his career — has a 4.87 ERA.
SECOND BASE
Ian Happ, CHC at MIA ($12): Happ averaged 6.3 fantasy points per game as a rookie last season, and how he's in line to regularly lead off for the Cubs. There are a lot of potent bats behind him, which could lead to the 23-year-old scoring plenty of runs when he's in the lineup. Of course, he kicked off the season by homering, so maybe he doesn't even need that support behind him. As previously noted, the Marlins, who don't seem terribly interested in winning this season, will be starting Caleb Smith. Smith wasn't even a lock to make their less-than-stellar rotation before the year.
THIRD BASE
Alex Bregman, HOU at TEX ($14): Once one of the top prospects in baseball, Bregman put up a slash line of .284/.352/.475 with 19 homers in his first full campaign last year. It may be a little early for the ball to be flying out of the Rangers' ballpark, but homers could be in the cards with Doug Fister on the mound for Texas. He has a three-year average of a 4.55 ERA and 1.40 WHIP, and in his last full season he gave up 24 homers in 180.3 innings.
SHORT STOP
Dansby Swanson, ATL vs. PHI ($11): Yes, Swanson's MLB career hasn't gotten off to the best start, but there is a reason why he was the first-overall pick once upon a time. The 24-year-old is still young and brimming with potential, which is worth banking on at a price like this. Nick Pivetta's career has gotten off to an even worse start than Swanson's. As a rookie, Pivetta had a 6.02 ERA and 1.51 WHIP while allowing 25 homers.
OUTFIELD
Mookie Betts, BOS at TAM ($20): Even though Betts' numbers took a minor dip in 2017, he still managed 24 homers and 102 RBI in 153 games. He also tore it up against lefties last season, posting a .928 OPS against southpaws. Blake Snell is a lefty, one with a career ERA of 3.83 to boot.
Khris Davis, OAK vs. LAA ($18): Davis has hit 42 and 43 homers over his last two years, making him one of the top home-run hitters in the majors in that time. He's also raked against righties, posting a .550 slugging percentage against them last season. Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs has rarely stayed healthy, and when he has he's struggled. Since he's joined the Angels, he's managed a 4.41 ERA while allowing 1.20 home runs per nine innings.
Christian Yelich, MIL at SDP ($15): Yelich, who had a .483 OBP this spring, has a .290 batting average and .369 OBP in his career. This will be his first season with the Brewers, but he has more talent around him now than he had in Miami. Meanwhile, the pitching situation for San Diego is so dire that it hasn't even decided who will start its second game.
