This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Tuesday marks the beginning of the Division Series Round of the playoffs. All four series will get underway, leaving us with a busy day of baseball. Starting things off will be a battle between NL East foes when the Braves host the Phillies. Two AL West opponents will face off when Justin Verlander and the Astros host the Mariners. The Yankees will then play the Guardians, while the day will be capped off by the Dodgers playing the Padres, who pulled off an upset over the Mets in the Wild Card Round. As we try to make sense of this slate, let's highlight some players to consider for your Yahoo lineups.
Pitchers
Verlander ($50) is showing no signs of slowing down, coming off of a regular season in which he had a 1.75 ERA and a 2.49 FIP. He logged 175 innings, which is noteworthy when you consider that he had pitched a total of 41.1 innings over the last three seasons combined. He made six starts against the Mariners during the regular season, posting a 2.34 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP across 42.1 innings. He stands out as arguably the top pitcher for this slate.
It was a bit of a strange season for Gerrit Cole ($44), who allowed a career-high 33 home runs over 200.2 innings. Still, he managed a 3.50 ERA and a 3.47 FIP. Potentially working in his favor for this round is that the Guardians finished the regular season with the second-fewest home runs in baseball. In fact, Aaron Judge (62) had almost half as many home runs as the entire Guardians (127) team did.
Top Targets
Dansby Swanson ($15) had a great regular season, setting career highs in runs scored (99), RBI (96) and stolen bases (18), while slugging 25 home runs. He especially thrived versus left-handed pitchers, with a .177 ISO and a .369 wOBA against them. That makes him a great option against Ranger Suarez ($33), who doesn't miss many bats, given his 19.5 percent strikeout rate.
Freddie Freeman's ($20) first season as a member of the Dodgers couldn't have gone much better. His power numbers were down a bit, but he still finished with a .393 wOBA and a 157 wRC+. The Dodgers could be in line for a big performance against Mike Clevinger ($25), who had an underwhelming regular season with his 4.33 ERA and 4.98 FIP. Among the players to target on the Dodgers, Freeman is one of the most appealing.
Bargain Bats
If you want to attack the Dodgers' matchup against Clevinger, then Gavin Lux ($7) is someone to consider if you're hunting for a player with a really cheap salary. His numbers weren't off the charts, but he produced a respectable .745 OPS. Left-handed pitchers held him to a .305 wOBA, but he registered a .335 wOBA versus righties.
While his salary isn't as low as Lux's, it's not often that you can roster Mookie Betts ($13) at his current rate. It's surprising to see his salary so low, given his .264 ISO and .373 wOBA during the regular season. A Freeman-Betts-Lux stacks brings a ton of upside, and still allows you to fit at least one ace into your budget on the pitching side of things.
