This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Wednesday is going to be busy across baseball with 16 games on the schedule. The main slate on Yahoo is made up of 10 of those contests, leaving us with a bevy of options to choose from. Here are some players to consider for your entry based on their favorable matchups.
Pitchers
After a rough first start of the season, Yu Darvish ($53) bounced back to shut out the Pirates across six innings in his last outing. He has 12 total strikeouts across 10 innings and should continue to be an excellent option in that category given his career 29.8 percent strikeout rate. This matchup is about as good as it gets against the Royals, who have struck out the eighth most times in baseball and are averaging just 3.7 runs a game.
A team that has been even worse than the Royals offensively is the Pirates, who are only averaging 3.4 runs per contest. Of the teams who have played at least 10 games, they are tied for the third fewest home runs. That could mean Randy Dobnak ($30) has a valuable performance against them Wednesday. He's already off to a good start, allowing one run across his first nine innings this season. Just don't look to him for a lot of strikeouts given that he never had a strikeout rate above 23.2 percent at any of his stops in the minors.
Top Targets
Mike Trout ($24) returned in style Tuesday after the birth of his child, slugging a home run against the Mariners. Not much of an argument needs to be made for deploying Trout in DFS most nights given his insane talent. He could really shine here against Marco Gonzales ($33), who isn't an overpowering force based on his career 18.6 percent strikeout rate.
It's been an ugly start to the season for Robbie Ray ($35), who has allowed eight runs across 8.1 innings. His problems have been two-fold. First, he's allowed 18 base runners. Second, he's been taken deep three times. Things won't get any easier for him here against the Astros. One big name that stands out to target is Alex Bregman ($27), who had a ridiculous .473 wOBA against left-handed pitchers in 2019.
Bargain Bats
In the grand scheme of things, Avisail Garcia ($15) isn't exactly dirt cheap. However, he could provide value at this price in his matchup against Dallas Keuchel ($33). He's recently moved into the cleanup spot behind Christian Yelich ($19), which could lead to added opportunities to drive in runs. He's also been more productive against left-handed pitchers throughout his career, recording a .344 wOBA against them compared to a .315 wOBA versus righties.
The Giants will once again be in Coors Field, leaving them in a favorable spot to score in bunches. If you want to take advantage of the matchup against Jon Gray ($31) while still saving some money, Brandon Crawford ($7) is worth considering. He's in the midst of a modest three-game hitting streak and has scored a run in five of their last six games.
Stacks to Consider
Rockies vs. Logan Webb ($25) Giants: Nolan Arenado ($20), Charlie Blackmon ($20), David Dahl ($19)
Webb is actually off to a decent start, allowing three runs (two earned) across 7.2 innings in his first two starts. However, this is going to be an uphill battle for him at Coors Field given his limited strikeout upside. Arenado looks to be heating up now that he's playing at home, launching a home run in both of the last two games. Blackmon has also played extremely well, hitting 16-for-33 during his current eight-game hitting streak.
Twins vs. Trevor Williams ($26) Pirates: Nelson Cruz ($24), Max Kepler ($18), Luis Arraez ($9)
Williams had an ugly 2019 campaign, posting a 5.12 FIP and allowing 1.7 HR/9. It doesn't look like much has changed this season given that he's allowed six runs (five earned) and two home runs through 8.1 innings. His propensity for giving up home runs leaves Cruz and Kepler with tremendous upside. Although Arraez is off to a slow start, he is a viable cheap option to help round out this stack given his .360 wOBA last year.
Blue Jays vs. Sean Newcomb ($28) Braves: Teoscar Hernandez ($20), Bo Bichette ($18), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ($13)
Newcomb is back to starting for the Braves after mostly pitching out of the bullpen last season His 3.16 ERA in 2019 looks nice, but his 4.24 FIP and 1.32 WHIP paint a bleaker picture of his performance. He's generally had problems keeping men off base, leaving him with a career 1.40 WHIP. A name that stands out on the Blue Jays for this matchup is Hernandez, who already had four home runs and two doubles. Gurriel could also provide excellent value given his 155 wRC+ versus southpaws last season.
