There are essentially two main Saturday slates with one set of contests beginning at 4:05 p.m. EDT and the other at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Both other six games, though the prizes are slightly larger in the latter and that will be the focus of this article. Great American Ballpark and Dodger Stadium are the primary venues to target based on park factors and offensive favorability. It's a poor pitching slate, so matchups will be key.
Pitchers
There's an interesting top three pitchers before the pool gets pretty rough. Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($10,800) represents the obvious choice as he's maintained the best K-BB% among available starters by 7.4 points. A matchup against the Diamondbacks is mixed since their lineup carries a .297 wOBA while only striking out 17.9 percent of the time.
Trey Yesavage ($8,800) is also worth considering. He's struggled the last month, but the Padres represent a favorable opponent. And given the slate context, that's enough to make Yesavage intriguing.
It's hard to believe in Peter Lambert ($8,100) since his results have been inconsistent, yet he does list the fourth-highest K rate of the available pitchers. The Rangers maintain a mediocre order as measured by wOBA and strikeout percentage over the last 30 days.
Noah Cameron ($7,400) comes in as a value option based mainly on facing the Orioles as they whiff at a 24.9 percent rate while producing a .299 wOBA against lefties this season. He hasn't been reliable, but has spiked for at least 20 DK points from four of his last nine starts.
Nick Lodolo ($6,600) is a decent punt play. The home park and matchup against the Cubs work against him, though he's started to find his footing by posting at least 15.6 DK points during each of his last three outings.
Find out which projected starters are going and when with RotoWire's Probable Pitchers page!
Top Hitters
Relying heavily on Reds and Cubs bats should be a predominant strategy on this slate, and the hitting environment should be helped further by Javier Assad's homer problem as he's allowed at least two in three of his last four appearances. Elly De La Cruz ($5,700) and Sal Stewart ($4,600) both boast the pop to take advantage of this situation.
Brandon Pfaadt has improved since returning to a traditional starter's role, yet has still given up 1.49 HR/9 on the year. That should some Dodgers on the radar with Freddie Freeman ($6,100), Max Muncy ($5,300) and even Dalton Rushing ($4,100) drawing some interest.
Value Bats
Joc Pederson ($3,300) remains the Rangers' leadoff hitter and has finally paid off there averaging 6.1 DK points over his last 10 games while delivering double-digit from six of 13 matchups.
I don't often recommend catchers as the position is relatively flat, but choices are limited on a smaller slate. Lodolo has recently earned better results, but also only a 9.8 K-BB% the last month. Carson Kelly ($3,400) has slotted in at cleanup for the Cubs against lefties and will get exposure to Great American Ballpark.
Stacks to Consider
Atlanta at Cardinals (Matthew Liberatore): Mauricio Dubon ($3,600), Drake Baldwin ($4,800), Ozzie Albies ($4,400)
Liberatore enters the slate with both the highest WHIP and HR/9 of any pitcher, making him an easy choice to stack against. The downside is that Busch Stadium remains a friendly pitcher's park, though the quality at the top of Atlanta's lineup combined with the opponents outweighs the previous concern. It's also a relatively affordable combo, which is important given the potential difficulty of finding reliable pitching.
Blue Jays at Padres (Walker Buehler): Vladimir Guerrero ($4,300), Kazuma Okamoto ($3,600), George Springer ($3,300)
Buehler enjoyed a decent run earlier this season, yet that appears to be over having conceded 16 earned runs across his last 9.0 innings and two starts while allowing five home runs. The Jays haven't been a particularly solid offense that's been reflected in player salaries, though I'll side with their talent.
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