This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
It's been rare this season to see a heavy schedule on a Saturday night, but this week is an exception with 10 games. The pitching pool seems to dictate a build spending either all the way up or all the way down. Meanwhile, most lineups with positive matchups have park factors working against them. Each of those things will make Saturday's main slate quite intriguing.
Pitchers
Gerrit Cole ($10,400) and Brandon Woodruff ($10,000) represent the slate's top pitchers and are in a good position to live up to their five-figure tags. Cole will take on a mediocre Orioles offense at Camden Yards – one of the better parks for pitchers this season. Though many continue to nitpick his performance, he boasts a 32.9 percent strikeout rate for the season - the highest among the player pool. Woodruff is the only other pitcher in who has topped a 30 percent strikeout rate and draws a matchup with the Colorado offense on the road. When the Rockies have played outside of Coors Field this season, they only have a .281 wOBA and 81 wRC+.
Chris Bassitt and Alex Wood are both decent options, but some lower-valued arms offer the potential for more value. Jose Quintana ($6,800) and Max Meyer ($6,100) will square off against each other and there is a case to make for each. Quintana has struggled in each of his last two starts, but previously had shown a nice floor of double-digit DK points. At his salary, that's not a terrible outcome. There's the potential for more as he faces a Marlins lineup that snapped a 37-inning scoreless streak on Friday. Meyer was hit fairly hard by a strong Phillies offense in his MLB debut, but boasts the prospect pedigree to provide a lot of value while remaining among the lower-tier pitchers. Like Quintana, he has the benefit of facing a weak Pittsburgh lineup.
In that same range, Luis Patino ($6,700) is also worth considering. He threw just 56 pitches in his first outing since Apr. 11 last week, but that count should rise Saturday. Patino faces a Royals lineup that isn't particularly strong from a wOBA and strikeout rate perspective. He makes for a decent pivot off Meyer in particular - who'll likely be a popular choice - but there's also plenty of risk.
Top Hitters
The White Sox offense isn't particularly strong, especially with Luis Robert sidelined. Even so, Tim Anderson ($5,300) is hitting atop the order and reaching base. Konnor Pilkington has allowed at least three earned runs in three of his last five starts, so he's vulnerable.
Ketel Marte ($5,000) is showing signs of life at the plate by averaging 9.9 DK points across his last 10 games. He and the Diamondbacks will square off against Anibal Sanchez, who served up a pair of homers in his season debut on Jul. 14.
Lance Lynn hasn't been a name to pick on in recent seasons, but he doesn't appear to be 100 percent after missing the beginning of the season due to a knee injury. He's allowed least five earned runs in four of his last five innings, so rostering Jose Ramirez ($5,600) – the engine of the Guardians' offense – makes plenty of sense.
Value Hitters
Tyrone Taylor ($2,700) returned from the injured list and hit ninth Friday. Even if he remains buried in the lineup, the Brewers offense is in a strong position Saturday thanks to a matchup against German Marquez as he's surrendered 1.6 HR/9 and 12.9 baserunners per nine innings this season.
Cesar Hernandez ($3,500) isn't extremely reasonable, but he's an example of a way to get exposure to a desirable matchup at a relatively low salary. He's hit atop the Nationals order and will face Madison Bumgarner, who's tied for the third-worst K-BB% among the pitchers in the pool.
James Kaprielian has improved his ability to keep the ball in the yard by not giving up multiple home runs for six consecutive starts. However, he's posted a 20:18 K:BB across 31.1 innings during that same span, which illustrates he's struggled with command and hasn't induced a lot swings and misses. Given all that, I like Leody Taveras ($2,900) as he's been extremely hot since early July.
Stacks to Consider
Rangers at Athletics (James Kaprielian): Josh Smith ($3,500), Marcus Semien ($5,300), Corey Seager ($5,700)
The case for stacking against Kaprielian has already been made, but there's some risk. As was noted, he's kept the ball in the yard more consistently of late. The game is also at the Oakland Coliseum, a park known for suppressing offense. Kaprielian is pretty easy to spot as a target, so Texas could be chalky. With most of the options fully valued – with the execption of Smith and Taveras – there will likely have to be sacrifices elsewhere in the lineup.
White Sox vs. Guardians (Konnor Pilkington): Tim Anderson ($5,300), Andrew Vaughn ($4,100), Yoan Moncada ($3,900)
Pilkington checks most of the boxes that we want to target in stacks, primarily in the form of a low strikeout and high walk rates. The White Sox have looked flat of late, but this trio – even Moncada – have recently been productive individually. Two other things to note: this lineup offers significant savings from the Rangers stack and this could be a game stack as I like the Guardians to also put up some runs.
Diamondbacks vs. Nationals (Anibal Sanchez): Alek Thomas ($2,900), Christian Walker ($3,800), Ketel Marte ($5,000)
There's not too many times we'll be able to recommend a Diamondbacks stack this season, but Saturday sets up to be a good spot. The first reason is the matchup against Sanchez, who's making only his second start of the season and is well past his prime. Secondly, It's not likely to be very popular and others may be willing to take the Nationals hitters if targeting this matchup. Finally, it opens the path to rostering both Gerrit Cole and Brandon Woodruff in the same lineup.
