This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
It's almost the official start of summer - the season for baseball - but we're well into the season already. The primary DFS contests on Yahoo consist of 12 games starting at 4:05 p.m. ET or later with the doubleheader between the Mariners and Angels having been omitted. Here are my DFS recommendations to try and help make this a weekend of winning.
Pitching
Jeffrey Springs, TAM at BAL ($43): After starting the season in the bullpen, Springs has seamlessly moved into the rotation. In his last five outings, he's gone at least five innings while posting an 1.29 ERA. The Orioles are at the top of the bottom-10 in runs scored, but that's still not good, and they've also produced a sub-.300 OBP.
Alex Wood, SF at PIT ($37): Wood may have a 4.11 ERA, but his FIP is at 3.12. This matchup is quite favorable for him with the Pirates ranked 29th in runs scored and 28th in team OPS.
Taijuan Walker, NYM vs. MIA ($37): Walker isn't striking out anybody, but he's also suppressing home runs. He's managed a 3.08 ERA and a 2.59 over his last seven starts. The Marlins have improved from being bad offensively in 2021 to mediocre this year, but that still shouldn't threaten Walker too much.
Top Targets
There's a lot of power in the bat of Kyle Schwarber ($23). He's racked up 18 home runs, and a 1.046 OPS over the last three weeks. Mostly that's from him mashing righties, as the southpaw struggles versus lefties but maintains an .893 OPS against others since 2020. Josiah Gray is a righty and has allowed 2.23 home runs per nine innings over his career.
Since returning from injury, Carlos Correa ($21) has been on fire and is now slashing .297/.363/.448. He's in hitter-friendly Arizona on Saturday and will be facing Luke Weaver, who comes in with a career 4.64 ERA.
Bargain Bats
It's been an unexpectedly solid season for Manuel Margot ($18). He's hit .314 with a .376 OBP and has three homers to go with five stolen bases. Last year, Margot went deep 10 times while swiping 13 bags. The rookie Kyle Bradish has been absolutely lit up. In fact, he's allowed righties to hit .388 against this year. Yes, .388.
Mark Canha ($17) is an elite on-base guy with a .377 OBP over the last four seasons and a .380 OBP this year along with a .296 batting average. He'll be facing the lefty Braxton Garrett, who lists a career 4.97 ERA.
Stacks to Consider
Padres at Rockies (German Marquez): Manny Machado ($23), Jake Cronenworth ($23), Luke Voit ($21)
Even though he pitches his home games at Coors, Marquez has typically been good at avoiding home runs. But in 2022, he's given up 1.72 homers per nine innings with a career-worst 6.09 ERA. The Padres certainly boast a lineup that can do damage in Denver's offense-happy ballpark.
Machado currently has career highs in average (.327) and OBP (.398) while registering 11 home runs and seven stolen bases. That comes after he produced 28 of the former and 12 of the latter last season. I want to get Cronenworth out there against a righty, as the lefty has an .807 OPS against them over his career. He's also posted an .821 OPS on the road this year. Voit has crushed eight home runs even though he's only played in 47 games and has slugged .498 during his career.
Cardinals at Red Sox (Kutter Crawford): Paul Goldschmidt ($27), Tommy Edman ($19), Nolan Gorman ($14)
In addition to having a name that sounds like it was made up for a bad '90s baseball movie, Crawford has struggled to a 5.74 ERA in MLB after a 7.43 at Triple-A earlier this season. He's also mostly pitched out of the bullpen in the Majors, and this will be his second start. Given the lineup Crawford's facing, I don't like his chances.
We knew Goldschmidt was a steady pro at the plate as he came into the season with a career .917 OPS and has slashed .344/.426/.631 this year. Edman's seven home runs are solid, but the fact he's already racked up 15 stolen bases stands out along with a .287 average - the best since his rookie campaign. Speaking of newcomers, the touted prospect Gorman is with the Cards now and has slashed .256/.330/.415. I particularly like him as a lefty versus a righty.
Rangers at Tigers (Rony Garcia): Marcus Semien ($18), Adolis Garcia ($18), Nathaniel Lowe ($17)
It's a bleak time for the Tigers rotation. So many pitchers are missing, and now they're relying on guys like Garcia with a career 6.04 ERA mostly pitching out of the bullpen. He's also allowed 2.22 home runs in his career. If Detroit had even a decent option, it would go with that over starting Garcia. Alas, they do not.
After a slow start to his first season with the Rangers, Semien has recorded six home runs and 11 stolen bases. He's been hitting more like the player who posted an .872 OPS in 2021 getting up to a .925 over the last three weeks. Garcia's fantasy value comes entirely from counting stats, but he racks those up with 12 homers and 10 stolen bases after 31 and 16 in 2021. He's also thrown in 11 doubles and two triples for good measure. Lowe has hit .275 with eight home runs and really prefers to be away from home this year with a .908 OPS.
