This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
This is a fraught time to be trying to make recommendations for daily fantasy baseball. Heck, it's a fraught time for baseball in general. Teams have seem multiple games postponed because of positive COVID tests, and on Friday the Cardinals and Brewers were added to the mix on that front. Most of the teams in the majors are still expected to play Saturday, with some interesting pitchers on the mound and some hot hitters at the plate. I'm pressing forward with recommendations, in hopes for a healthy and exciting Saturday of MLB action.
PITCHING
Zack Greinke's ($43) first start went poorly, but it was only one game. Last season, he posted a 3.16 FIP and possesses the surrounding talent that always makes him a threat to pick up a win. Facing the Angels usually means worrying about Mike Trout, but Trout is away from the team as he awaits the birth of his first child. Congratulations, Mike! And thanks for making it way easier for me to recommend Greinke today.
Tyler Glasnow ($50) was tearing it up for the Rays last year before he got hurt by posting a 1.78 ERA through 12 starts. He's off to a strong start to the 2020 campaign, as he allowed only one run and struck out nine in four innings. Now that Glasnow has a start under his belt, he can hopefully go a little deeper into Saturday's game against the lowly Orioles. At least deep enough to pick up a likely win.
Jordan Lyles ($31) returned to being a full-time starter last season and he was, well, mediocre. The journeyman struggled with a 4.64 FIP, but he also struck out 9.32 batters per nine innings. Now Lyles is starting for the Rangers, and pitching in Texas can be tricky. That being said, this game is taking place in San Francisco's pitcher-friendly ballpark. The Giants ranked 28th in runs scored last season, their third season in a row in the bottom five in runs scored.
TOP PICKS
Matt Chapman ($18) will never win a batting title, but his power more than makes up for that. Last season his batting average dropped to .249 - although his OBP was .342 - but he hit 36 home runs, so nobody can really complain. The righty will be facing Seattle's southpaw Yusei Kikuchi, who allowed a .304 batting average to right-handed batters last season and allowed two home runs per nine innings.
When you are a team like the Red Sox, you expect big name pitchers but injuries and illnesses have Boston sporting a mediocre rotation this season. Zack Godley is in his first season with the team and brings a career 4.01 FIP. I can imagine him serving up a homer or two to a player like Aaron Judge ($24), who comes in with a career .559 slugging percentage and a 1.050 OPS at home since 2018.
Freddie Freeman ($21) is arguably coming off a career campaign, as he slashed .295/.389/.549 with 38 homers and 121 RBI. There is arguably no left-handed hitter more reliable than the 30-year-old. While Freeman isn't one of those lefties who can't hit his fellow southpaws, he's definitely better against righties. The Mets' Michael Wacha is one of those righties, and he slumped to a 5.60 FIP last season.
VALUE PLAYS
Yoan Moncada ($22) saw his numbers explode last season. A player who had never had a batting average higher than .235 before 2019 put up a .315/.367/.548 slash line. He's also racked up double-digit homers and stolen bases in each of his last two campaigns. The Royals offer a jumbled rotation due to some of their pitchers dealing with COVID recovery, but whoever is on the mound will likely be a righty and Moncada enters with a .848 OPS versus right-handed pitchers since 2018.
Willy Adames ($18) still has room to grow as a player, but you can see why he was considered a vaunted prospect. Last season, the 24-year-old hit 20 homers for the first time, though his other numbers did take a dip. Adames had really puzzling issues at home last year, but that doesn't matter on the road against the Orioles. Wade LeBlanc will be on the mound for Baltimore, and he's allowed 1.43 home runs per nine innings along with a 5.48 FIP.
Colin Moran ($11) is off to a hot start on the homer front, which is maybe not going to be sustained. His career high in home runs is 13, but he did drive in 80 runs last year. Moran also batted .277 over each of his last two seasons, his first two full seasons in the majors. Tyler Chatwood only allowed one run in six innings in his first start of the season. That's good! He also has a career 4.67 FIP and has allowed a .305 batting average against lefties since 2018. That's bad, especially given Moran is a southpaw.
STACKS
Rockies vs. Joey Lucchesi: Nolan Arenado ($21), Trevor Story ($25), Garrett Hampson ($19)
Summer at Coors Field. Sounds like the perfect environment for a hitter, right? You know what makes it even better? Getting to face Joey Lucchesi. The Padres' pitcher possesses a career FIP of 4.20 and has allowed 1.39 homers per nine innings. This is with Petco Park as his home stadium, mind you. He had a 2.56 FIP in San Diego last season, but a 6.22 FIP on the road. That's with a couple other pitcher's parks in his division. Coors Field is not that. Since Lucchesi is a lefty, I wanted to find three righties. That was a little tricky, because the Rockies use a lot of southpaws on the roster. I considered Matt Kemp for the third spot, since he'll probably be the DH in this game. However, instead I went with Hampson.
I'll start with Hampson, because he's the one name that isn't obvious. The utility man carries a career batting average of .252, but he did steal 15 bases in 105 games last season. Hampson doesn't offer a significant sample size over his career - not even a full 162 games yet - but I trust in Coors Field and all its powers. I'm sure I don't have to sell you on Arenado and Story. Arenado has a career slash line of .294/.351/.544 and has hit at least 37 homers in each of his last five seasons. Story has recorded over 30 home runs and over 20 stolen bases in each of his last two seasons, which is incredibly rare. Oh, and since 2018, he has a 1.014 OPS versus lefties and a 1.054 OPS at home.
