This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
It's Saturday, so I'm going to look at a full slate of games for DFS purposes. That means first pitch is at 1:05 p.m. EDT. There are only three games in the evening and it's the weekend, so why not look at the bigger picture? Here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
George Kirby, SEA vs. COL ($40): Kirby's first start was dicey, but his second was much better and a reminder his 2.98 FIP as a rookie. The Rockies are in the bottom-half of MLB in runs scored, which is notable because they've played seven of their 14 games at Coors Field.
Anthony DeSclafani, SF at DET ($35): DeSclafani endured a rough 2022, but he only made five starts and pitched 19.0 innings. In his last full season, he posted a 3.17 ERA. And through two starts this year, DeSclafani has only allowed one run. The righty has another chance to feast on the AL Central as the Tigers seem destined to finish last in offense for a second straight season.
Graham Ashcraft, CIN vs. PHI ($29): A couple tweaks this offseason seem to be paying off for Ashcraft in starting his second campaign based on a 2.08 ERA while striking out nine batters per nine innings in his first two starts. Sans Bryce Harper, the Phillies have struggled to score runs and have a few key lefties in their usual lineup. That's a concern for them considering Ashcraft has held lefties to a .213 average over his career.
Top Targets
While Francisco Lindor ($22) has had some issues making contact so far, he's walked more than usual to go with two homers and four doubles. He hit 26 home runs and stole 16 bases in 2022, hitting equally well versus lefties and righties as a switch-hitter. Shintaro Fujinami's move from Japan hasn't gone well thus far having only managed to go 6.2 innings while walking seven and only striking out five through two appearances.
You can effectively pencil Freddie Freeman ($20) in to hit over .300 every season, having done so in seven of the last eight MLB campaigns. And since 2021, the southpaw has registered a .949 OPS versus righties. Jameson Taillon is a right-hander who may have a 2.06 FIP compared to his 7.00 ERA, but he's also someone with a career 3.75 FIP and has established himself as an unremarkable pitcher - the kind Freeman tends to have no problem with.
Bargain Bats
Since joining the Mariners, Ty France ($18) has hit for average with a bit of power with 20 home runs in 2022. This year, his average is up to .356. Ryan Feltner has struggled during his MLB career, and not just at home at Coors with a 5.94 road ERA while righties have gone .302 against.
Last year, Christian Walker ($11) went deep 36 times. He also notched an .845 OPS against southpaws and an .856 on the road. Meanwhile, the lefty Braxton Garrett lists a career 3.83 FIP and has let righties hit .294 against since 2021.
Stacks to Consider
Rays at Blue Jays (Yusei Kikuchi): Wander Franco ($22), Randy Arozarena ($20), Yandy Diaz ($19)
At this point, it's fairly clear Kikuchi is not an MLB-caliber pitcher with a career 5.07 FIP while allowing 1.76 home runs per nine innings. He's a lefty, so I have three righty batters from the red-hot Rays in my stack.
Franco is truly looking like the player who generated so much excitement as a prospect, and he's already produced four homers and three stolen bases. He may be a switch-hitter, but he's posted a .940 OPS versus lefties in his career. Arozarena has gone 20/20 in each of the last two seasons and has three homers with two swiped bags in 2023. He also managed a .929 OPS against left-handed pitchers since 2021. Diaz maintained a .401 OBP last year and is currently at .358, though has displayed more power so far by slugging .545.
Guardians at Nationals (Chad Kuhl): Jose Ramirez ($21), Andres Gimenez ($17), Amed Rosario ($12)
When you are a bad MLB team, sometimes you have a guy like Kuhl in your rotation. He's posted a FIP over 5.00 in each of his last three seasons and has allowed nine earned runs and three homers across 10.0 innings to start his tenure with the Nationals. The Guardians list a few notable bats, and these are the three I'm stacking.
Ramirez fell one homer shot of back-to-back 30/20 seasons last year while batting .280. The power has been slow to arrive tthis season, but the switch-hitter has still gone .315 and stolen four bases. Gimenez has picked up where he left off in his breakthrough 2022 campaign and has slashed .298/.370/.466 the last two seasons. He's also a lefty with an .839 OPS versus southpaws since 2021, so he's not even susceptible to a southpaw coming out of the bullpen. Rosario doesn't walk, but last year went .283 with 11 homers and 18 steals. He's also a righty who's hit .288 against righties like Kuhl over the last couple seasons.
Cubs at Dodgers (Michael Grove): Dansby Swanson ($20), Ian Happ ($18), Cody Bellinger ($15)
Grove has a 2.44 FIP compared to his 14.73 ERA, but he hasn't shown himself capable of competing at the MLB level yet. And last year in seven appearances, he posted a 5.15 FIP and gave up 1.84 homers per nine innings. Until Grove shows it on the mound, I'm comfortable stacking against him.
Fortunately, Swanson's issue with his side proved minor - though he did struggle in his first game back - as he's slashed .356/.420/.400 to start his first campaign with the Cubs. With Atlanta last year, he batted .277 with 25 homers and 18 stolen bases. Happ hit .271 with 17 home runs and nine swipes in 2022 while also racking up 42 doubles. While he's a switch-hitter, he's posted a .793 OPS against righties since 2021 to best his .713 mark versus lefties. Bellinger gets a shot against his old team Saturday. He hit 17 of his 19 home runs and stole all 14 of his bases against righties last year. Meanwhile, Grove has allowed lefties to hit .315 against during his career.
