This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Wednesday brings a heavy dose of day baseball, including three games that start at 12:35 PM EDT. Among those early start times is a key matchup between the Blue Jays and Yankees. The Guardians and White Sox will also face each other, although it might not exactly be a great pitching matchup between Aaron Civale and Vince Velasquez. The highlight of the night games could be a pitching matchup between Shohei Ohtani and Shane McClanahan. Let's dive into the seven-game main slate on Yahoo and highlight some players to consider for your lineups.
Pitchers
Ohtani ($46) is coming off of a masterful performance against the Red Sox in which he recorded 11 strikeouts across seven scoreless innings. After posting a 29.3 percent strikeout rate last season, that number has ballooned to 38.0 percent this season. Plenty of punch-outs could be coming against the Rays, who have struck out the eighth-most times in baseball.
Miles Mikolas ($42) still isn't missing many bats given his 19.9 percent strikeout rate. However, he has a 0.99 WHIP, while limiting batters to a 27.9 percent hard-hit rate. With a great matchup against an Orioles team that has scored the sixth-fewest runs, Mikolas stands out as a top pitcher to target.
If you want to take a chance on a pitcher with a cheap salary in tournament play, Joey Wentz ($28) should be on your radar. He'll be making his big-league debut in a favorable matchup against the Athletics, who have the worst OPS in baseball. Between stops at Single-A and Double-A last season, Wentz recorded 82 strikeouts across 76 innings. Over 19.2 innings at Triple-A this season, he had 26 strikeouts and a 1.09 WHIP.
Top Targets
Mike Trout ($24) is as hot as it gets, hitting 12-for-33 (.364) with four home runs and two doubles over his last nine games. His OPS is up to 1.183 for the season, so even in a tough matchup against McClanahan, Trout is still a top target.
After getting off to a late start because of injury, Ronald Acuna Jr. ($22) has generated a 153 wRC+ since making his return. His 37.0 percent strikeout rate is a bit of a concern, but that should improve as his sample size increases given his career 26.1 percent strikeout rate. He's gone deep twice already, and his home run prowess is noteworthy for a matchup against Nathan Eovaldi ($44), who has been taken deep eight times over 33.2 innings.
Bargain Bats
Jonathan Schoop ($7) has hit into a bit of bad luck given his .181 BABIP. His 20.2 percent strikeout rate is in line with his career mark, so don't expect him to bat .157 for much longer. He's already starting to show signs of breaking out, hitting 5-for-14 over his last four games. A matchup against inexperienced lefty Zach Logue ($34) could lead Schoop to another productive night at the plate.
Staying with the Tigers' matchup against Logue, Willi Castro ($8) is also worth considering. He's coming off of back-to-back multi-hit games, and he's batting .301 with a 109 wRC+ against left-handed pitchers for his career.
Stacks to Consider
Astros vs. Chris Archer ($30), Twins: Yordan Alvarez ($21), Alex Bregman ($15), Kyle Tucker ($15)
Yes, Archer has a 3.26 ERA across five starts. However, he has a 5.77 FIP and a 10.8 percent walk rate. He's also given up five home runs over 19.1 innings. Since the start of the 2019 season, he has been taken deep 33 times over 158.1 innings. That could spell doom against Alvarez, who has a career .289 ISO.
Cardinals vs. Spenser Watkins ($26), Orioles: Nolan Arenado ($20), Tommy Edman ($20), Juan Yepez ($22)
Watkins is in a similar situation as Archer. On the surface, his 3.22 ERA looks nice. However, he has a 5.54 FIP to go along with a 1.39 WHIP. Also, his 10.3 strikeout rate is identical to his walk rate. One of the more appealing players to stack on the Cardinals is Edman, who has used an improved eye at the plate to generate a 12.0 percent walk rate and a .376 wOBA.
Mets vs. Aaron Sanchez ($26), Nationals: Francisco Lindor ($20), Brandon Nimmo ($21), Jeff McNeil ($18)
Sanchez has only made three starts for the Nationals, and he hasn't logged more than five innings in any of them. In his last start, he gave up seven runs (six earned) over 4.1 innings to the Rockies. Not only could the Mets score plenty of runs when Sanchez is in the game, but they also could against a Nationals' bullpen that has a collective 1.40 WHIP.
