This article is part of our DFS MLB series.
After consecutive days with the NLCS and ALCS, we're down to just the latter on Saturday. The Yankees will have the chance to punch their ticket to the World Series, and will be asking Carlos Rodon to lead the way. The Guardians will turn to Tanner Bibee in the hopes of keeping their season alive.
As a result of the single game, we have a Showdown contest to work with. As a brief primer for Showdown contests, there are no positions. Instead, each team selects a "Captain", who has their score multiplied by 1.5 but at an increased salary. The remaining five positions are all utility and can be filled in any way that fits within the salary cap.
Captain
There's a significant risk to rostering either pitcher as the Captain. Bibee ($17,100) will have a very short leash in an elimination game, and he's yet to complete five innings in any of his three postseason starts. Rodon ($17,400) has been more boom-or-bust, making him my preference for those that want to roster at least one starter.
No one needs me to explain why Juan Soto ($14,100) or Aaron Judge ($14,700) are great options, though Giancarlo Stanton ($12,600) has been locked in this postseason with three homers across his last five starts with five extra-base hits in seven. He also offers significant savings, providing lots of leeway to build the rest of the roster as desired.
Flipping to Cleveland, Jose Ramirez ($13,800) is the obvious choice. Lane Thomas ($10,200)
After consecutive days with the NLCS and ALCS, we're down to just the latter on Saturday. The Yankees will have the chance to punch their ticket to the World Series, and will be asking Carlos Rodon to lead the way. The Guardians will turn to Tanner Bibee in the hopes of keeping their season alive.
As a result of the single game, we have a Showdown contest to work with. As a brief primer for Showdown contests, there are no positions. Instead, each team selects a "Captain", who has their score multiplied by 1.5 but at an increased salary. The remaining five positions are all utility and can be filled in any way that fits within the salary cap.
Captain
There's a significant risk to rostering either pitcher as the Captain. Bibee ($17,100) will have a very short leash in an elimination game, and he's yet to complete five innings in any of his three postseason starts. Rodon ($17,400) has been more boom-or-bust, making him my preference for those that want to roster at least one starter.
No one needs me to explain why Juan Soto ($14,100) or Aaron Judge ($14,700) are great options, though Giancarlo Stanton ($12,600) has been locked in this postseason with three homers across his last five starts with five extra-base hits in seven. He also offers significant savings, providing lots of leeway to build the rest of the roster as desired.
Flipping to Cleveland, Jose Ramirez ($13,800) is the obvious choice. Lane Thomas ($10,200) is the other hitter I'd consider using as my Captain. He boasts a track record of hitting lefties well and has flashed power, speed and patience at the dish.
Utility
Consider all the names we discussed above as utility selections. The Guardians have kept a stable lineup against lefties, with Game 3 heroes Jhonkensy Noel ($5,200) and David Fry ($5,800) being the two additions. Fry will likely start in the second spot, but there's a strong possibility he's pinch-hit for as soon as a righty takes the mound. The same is true of Noel. Of the more household names, Steven Kwan ($7,600) is a name I'd target and potentially even consider for Captain. He'll likely be overlooked due to a lefty-lefty matchup, yet his splits are minimal and enters at a very reasonable salary for batting leadoff.
Austin Wells ($5,600) has been a disaster during the playoffs, but the Yankees continued to use him at cleanup against righties. Even with his poor track record, it's difficult to pass up the potential production of working behind Judge and Soto. Anthony Rizzo ($4,600) has been awful with the glove, though he's reached base in all three of his ALCS starts. Alex Verdugo ($5,000) has a similar analysis, and hitting ninth can be advantageous if he gets on base ahead of the top of the lineup.
