This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
We're facing a quick turnaround Saturday, with FanDuel's main slate featuring 13 games with first pitch at 1:05 PM EDT. Only the Yankees, Nationals, Diamondbacks and Padres are omitted from the player pool. It's another deep slate where the hitters will hope to catch up to the pitchers.
Pitchers
Frankly, this looks like an ideal pitching slate for DraftKings, where we need two arms, as opposed to FanDuel, where we're forced to chose one of many options. After watching Shane Bieber carve up the Royals Friday, it's hard not to be willing to pay up for Mike Clevinger ($10,400), in spite of the slate's depth. He allowed two runs and fanned 24 across 18.2 innings against the Royals last season. Luis Castillo ($9,800) presents eerily similarly after Sonny Gray's strikeout heavy performance Friday against the Tigers. Two heavily favored arms with K upside look well worth the price for cash stability, but leave less wiggle room for bats in GPPs.
Yu Darvish ($9,300) has a huge price advantage over his adversary, and a solid win percentage, suggesting cash game ownership without hesitation.
Low-hanging-fruit options include Lance McCullers ($8,000), Zack Wheeler ($9,000) and Martin Perez ($6,700), all of whom face offenses we'll regularly suggest opposing. After throwing 80 pitches in his final tune-up, Perez should have a solid innings floor, giving him ample opportunity to outperform his price, but he might be too chalky against the Orioles for any format. Julio Urias ($7,600) fits this mold too, and given how much he's been babied, the innings total is certainly questionable. But this is a rare spot where the price appears a tad too low given how weak the Giants lineup is — 3x FPP should safely be expected.
Two options I view as potential values are Max Fried ($7,500) and Dylan Bundy ($7,000). The Mets checked in seventh against lefties a year ago, but that came with a modest .338 wOBA across their roster, while striking out 22.3 percent of the time, the highest of any team ranked at or above their wOBA ranking. Fried has had some control issues, but the Mets didn't square up much Friday, and will be facing a drastically different hand, arm angle and approach from that of Mike Soroka. Bundy enjoyed a terrific spring/camp and may be poised for a breakout in his new home. He's always had strikeout upside, and now there should be better run support.
Top Targets
Taijuan Walker has thrown 14.0 MLB innings the last two years, so while he could catch lightening in a bottle, it's more likely the Astros light him up. George Springer ($4,000) led the way against righties last year with a .407 wOBA, making for a nice cash building block. Alex Bregman ($3,900) had a nearly similar .397 wOBA, so it's fair to pick your poison.
Boston (appropriately/expectedly) teed off on Baltimore pitching Friday, and there's little reason to think it won't again Saturday, this time facing righty Alex Cobb. Rafael Devers ($3,900) didn't get in on Friday's party, but led the team with a .397 wOBA against righties last season.
Mike Trout ($4,500) is so good he rarely needs to be mentioned here despite the heading. I'll just point out he's facing an opposite-handed arm to start.
Bargain Bats
If I stick with a theme of targeting second-tier bats against low pitching, Michael Brantley ($2,900). should lead the way Saturday. He posted a .385 wOBA, 146 wRC+ and 41.9 percent hard-hit rate against righties last season. Tremendous for Saturday's price.
With no bat priced above Eugenio Suarez ($3,500), I have a hard time picking three to stack, hence the entire Reds lineup being a bargain against Ivan Nova. If we're looking for LvR matchups, Joey Votto ($3,000) is back in the mix, having homered Friday after a powerless 2019, but Mike Moustakas ($3,200) also enjoyed his first day with his new team. Nick Castellanos ($3,100) and Shogo Akiyama ($2,700) should round out the top portion of this lineup that all seem to profile favorably despite no 2019 stats supporting so. They weren't available in Friday's featured slate, so maybe the entire lineup goes overlooked. That's a mistake as it's a potent, and underrated, lineup.
I'll admit to being a Braves homer and will also admit the entire offensive approach has been dismal throughout this week, between exhibitions and Friday. But any time we can grab Ozzie Albies ($3,300) batting on the right side against a lefty, we do so. He earned a .451 wOBA, 180 wRC+ and .295 ISO against southpaws last year.
Stacks to Consider
Cubs vs. Corbin Burnes: Anthony Rizzo ($3,600), Kyle Schwarber ($2,800), Ian Happ ($2,200)
This figures to be incredibly chalky, but that's for good reason. Burnes was awful throughout 2019, posting an 8.82 ERA over 49 frames, and was lit up by lefties, which we'll exclusively stack. He allowed opposite-handed bats to post a .514 wOBA, 45.5 percent hard hit rate and 1.271 OPS against him last season. That's enough to feel great about sluggers Rizzo and Schwarber, and Happ comes cheaply, homered Friday and enjoyed a great spring. Mix in the pricing, and it's almost too good to be true.
Red Sox vs. Alex Cobb: Andrew Benintendi ($2,700), Mitch Moreland ($2,700), Rafael Devers ($3,900)
I touched on Devers above, but the pricing compared against the matchup suggests loading up on Red Sox bats. Cobb has as combined 5.36 ERA across his last two seasons, and while the splits aren't discernible, grabbing a trio of lefty bats against the righty is prudent. We touched on Devers' stand alone value above, but grabbing other opposite-handed bats at sub 3k pricing allows for plenty of roster flexibility. Benintendi, somewhat surprisingly, hit leadoff against a lefty Friday, so he should again Saturday, while Moreland should slot in at the five-hole.
Twins vs. Dallas Keuchel: Nelson Cruz ($3,600), Mitch Garver ($2,800), Miguel Sano ($3,000)
Somehow, this contest has a high 9.5 run total, but Cruz represents the highest priced bat. The Twins rake against lefties, and the price point is silly low. Cruz went for a .464 wOBA, 195 wRC+ and .461 ISO. Garver, a team-high .468 wOBA, 198 wRC+ and .415 wRC+, and Sano a "low" .480 wOBA, 157wRC+ and .367 ISO. Keuchel is a ground-ball guy, who usually can get through a lineup twice, but this seems like a different challenge for a pitcher that can't overpower anyone.
