This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
For whatever reason this week, Yahoo decided not to do a full-game slate excluding the early Peacock start. It's either the full slate starting at 11:35 a.m. ET, or six games starting at 4:05 p.m. ET. There are a few recommendations in here from the late slate in case you don't make the early start. If you do go with the full-day slate, though, I have some recommendations to help on that front as well.
Pitching
Joe Ryan, MIN at CLE ($53): Ryan's 5-0 record isn't entirely on his shoulders, but his 2.37 ERA through six starts has made it easy for the Twins to give him sufficient run support. Even his 3.01 FIP is encouraging. What isn't encouraging, from a Cleveland perspective, is the fact it is last in home runs and also team OPS.
Graham Ashcraft, CIN vs. CWS ($39): Ashcraft is an example of offseason chatter about improvement turning out to be legitimate. Through six starts, the sophomore pitcher has a 2.00 ERA, and he hasn't allowed more than two runs in any of his outings. The White Sox are just trying to stay above the bottom 10 in runs scored right now and to sport a team on-base percentage over .300, so there's not much of a threat looming from them.
Hayden Wesneski, CHC vs. MIA ($32): Wesneski is an example of how one start can skew your numbers early in the season. In his second outing, the Cubs hurler had a brutal game. Since then, though, he has a 2.42 ERA through four starts. The Marlins are last in runs scored — yes, even below the Tigers — so Wesneski should keep dropping that ERA of his.
Top Targets
Yordan Alvarez ($21) has slugged .541, and yet that number is still below his career .586 slugging percentage, which is truly incredible. Since 2021, he has a .944 OPS versus righties and a .957 OPS on the road. Bryce Miller looked great in his first MLB start. It was also at Oakland. Let's see how the righty does against a real-deal MLB bat like the one Alvarez wields.
It's been quite the campaign for Bo Bichette ($19), who has slashed .326/.370/.528 with seven homers. He's had over 20 home runs in each of the last two seasons, although it does seem unlikely he will hit double-digit stolen bases again. Roansy Contreras has a 4.09 ERA, but it feels unlikely that a mere 2.6 percent of his flyballs allowed will turn into home runs going forward, as has been the case thus far. Bichette's power could inflate that percentage as soon as Sunday.
Bargain Bats
Once upon a time, Javier Baez ($18) was a dynamic player who put up significant counting stats even though he was allergic to walks. Now? He's a guy who you basically only want in your lineup against a lefty. Hey, he does have an .891 OPS versus southpaws since 2021. Steven Matz, a lefty, is starting for the Cardinals on Sunday, and he has a 5.32 FIP this year to go with a 4.28 FIP in his career.
While Daniel Vogelbach ($12) hasn't shown his usual power, he has a .266 average and .397 OBP because the Mets have kept him almost entirely away from lefties. He can't hit southpaws at all, but since 2021 he has an .847 OPS in matchups with righties. Ryan Feltner is right-handed, and his 5.38 ERA on the road shows that even away from Coors Field he's not exactly an imposing pitcher.
Stacks to Consider
Rangers at Angels (Jose Suarez): Marcus Semien ($23), Nathaniel Lowe ($21), Josh Jung ($21)
How bad has Suarez's season been? He went five innings and didn't allow a run in his last start, and it lowered his ERA to…7.89. It's not like he's been crazy unlucky either, as he has a 7.55 FIP. When a pitcher has a career 5.24 ERA and he's pitched over 300 innings of MLB ball, you can probably chalk him up as sub-par on the mound.
Semien seems primed to be a 25/25 guy again, as he has five homers and four stolen bases. For some reason he struggles in Texas' ballpark, but last year he had an .836 OPS on the road and he's up over 1.000 to start 2023. Lowe may be a lefty, like Suarez, but this is a lefty-on-lefty matchup that could pan out for the hitter. Since 2021, Lowe has an .818 OPS against his fellow southpaws, while Suarez has allowed lefties to hit .266 against him in that time. Jung looks like a promising hitting prospect tends to look as a rookie, which is to say he has a solid average and a lot of power, but doesn't take walks. In his career he has an 1.051 OPS against lefties, so who needs walks when you can slug .708?
Cardinals vs. Tigers (Alex Faedo): Paul Goldschmidt ($20), Nolan Gorman ($17), Brendan Donovan ($8)
It certainly wasn't an encouraging sign when Faedo couldn't make the Tigers rotation out of camp. These are the Tigers, after all. However, in 12 starts last year he had a 5.53 ERA, so it isn't exactly surprising he was sent down to Triple-A. Now Faedo has been called upon for a spot start Sunday for the Tigers, but a 3.82 FIP in five Triple-A starts doesn't make me think he's exactly ready for a breakthrough campaign now.
Goldschmidt's career slash line is indicative of the player he still is, and that slash line is an impressive .296/.391/.526. You can count on him for 30 or so homers as well, and this year he has four so far to go with three stolen bases. I am hoping Gorman is going to be over the back tightness that kept him limited to pinch hitting for a couple days, but the fact he has been able to swing the bat at all is encouraging. The lefty has a lot of power, as he's slugged .463 with 21 homers against righties in his career. Donovan isn't much of a power hitter, but he is a guy you don't mind in your lineup when the Cardinals are at home. In his career he has an .874 OPS in St. Louis.
Reds vs. White Sox (Michael Kopech): Jonathan India ($14), TJ Friedl ($12), Tyler Stephenson ($10)
Kopech is one of those guys who serves as a sterling reminder that merely having a big fastball isn't enough. Last year, his first as a full-time starter, he posted a 4.49 FIP with a drop in strikeouts and a rise in walks. This year, Kopech has a 6.67 FIP, in part because he's walking almost six batters per nine innings while allowing righties to hit .305 against him.
India is bouncing back from a tough sophomore season, and he's a righty who has preferred to face right handers and to be at home. In his career he has a .786 OPS against righties and a .799 OPS at home. Friedl doesn't show a ton of power, but he does have a .324 average and .367 OBP. Also in his career he has an .878 OPS at home. Quietly, Stephenson is a catcher with a career .291 average and .366 OBP. Does he also prefer to be at home? You bet! He has an .875 OPS there since 2021.
