This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
The majority of Saturday's games will be in the afternoon, so the main slate begins at 4:05 p.m. EDT featuring eight games. Let's break it all down.
Pitchers
Hunter Brown ($10,900) is the highest-salaried pitcher by $600 and is comfortably the top option of the day. He's also the only one with a strikeout rate above 30 percent, so the only drawback is a slightly below-average matchup against the Twins. That's enough reason to at least consider Jacob deGrom ($10,300). He's inconsistently generated strikeouts this season, giving him less margin for error than Brown - though he draws the weak White Sox lineup. I'd still prefer Brown, yet there's a case to be made for deGrom.
There are also two excellent choices in the second tier. Cristopher Sanchez ($9,200) is more expensive and safer, but his 24.8 percent strikeout rate relatively limits his upside. He also goes up against the Blue Jays, who've struck out a shockingly low 14.9 percent clip the last month. For those reasons, I'd prefer Tylor Megill ($8,300) and his overall 29.8 percent K rate, with his primary downfall being the ability to work deep. The Rays aren't an easy matchup, though they haven't recently been as tough as the Jays.
It's very top-heavy for pitching, but Michael Lorenzen ($6,700) represents a value option to consider. He's been extremely inconsistent, yet the A's strike out at among the league's highest rates and lose plenty of potency away from their favorable home park.
See which projected starters are going and when with RotoWire's Probable Pitchers page!
Top Hitters
The Rangers have a great matchup against Mike Vasil, so they're a decent stacking option despite struggling for most of the year. Since taking over as the leadoff hitter on May 27, Josh Smith ($4,100) has slashed .345/.400/.582 alongside three homers, eight RBI, 10 runs and three stolen bases across 55 at-bats.
There are a few pitchers who stand out as they concede too many home runs (more on them soon), but a lot on this slate give up a lot of contact and are potentially worth targeting. Tomoyuki Sugano is one of them, and Zach Neto ($5,600) remains on the of the hottest hitters out there.
Value Bats
Jacob Lopez has a limited sample as a starter with both positive and negative results. The Royals aren't necessarily the team to take advantage of him being vulnerable, yet they do list hitters in the top and middle of the order who are reasonably valued - such as Salvador Perez ($3,300) and Jonathan India ($3,500).
Stacks to Consider
Phillies vs. Blue Jays (Bowden Francis): Trea Turner ($5,500), Kyle Schwarber ($5,400), Nick Castellanos (3,900)
Francis has been a disaster by any measure for much of the campaign. Across his last 10 starts, he's allowed 15 homers through 43.1 innings (3.1 HR/9) paired with a 1.75 WHIP. That's about the best combination possible to ask to stack against, and the Phillies carry the combination of players with the ability go get on base and hit for power to take advantage. Alec Bohm ($3,800) is someone else to consider as he's third in the lineup while averaging 8.1 DK points over his last 10 games.
Atlanta vs. Rockies (Chase Dollander): Ronald Acuna ($6,100), Austin Riley ($4,700), Matt Olson ($5,200)
As would be expected, Dollander has performed better away from Coors Field. This matchup is in Atlanta - which introduces some risk - though he's still surrendered 1.5 HR/9 in road starts while walking 12 percent of the batters he's faced. Atlanta has been middling offensively despite the talent, yet this could be a big day for them while everyone except for Acuna are decently valued.
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