This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
In contrast to most Saturday slates early in the season, the action is packed primarily into night time slots. That leaves us with nine games to work with.
Pitchers
Zac Gallen ($9,800) has gotten off to an excellent start this season. He has yet to give up a home run - which will change at some point - but he's still posted a 3.17 SIERA. While Gallen's strikeout rate hasn't been elite, he's worked at least six innings in each of his last three starts and the volume will overtake the relative lack of rate stats. He takes on the Cubs, who strike out at the seventh-highest clip and sit bottom-third in wOBA.
Jordan Montgomery ($8,400) has an uninspiring 20.2 percent strikeout rate through 31 innings, but that doesn't line up with his 14.5 percent swinging-strike rate. The due regression may not come Saturday, but the White Sox don't have much punch even if they make contact (.286 wOBA, .129 ISO). That makes Montgomery a strong cash game play, with tournament upside if the strikeouts emerge as his skills indicate they should.
Shane Bieber ($8,800) is worth noting due to his drop in salary since peaking at $10,800. He's been all over the place this year racking up as many as 27.1 DK points on Apr. 20, but then dipping to -13.1 in his last appearances. Saturday's matchup against the Twins is mediocre with the team maintaining the league's 11th highest strikeout rate and 12th highest wOBA.
Glenn Otto ($7,300) and Rich Hill ($6,800) will pitch against each other and both represent notable punt plays. Otto has a 21.1 percent strikeout rate. His performances haven't been notable otherwise, but he's held his own against the Astros and Yankees. Boston offers plenty of talented players in its lineup, but that has yet to result in regular offensive explosions. The primary appeal of Hill is his matchup against Texas, a lineup that has only produced a .284 wOBA. He's also held opponents scoreless across his last three outings.
Top Hitters
Adam Oller has a limited major-league sample, but it's been poor with as many strikeouts as walks while surrendering four home runs across three starts. That makes Mike Trout ($5,600), who has proven to still be a player to build around.
C.J. Cron ($5,100) gets a friendly home environment at Coors Field, where the Royals and Rockies combined to score 24 runs Friday night. Colorado takes on Carlos Hernandez, who's managed the highest SIERA (5.82) on the slate and has handed out more free passes allowed than strikeouts in 2022.
The entire Yankees' offense has been hot of late, so it's difficult to pinpoint a particular player. Aaron Judge would probably be the top choice for many, but Giancarlo Stanton ($4,900) boasts plenty of power upside and checks in significantly cheaper.
Value Hitters
Ryan O'Hearn ($2,500) has regularly hit cleanup against righties in recent games. As was previously mentioned, he'll be at Coors Field. That combination leaves him as one of the most obvious punt plays on the slate.
Alec Bohm ($2,200) has yet to showcase much power this season, but two things make him a strong play Saturday. First is a matchup against lefty Julio Urias. Bohm has posted a career .348 wOBA and .188 ISO against southpaws. Next is that he's been locked into the second lineup spot, with a lot of big bats surrounding him in the order. Even if Bohm doesn't do much damage, he's likely to benefit from his context.
Enrique Hernandez ($3,600) has returned to the leadoff spot for Boston, and is valued too low based on that alone.
Stacks to Consider
Rockies vs. Carlos Hernandez: Connor Joe ($4,900), Jose Iglesias ($4,500), Charlie Blackmon ($4,800), C.J. Cron ($5,100)
Hernandez has been susceptible to poor outings regardless of where he's pitched the last two seasons, and he's walking into one of the toughest parks for pitchers on Saturday. The matchup and stadium part of the equation are the easy part, but this will be an obvious stack so those who roster it will need to get different in other parts of the lineup for large-field tournaments. The outlay for the lineup – while perhaps not prohibitive – is quite high and there aren't many obvious value pitchers to plug in.
Yankees vs. Dallas Keuchel: DJ LeMahieu ($4,400), Aaron Judge ($5,800), Josh Donaldson ($3,900), Giancarlo Stanton ($4,900)
Keuchel doesn't miss many bats, and he's been largely able to get away with that so far this season. However, the Yankees are both hot and feature one of baseball's more dangerous lineups. Like the Rockies, this will likely be a popular stack, though it does benefit from having a few value options mixed in among the marquee players.
Nationals vs. Cristian Javier: Cesar Hernandez ($4,600), Juan Soto ($5,500), Josh Bell ($5,000), Nelson Cruz ($4,700)
After providing two chalk stack options, let's shift to the opposite end of the spectrum. Javier comes in as the third-highest salaried pitcher on the slate, so he isn't likely to be targeted much. However, he's posted an 11.7 percent walk rate and allowed 1.2 HR/9 the last two seasons. The Nationals lineup is poor overall, but the trio of Soto, Bell and Cruz can do significant damage. If they hit well Saturday, there's tournament-winning upside because they'll likely be rostered at a very low rate.
