This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Weather permitting, there will be four MLB playoff games Saturday. It's a full day of baseball beginning at 2:07 p.m. EDT and continuing until some point in the evening out there in San Diego. This could be the last time we have this many options for our DFS lineups. Here are my recommendations.
Pitching
Lance McCullers, HOU at SEA ($41): McCullers only made eight starts during the regular season, but he absolutely tore through them. He only allowed more than two runs once, and that was against the mighty Atlanta lineup who managed all of three runs. The Mariners scored the fewest runs of the eight teams, making them less concerning than the Braves.
Joe Musgrove, SD vs. LOS ($36): Musgrove entered the playoffs red hot with a 0.41 ERA in his final four starts of the regular season. He then proceeded to pitch seven innings of one-hit baseball to eliminate the Mets. The Dodgers boast an elite offense, the best in baseball as far as I'm concerned. This is the playoffs, so I'd take a shot on a hot pitcher who was better at home (2.86 ERA) this season.
Top Targets
The playoff heroics have been exciting, but that's not why I'm recommending Yordan Alvarez ($22). It's more about the 1.030 OPS versus righties and 1.024 on the road this year. Alvarez has been heroic because he's an elite hitter. George Kirby's 3.39 ERA was nice for the rookie pitcher, but he's not an ace and is also a righty, so I'm not concerned about Alvarez.
Jose Ramirez ($20) has typically been a steady switch hitter having handled both lefties and righties. His splits were a little starker in 2022, but against righties that yielded a .918 OPS. Fifteen of his 20 stolen bases also came in those matchups. The righty Luis Severino posted a 3.18 ERA, but with a 3.69 FIP.
Bargain Bats
He's only logged 44 games of regular-season action, but Oswaldo Cabrera ($15) slugged .429 and hit six homers during that time. His plate appearances were basically evenly split between home and road, but his .796 away OPS was decidedly better. Triston McKenzie allowed fewer home runs this year, but 1.18 per nine innings isn't great. His career mark is 1.36, so a hitter with power potential like Cabrera offers upside.
Jurickson Profar ($13) was slighty better versus lefties this year with the switch hitter producing a .734 OPS in those matchups. He was also - rare for a Padre - better at home with a .764 OPS. Southpaw Tyler Anderson looked like a new man with the Dodgers, but his 2.57 ERA is coupled with a 3.30 FIP. And his road ERA is 2.87.
Stacks to Consider
Phillies vs. Braves (Charlie Morton): Bryce Harper ($17), J.T. Realmuto ($14), Brandon Marsh ($12)
The question was whether or not Morton or Spencer Strider would start Game 3. Of course, Game 4 was inevitably going to happen after the first two were split, so Morton was going to go eventually and that's happening Saturday. He struggled to a 5.72 road ERA this year and allowed 1.47 home runs per nine innings. The righty plays into the hands of a nice Phillies stack.
Harper is only having to DH, which probably helps on the hitting front, and has been strong to start the postseason. Over an actually-notable sample size, he's recorded a 1.026 OPS versus righties and a 1.000 at home since 2020. You need to have a catcher in your lineup on Yahoo, and Realmuto hit .276 with 22 home runs and 21 steals. He also managed a .909 home OPS. Marsh is another lefty to take on the righty Morton, and he produced a .735 OPS versus righties. And since being dealt to the Phillies, he's registered a .774 OPS overall.
