This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Baseball follows Opening Day with 10 games Friday. Yahoo will include seven of those games in their main evening slate. Let's dig into the matchups and highlight some of the top pitchers and hitters to consider.
Pitchers
Merrill Kelly ($50) is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. He made 30 starts for the Diamondbacks, finishing with a 3.29 ERA and a 3.85 FIP. His biggest area of improvement was his 25.9 percent strikeout rate that was the highest mark of his career. Look for him to get off to a good start against the Rockies, who only had a .650 OPS on the road last season.
George Kirby ($47) had a breakout 2022 campaign in which he finished with a 3.39 ERA and a 2.99 FIP. He carried that over into last season, posting a 3.35 ERA and a 3.34 FIP over 31 starts. He was especially difficult to hit at home, where he posted a 2.90 FIP and a 0.89 WHIP. The Red Sox won't be the easiest of matchups, but facing them in Seattle still makes Kirby an excellent option.
The Athletics should continue to be a team to attack in DFS. They scored the fewest runs in baseball last season and their main offseason addition was J.D. Davis. Looking to exploit their light-hitting lineup will be Logan Allen ($36), who had a 3.81 ERA and a 4.19 FIP over 24 starts with the Guardians last season.
Top Targets
The Athletics will send yet another underwhelming starter to the mound when Ross Stripling ($30) faces off with the Guardians. Stripling struggled mightily for the Giants last season, posting a 5.36 ERA and a 5.21 FIP across 89 innings. He has finished with a FIP of at least 5.21 in three of the last four seasons. Two of the hitters on the Guardians who could exploit this matchup are Jose Ramirez ($18) and Josh Naylor ($18). Ramirez is the best hitter on the Guardians and Naylor is coming off a valuable 2023 campaign in which he posted a .181 ISO and a .354 wOBA.
Bargain Bats
The Yankees were a right-handed heavy lineup last season. A healthy Anthony Rizzo ($11) and the addition of Alex Verdugo ($13) should help solve that issue. Rizzo went 1-for-3 with a walk in their season opener, while Verdugo drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly. They will take on Cristian Javier ($41), who saw his ERA climb to 4.56 last season and his FIP finish at 4.58 with his strikeout rate falling last season.
Stacks to Consider
Astros vs. Carlos Rodon ($34), Yankees: Jose Altuve ($19), Alex Bregman ($18), Chas McCormick ($14)
The Astros scored four early runs against the Yankees on Thursday before their lineup went silent for the remainder of the game. This trio was still productive with all three players getting at least one hit. This is another excellent opportunity to stack them with Rodon on the mound. McCormick crushed left-handed pitching last season, posting a .285 ISO and a .426 wOBA against them.
Dodgers vs. Zack Thompson ($35), Cardinals: Freddie Freeman ($21), Mookie Betts ($20), Shohei Ohtani ($18)
The Dodgers hung another crooked number Thursday, scoring seven runs in their win over the Cardinals. Betts and Freeman both hit home runs, while Ohtani went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Look for them to do plenty of more damage in a matchup against Thompson, who had a 1.42 WHIP last season.
Diamondbacks vs. Cal Quantrill ($26), Rockies: Corbin Carroll ($22), Ketel Marte ($19), Joc Pederson ($13)
Quantrill struggled last season, finishing with a 5.24 ERA and a 4.79 FIP for the Guardians. His strikeout rate plummeted to 13.1 percent and he posted a 1.46 WHIP. With his inability to miss bats, expect him to struggle in this matchup. Carroll is someone to build any Diamondbacks stack around, given his combination of speed and power that saw him produce 25 home runs and 54 stolen bases last season.
