This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Seven games are for us to digest in Saturday's main FanDuel contests, but they are stretched out through the afternoon and evening, with games being played between 4:10 and 10:07 pm EDT. There are very clear pitching tiers, with three arms priced in five-figures, then immediately dropping to just $9,000 and below. Despite the seeming lack of pitching, there's only one game with a 10 run total. It sets up to be an interesting slate.
Pitching
Julio Teheran, MIL vs. OAK ($8,700): The matchups for the top four arms on this slate are all against top offenses. I'm not suggesting we ignore them, in fact, I think using any will come with low roster percentages and likely give you an advantage, with Tristan McKenzie ($10,800) possibly my favorite against Houston without Yordan Alvarez. But from a breakdown standpoint, it's not easy to make a case for any. As such, paying down against bad offenses looks like a fair strategy. I have no idea if we can believe in Teheran's form, but he's been quite impressive in three starts since being signed seemingly out of nowhere, allowing just three runs across 17.1 innings. Strikeouts aren't a guarantee with just 10 in that stretch, but we can always hone in against Oakland. They bring a weak .290 wOBA, 88 wRC+ and 25.4 percent K rate off righties into Sunday.
Patrick Sandoval, LAA vs. SEA ($7,500): Sandoval isn't missing enough bats for elite fantasy production, but that fact is priced in here. But perhaps Seattle's 26.2 percent whiff rate allows him to get a few more than usual Saturday. Where Sandoval has been solid is limiting big innings. He's allowing just 0.61 HRs per nine. Pair that with Seattle's .298 wOBA, and there's reasonable expectations for at least an average start. He's given a 4x return in three of his last seven outings, but did limited Seattle to two runs across 16.1 innings last season, fanning 16.
Kyle Hendricks, CHC at SF ($6,500): For being at such a low price point, Hendricks looks like a pretty clear target Saturday. He's not in terrific form in his three starts since returning from injury, but he's been serviceable, posting between 18 and 21 FDP against better offenses. The Giants rank sixth offensively with a modest .332 wOBA off righties, but fan at a high 25.7 percent clip. Wind is blowing out, so that could lead to some long balls with Hendricks having only a 28 percent ground ball rate, but he doesn't seem likely to implode and should work five plus frames. The floor seems as safe as possible considering the low price.
Top Targets
Bryan Woo didn't look ready for the majors in his debut, allowing seven hits and six runs in just two innings. Shohei Ohtani ($3,800) remains priced modestly, is on a six game hitting streak where he's homered twice and collected 11 hits in that span, and has a .413 wOBA, 167 wRC+ and .315 ISO off righties.
It's a small sample size, but Rays pitcher Taj Bradley has pitched far better on the road, where he isn't Saturday. He's allowing a .439 wOBA and 1.041 OPS to righties at home. Perhaps that offers Marcus Semien ($4,400) to break out of a two-game funk, with Adolis Garcia ($4,000) also profiling favorably.
Bargain Bats
Atlanta is an elite offense, and lead the league with a .387 wOBA off lefties, but Mackenzie Gore has been borderline elite in his own right, so I don't want to go too heavily on Braves bats Saturday. But we know whenever Ozzie Albies ($3,000) gets to hit right-handed, he's a plug and play. He boasts a .495 wOBA, 213 wRC+ and .338 ISO off southpaws. Orlando Arcia ($2,800) betters that, with a whopping .640 wOBA, 310 wRC+ and .577 ISO. Both are in great form, and make for a great way to round out lineups.
Josh Naylor ($3,000) is locked in. He's collected nine hits, four RBI and six runs in his last four and rides a nine-game hitting streak into Saturday. Houston starter JP France has more targetable splits against righties, but the form is too good to ignore with the limited options availabile.
Most are likely going to try and use a Milwaukee bat or two agaisnt Paul Blackburn, simply because the A's are the A's, but the Brewers offense isn't easy to trust. Joey Wiemer ($2,900) continues to produce however, earning 12.2 FDP Friday without a hit. His form is reason to continue going to the well even if Blackburn has been more vulnerable against righties.
Stack to Consider
Cubs vs. John Brebbia/long relief: Dansby Swanson ($3,000), Seiya Suzuki ($2,900), Ian Happ ($2,900)
This is not an easy slate to stack; good offenses face good pitching while bad offenses face bad pitching. The Giants haven't made their plans known following Brebbia as an opener, and he's been good of late, allowing just one run in his last 10 appearances. We noted the wind blowing out when considering Hendricks on the bump above, so perhaps this is a spot for the Cubs offense to break out. Swanson's 111 wRC+ is the lowest of the trio, they are all moderately priced and give us the heart of the order to play off each other. It's a tough sell that I'm not doing a great job pitching, so much to say it's a hunch more than a statistical advantage.
