This article is part of our DFS MLB series.
There's baseball throughout Saturday, which is good news for fans. It's not ideal for DFS purposes, as there are several smaller slates on DK. The two featured ones kick off at 4:05 and 6:40 p.m. EDT. The earlier offering carries a wider and better range of contests, though the later one lists more games. We'll go with the latter to hopefully help out more readers.
Pitchers
This is an interesting player pool from a pitching perspective as the upside is seemingly in young unproven options, but there are also several big names to consider. The two marquee names are Corbin Burnes ($10,000) and Bryan Woo ($9,200). Burnes has had an odd start to the season as he slotted into the final spot in the rotation (rather than potentially Opening Day) and hasn't pitched particularly well since. Woo boasts lower strikeout upside and a tougher matchup against Texas. Despite Burnes' struggles, I'd go with him.
Chase Dollander ($7,700) is an exciting top prospect for the Rockies that is likely best used to stream during road starts. A matchup against the Padres isn't ideal, yet he has excellent point-per-dollar potential.
There are also two possibilities in the punt price range. Andrew Heaney ($6,600) has been pretty sharp in two starts with the Pirates maintaining a 12:2 K:BB across 12 innings. He draws a Reds' lineup that hasn't yet hit its stride. The real boom-or-bust option is Ryan Gusto ($6,200). He was effective in a tough pitching environment with Triple-A Sugar
There's baseball throughout Saturday, which is good news for fans. It's not ideal for DFS purposes, as there are several smaller slates on DK. The two featured ones kick off at 4:05 and 6:40 p.m. EDT. The earlier offering carries a wider and better range of contests, though the later one lists more games. We'll go with the latter to hopefully help out more readers.
Pitchers
This is an interesting player pool from a pitching perspective as the upside is seemingly in young unproven options, but there are also several big names to consider. The two marquee names are Corbin Burnes ($10,000) and Bryan Woo ($9,200). Burnes has had an odd start to the season as he slotted into the final spot in the rotation (rather than potentially Opening Day) and hasn't pitched particularly well since. Woo boasts lower strikeout upside and a tougher matchup against Texas. Despite Burnes' struggles, I'd go with him.
Chase Dollander ($7,700) is an exciting top prospect for the Rockies that is likely best used to stream during road starts. A matchup against the Padres isn't ideal, yet he has excellent point-per-dollar potential.
There are also two possibilities in the punt price range. Andrew Heaney ($6,600) has been pretty sharp in two starts with the Pirates maintaining a 12:2 K:BB across 12 innings. He draws a Reds' lineup that hasn't yet hit its stride. The real boom-or-bust option is Ryan Gusto ($6,200). He was effective in a tough pitching environment with Triple-A Sugar Land last year and will be facing the Angels on Saturday, a team that has admittedly overachieved early on.
Top Hitters
Ben Brown is one of those volatile pitchers with upside referenced in the intro to the pitching section. The Dodgers are a risky stack, but I want exposure to their lineup. There are a lot of obvious options to consider, though Michael Conforto ($4,200) is somewhere between a top hitter and a value bat who's worth rostering.
Tyler Anderson is a crafty veteran who can get results, but his skills have been particularly subpar to begin the campaign. The Houston lineup finally got on track Friday with a big result, and they should be able to build upon that. Jose Altuve ($5,200), Isaac Paredes ($3,800) and Jeremy Pena ($3,500) are all solid selections that won't break the budget.
Value Bat
Sean Bouchard ($2,600) is on the short-side of a platoon in Colorado, though he got bumped up to second in the order the last time the Rockies faced a lefty. Kyle Hart got some buzz during the spring, yet hasn't carried that over into the regular season as he's posted a 4:5 K:BB with seven earned runs during 5.2 innings.
Stacks to Consider
Cubs at Dodgers (Roki Sasaki): Ian Happ ($4,500), Kyle Tucker ($6,300), Seiya Suzuki ($5,300)
Sasaki hasn't had blow up outings in terms of conceding runs, but his skills are bound to lead to worse results if this continue. Even if the scoring doesn't come against him, he's put the Dodgers in tough spots during his appearances. The Cubs' lineup has been one of the NL's best to this point, and only Tucker comes in at a premium.
Diamondbacks vs. Brewers (Chad Patrick): Corbin Carroll ($5,900), Geraldo Perdomo ($4,300), Josh Naylor ($4,700)
Patrick has gotten by through two ML starts, yet he's produced a 10:7 K:BB and lacks depth in his arsenal. And the 5.36 SIERA is more representative of his skills than the 2.34 ERA. Despite Ketel Marte (hamstring) being out, the Diamondbacks boast a team wOBA of .354 and 125 wRC+. The regression for Patrick should start Saturday.
