This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
As we near the end of July and the trade deadline kicking off August, some names have begun to move. Who knows what will happen Saturday? Of course, with a sport that is beholden to the weather and where a blister can put a pitcher on the bench, we're used to changing on the fly. There are 13 MLB games starting at 7:05 p.m. EDT or later. Here are my lineup recommendations for your DFS contests.
Pitching
Bailey Ober, MIN at KC ($51): Though Ober's 3.59 FIP belies his 2.76 ERA a smidge, he's settled in nicely as a mid-rotation MLB arm. The Royals, meanwhile, have landed on the 28th or 29th best offense in baseball, give or take the Tigers. Ober can handle that, I imagine.
Logan Allen, CLE at CWS ($39): The White Sox have fittingly waved the white flag on the season, though the deals of note have been shipping pitchers out. That makes it easier for someone like Allen to get a win, and it's not like Chicago's offense has been crushing it with a sub-.300 OBP. Allen has also done well on the road with a 2.55 ERA.
Bryce Elder, ATL vs. MIL ($33): After a couple subpar outings, Elder looked solid the last time he took the mound. All in all, he's posted a 3.30 ERA over 20 starts. As a righty, Elder won't necessarily keep Christian Yelich in check. But even with Yelich's rebound season, the Brewers are among three teams in the tier just above the bottom-three offenses.
Top Targets
If Cody Bellinger ($27) is to be traded - as has been rumored - Saturday is a great chance to boost his totals. The lefty has slashed .319/.369/.546 with 15 homers and 12 stolen bases and will face Adam Wainwright with his 7.34 ERA while only striking out 11.3 percent of the batters he's faced and allowing southpaws to hit a staggering .387 against.
As someone who's traditionally smashed lefties, Paul Goldschmidt ($19) has produced a good-but-not-great season because suddenly southpaws have handled him. However, his above-average performance against his fellow righties remains intact with an .885 OPS to go with an .892 at home. Jameson Taillon has been better on the road, but only because his 4.76 ERA in away games isn't as lousy as his 6.43 at home. He's also let righties go .268 against.
Bargain Bats
Mike Ford ($16) operates as Seattle's DH against righties, and admittedly he's like many modern DHs in that his hitting isn't all that remarkable. That being said, the southpaw has displayed power slugging .544 with 11 homers in 45 games. Brandon Pfaadt was considered one of baseball's best pitching prospects when the season began and perhaps he still is, but his performance in the majors has been brutal with an 8.81 ERA while allowing 3.41 homers per nine innings with a .338 average versus lefties.
He doesn't exactly turn into Larry Walker when he's at Coors Field, but Ryan McMahon ($14) has an .825 OPS at home since 2021 - including a .481 slugging percentage. The southpaw really struggles with lefties, but has also slugged .477 versus righties. Paul Blackburn has a 5.82 ERA on the road and has consistently struggled with left-handed bats as they've gone .288 when facing the A's righty the last two years.
Stacks to Consider
Dodgers vs. Reds (Luke Weaver): Freddie Freeman ($28), J.D. Martinez ($23), Max Muncy ($23)
The reason the Reds aren't comfortably atop the NL Central is the pitching staff, and Weaver is a sterling example of this. His 17 starts are the most he's managed since 2018, and with good reason. Weaver lists a career 5.16 ERA, and this season that's up to 7.20. After keeping the homers at bay pitching out of the bullpen last season, he's given up 2.25 homers per nine innings in 2023. The Dodgers, who are also looking for playoff glory, can take advantage of that.
I like that Freeman joined LA and decided to throw base stealing into the mix alongside his batting-title hit tool and high-level power. While his 1.042 OPS versus his fellow lefties stands out, he's registered a .966 against righties. Martinez has slugged .566 with 25 homers. His .909 OPS against righties is decidedly better than his performance against lefties. Weaver has allowed right-handed hitters to hit .343 against. Muncy's power dipped a bit last season, yet he still hit 21 homers along with 22 doubles. This season, the ball is clearing the fence with only eight doubles and 25 home runs, including an .878 home OPS.
Orioles vs. Yankees (Clarke Schmidt): Gunnar Henderson ($18), Adley Rutschman ($16), Ryan O'Hearn ($13)
Schmidt doesn't allow as many homers on the road, but he still struggles as his 4.01 home ERA is better than his 4.85 on the road. Whether pitching in relief or as a starter, it's clear he hasn't figured out how to solve lefties as righties have only gone .217 against while lefties are at .299. All three of these Orioles can hit left-handed.
Henderson will need to figure out how to hit lefties to live up to his lofty prospect status, but his performance against righties already impresses with an .856 career OPS. He also offers real speed and skill on the basepaths with five triples and five stolen bases. Rutschman, a switch-hitting catcher, was excellent against righties as a rookie but struggled against lefties. This year, he's been strong against southpaws and only pretty good against righties. And he's been definitively better at home with a .941 OPS in 2023. O'Hearn has surprisingly earned the first base role for the Orioles against righties, but he keeps on producing by slashing .302/.346/.523.
Diamondbacks vs. Mariners (Bryan Woo): Corbin Carroll ($21), Ketel Marte ($20), Alek Thomas ($10)
The rookie Woo has produced several good starts, but because of low-quality bookends has a 4.91 ERA. He's allowed 2.7 home runs per nine innings at home compared to 0.8 on the road, though it's nine starts and that might not mean much. If anything, it probably means Woo will start giving up more homers away from Seattle, especially in the July heat of Arizona. All three of these batters can hit left-handed because and lefties have hit .403 against Woo while producing seven of the eight homers he's allowed over the 78 he's faced.
Woo can't handle lefties, and Carroll feasts on righties. The presumed NL Rookie of the Year has recorded an 1.003 OPS against right-handed pitching. Marte has traditionally been much better against lefties, but this season the switch hitter's .881 OPS versus righties holds its own. He's got 17 homers, but he's also tearing it up on the bases like during his heyday with seven triples and six stolen bases. Thomas is only viable in this sort of circumstance, but feel free to roster him here. He can't hit lefties and he struggles on the road, but he's managed an .806 OPS and a .786 versus righties.
