This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Saturday's schedule kicks off at 1:05 p.m. EDT with five afternoon matchups, leaving us with a 10-game main slate starting at 7:10. The latter features a lot of solid pitching options at a variety of salary ranges, opening up plenty of potential builds. From a hitting perspective, Coors Field is the obvious play but there are a few other interesting spots that we'll highlight in today's DraftKings preview.
Pitchers
There are viable pitchers valued in the highest ranges, but Julio Urias ($9,300) is a nice target to begin with. He's displayed an uncharacteristic knack to generate strikeouts in recent outings with 44 Ks across his last 41 innings. That's given Urias some previously unrealized ceiling. Add in the team context of the red-hot Dodgers, and he's a good bet in both cash games and tournaments against the Marlins.
Sonny Gray ($8,700) and Tanner Bibee ($8,200) list similar salaries and combine a strong base of skills with excellent matchups Saturday. Gray is another veteran who seems to have found an additional gear of late having produced 25 strikeouts across his last 19 frames and three outings. A matchup against the Pirates is extremely unintimidating and also provides him decent win potential. Bibee doesn't have the same strong win potential given Cleveland's poor offense, but he's misvalued given the quality of pitcher he's proven to be. One example is his 23.5 percent strikeout rate, which is within 1.2 percentage points of the likes of Framber Valdez, Gray, Urias and Logan Webb – all of whom are at least $500 higher. A matchup against the Tigers is another factor in Bibee's favor.
Patrick Sandoval ($7,200) isn't quite in punt range, yet he's a cheap option given some of his latest performances. Across his last five outings, he's topped 23 DK points twice while also reaching 15 during that stretch. Sandoval's other two starts were disasters, so he should be limited primarily to tournament consideration. That's particularly true given the relatively tough matchup against the Rays.
The true punt play of the day is Matt Manning ($6,500). He's on the other side of Bibee matchup and is mainly attractive due to him facing an unimposing Guardians lineup.
Top Hitters
The White Sox have endured a miserable season, which has overshadowed just how good Luis Robert ($5,700) has been. Overall, he's averaged 9.3 DK points per game and that mark has risen to 10.8 across his last 10 starts. On Saturday, he gets the advantage of Coors Field while facing Kyle Freeland, who gives up plenty of loud contact.
The Oakland Coliseum plays in nearly the exact opposite way of Coors as a pitcher-friendly park. That makes recommending Ryan Mountcastle ($4,000) a little more difficult, but his matchup is too tantalizing. Ken Waldichuk is one of six pitchers on the main slate to allow at least 1.4 HR/9. Meanwhile, Mountcastle has a .348 ISO and .436 wOBA against southpaws this season.
Value Bats
Wade Meckler ($2,100) hasn't done much in his first taste of the majors, though that hasn't stopped the Giants from slotting him high in the order at either leadoff or second against right-handed pitching. He'll draw an excellent matchup against Yonny Chirinos, who's only managed a 14.1 percent strikeout rate while coughing up 1.6 HR/9.
In a move we certainly couldn't have predicted to begin the year, Kole Calhoun ($2,600) is hitting cleanup for the Guardians against righties. Though Matt Manning was highlighted as a punt option, his skills profile is also appealing to target based on his combination of low strikeouts (16.3 percent) and high homers (1.5 HR/9) that we look for.
Stacks to Consider
Dodgers vs. Marlins (Eury Perez): Mookie Betts ($6,600), Freddie Freeman ($6,400), Will Smith ($5,700)
To say that stacking the top of the Dodgers lineup is expensive would be quite an understatement, but it's doable due to some of the excellent value available in other areas. Perez doesn't stand out as a great option to stack against based on name value, but a deeper dive into his results of late suggests otherwise. He's allowed at least one homer in four consecutive big-league starts, which has resulted in 15 earned runs across 15 innings. The Marlins have handled Perez questionably while trying to limit his workload, so perhaps that's also affecting his performance.
Orioles at Athletics (Ken Waldichuk): Adley Rutschman ($5,000), Anthony Santander ($4,200), Ryan Mountcastle ($4,000)
For those who prefer to pay up at pitcher or build a more well-rounded lineup, the Orioles offer a reasonable alternative to the Dodgers. The pros and cons of using Baltimore on Saturday were discussed above, so there's some risk here. Waldichuk's profile is exactly what we look for in stacks, and the offensive environment could work to our advantage by limiting roster rate.
