This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
On a day with 18 games, Yahoo is offering a truncated slate for its DFS contest. The only games included are six that start 4:05 p.m. EDT and later. Get your lineups in before you head to that early Mother's Day dinner Sunday. Here are my recommendations.
Pitching
Walker Buehler, LAD at CHC ($50): The Cubs' offense is hovering around the bottom 10 in runs scored, and that's enough for me when it comes to Buehler. He doesn't just have a career 2.87 ERA. The 27-year-old has a 2.12 ERA in 2022 thanks in part to allowing no runs in his last two outings. Somebody is gunning for a Cy Young.
Patrick Sandoval, LAA vs. WAS ($41): Sandoval allowed three runs in his last start … the first three runs he's allowed all season. His 1.29 ERA is striking, and his 2.26 FIP says he hasn't been that lucky to do it. The Nationals have a couple big bats in Juan Soto and Josh Bell, but aren't formidable enough for me to fear them too much.
Top Targets
Manny Machado ($25) is hitting as well as any player in baseball this season — .381/.459/.648. Trevor Rogers enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2021, but this year he has a 6.14 ERA through five starts.
Ty France ($19) is a bat you can trust. He's slashed .298/.371/.455 the last three seasons. This season, he's slugged .486. Ryan Yarbrough is in line for his second start of the year, and in his first start he allowed five runs in 2.1 innings. That comes after he had a 5.11 ERA last season.
Bargain Bats
Ketel Marte ($12) isn't off to the best start to the year, but this salary screams bargain. He's hit in seven consecutive games now, and just last season he slashed .318/.377/.532. German Marquez has allowed at least four runs in each of his last four starts, and last season he had a 5.38 ERA away from Coors Field.
There hasn't been much power in Mike Yastrzemski's ($11) bat in 2022, but he has hit .288 with a .354 OBP. Plus, he has a career .492 slugging percentage, so there is plenty of power potential. Dakota Hudson has a 3.16 ERA, but a 4.71 FIP, so I will take the lefty bat against the righty pitcher.
Stacks to Consider
Angels vs. Erick Fedde: Shohei Ohtani ($18), Jared Walsh ($17), Brandon Marsh ($14)
I like this stack with a righty on the mound. I have three lefties, and all have salaries that won't break the bank. Fedde has a career 5.21 ERA and has allowed 1.53 home runs per nine innings as well. Additionally, lefties hit .290 against him in 2020 and they've hit .296 against him this season.
Ohtani has four homers and four swiped bags. Walsh is starting to get in the swing of things after a slow start, and he hit his fifth home run Saturday. He's posted a .970 OPS against righties since 2020. Marsh has issues with lefties, but he has a .917 OPS against righties in 2022. The southpaw also has four home runs and three stolen bases.
Rays vs. George Kirby: Wander Franco ($19), Yandy Diaz ($15), Brandon Lowe ($13)
Kirby will make his first MLB start after skipping Triple-A. That's bold, and the Rays aren't an easy first matchup. Kirby is a righty, and the Rays have a few lefties to deploy, though I only have one true lefty in this stack (Franco is a switch hitter).
Franco was a vaunted prospect, and all he's done since is slash .291/.342/.475 with 11 home runs and five stolen bases in 96 games. Diaz was once limited to lefty matchups, but this year he's been hitting so well he's getting in the lineup in most matchups, and even hitting lead off. He's put up a .293/.420/.402 batting line. Lowe definitely prefers a righty on the mound, as he has an .893 OPS against righties since 2020. He has plenty of power too, having hit 39 home runs last season and five this year.
