This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
The regular season may be over, but daily fantasy contests will continue to run through the postseason. This first playoff slate features the NL and AL Wild Card games -- Tuesday's 8:08 PM Rockies-Cubs matchup and Wednesday's 8:05 PM Athletics-Yankees clash. Read on to see which players are in the best position to help their respective teams survive and advance.
PITCHER
Jon Lester, CHC vs. COL ($41): Lester has the easiest matchup of any starter here. Colorado scored just 4.09 runs per game on the road in the regular season, while Oakland averaged 5.48 road runs per game, the Yankees averaged 5.59 per game at home and the Cubs scored 4.70 runs per home game. With a 3.32 ERA this season and a history of postseason success, Lester has earned himself a relatively long leash in this outing.
Kyle Freeland, COL at CHC ($41): It's an unusual move going with two pitchers from the same game, but the choice makes sense given the situation. Oakland's doing a bullpen game without a traditional starter while Yankees starter Luis Severino ($48) will be on a very short leash given his 5.57 second-half ERA. Freeland should be able to outperform both of those options given his far superior 2.49 second-half ERA.
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CATCHER
Willson Contreras, CHC vs. COL ($8): With lefties on the mound for both teams in Chicago, right-handed hitters are likely to be the source of this game's offense. Contreras is one of those right-handed sluggers who did his best work facing southpaws, finishing with a .356 wOBA in that split compared to just .309 against righties.
FIRST BASE
Luke Voit, NYY vs. OAK ($21): Voit was arguably the hottest hitter in baseball down the stretch, putting together a .351/.426/.763 line and .492 wOBA in 129 plate appearances since Aug. 24. He also hit a home run in each of the team's last three games to give him 14 in the aforementioned late-season stretch. The larger the sample size grows, the more likely it becomes that Voit's success is sustainable.
SECOND BASE
DJ LeMahieu, COL at CHC ($18): LeMahieu has always pummeled left-handed pitching, and this season has been no exception. He finished the 2018 regular season with a .380 wOBA in that split after delivering a .406 mark in 2017 and a .397 wOBA the year before that. Batting second in Colorado's lineup should maximize his opportunities to get on base against the left-handed Lester and set the table for cleanup hitter Nolan Arenado.
THIRD BASE
Nolan Arenado, COL at CHC ($18): While his teammate LeMahieu is good against lefties, Arenado takes success in that split to the next level. He eviscerated left-handed pitching to the tune of a .488 wOBA in 2018, on the heels of a 2017 campaign in which he produced a .534 mark in that split. With a southpaw starting the game for Chicago, it's imperative to get Arenado in your lineup.
SHORTSTOP
Javier Baez, CHC vs. COL ($18): Baez is a steal at $18 considering that makes him just the third-most expensive shortstop. The NL MVP candidate produced a .384 wOBA against left-handed pitching while batting in the heart of Chicago's order. He's as likely as anybody on the Cubs to be the hero should Chicago advance.
OUTFIELD
Aaron Hicks, NYY vs. OAK ($19): Oakland's bullpen approach will allow the team to mix and match righties and lefties at will, but the switch-hitting Hicks is essentially matchup-proof with at least a .372 wOBA against both lefties and righties at Yankee Stadium. Having a platoon advantage with every at-bat coupled with hitting third in the Yankees' batting order is a recipe for fantasy success.
Khris Davis, OAK at NYY ($19): Nobody playing in the Wild Card round is more likely to hit a home run than Davis. He mashed 37 of his league-best 48 home runs against righties this season while posting a .374 wOBA in righty-on-righty matchups (.340 against lefties). Given Yankee Stadium's 1.17 home run park factor and Severino's 1.29 HR/9 allowed in the second half, Davis is in excellent position to go deep again.
Ben Zobrist, CHC vs. COL ($11): Zobrist is a terrific cheap roster filler. He'll always have the platoon advantage as a switch-hitter and maximizes scoring opportunities out of the leadoff spot. There's not much more you can ask for at $11.
