Following a busy afternoon of baseball, the MLB has seven games scheduled for Saturday night, giving fantasy owners a solid 14-team player pool to consider. The main slate gets underway at 7:10 p.m. ET on DraftKings and features the seven non-divisional games taking place under the lights. The weather looks to be a non-factor for the most part, and the game at Coors Field is not included on this slate, leaving a fairly straightforward set of games. On DraftKings Sportsbook, each of these seven games has an over/under of either 7.5 or 8.5, so there isn’t an obvious stack spot.
Even without a game that pops with more expected offense, there are still some strong matchups to attack. Let’s dive right in and take a look at the best DFS options from Saturday night’s slate.
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PITCHER
Stud
Ranger Suarez, Philadelphia Phillies at San Diego Padres ($8,900) – Saturday night is a fascinating pitching slate because the two most productive starters this season go head-to-head and neither has a great matchup. Suarez is cheaper than Dylan Cease ($9,700) and has a little better matchup even though he’s on the road in San Diego for this matchup. Suarez has averaged an impressive 27.0 DKFP in his five starts this year for the Phillies, going 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA, 2.52 FIP and 32 strikeouts in 33 innings. He has not allowed a run in any of his last three starts with a 25 1⁄3 inning scoreless streak coming into San Diego. He held the Reds to two hits in seven scoreless innings in Cincinnati his last time out, earning an impressive 28 DKFP. The Padres have gotten off to a strong start offensively this season, but they have hit only .211 against lefties like Suarez. Even if his scoreless streak comes to an end, he should be able to do enough to be a good play under $9,000 based on his excellent form so far this season.
Value
Chris Paddack, Minnesota Twins at Los Angeles Angels ($6,900) – Paddack is an affordable option against the Angels after an inconsistent start to the season. The low point of the 28-year-old righty’s season came two starts ago against the Orioles when he gave up nine runs on 12 hits in 5 1⁄3 innings. He bounced back impressively in his last start, though, holding the White Sox scoreless for seven innings and racking up 10 strikeouts on his way to 36.2 DraftKings points. Paddack has a similar high ceiling in another favorable matchup against the Angels on Saturday even though that ugly outing still skews his overall numbers for the season. Paddack’s pitch mix is still a work in progress, but the Angels have been struggling and have lost seven of their last eight with three runs or fewer in five of those games. I wouldn’t play Paddack against a good lineup, but he showed enough on Monday to be worth considering at this salary in this matchup.
INFIELD
Stud
Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies at San Diego Padres ($6,000) – Harper has homered in each of his two games since returning from the paternity list, and he’ll look to keep that “dad strength” rolling on Saturday against Cease. Cease has dominated righties this season holding them to 1-for-52, but lefties have hit .222 with a .315 wOBA against him. Last year, he also struggled against lefties, so Harper and the Phillies lefties are on the strong side of the splits. Dating back to before his few days off, Harper has hit safely in eight straight games, going 11-for-29 (.379) with three homers and a .497 wOBA.
Stud
Isaac Paredes, Tampa Bay Rays at Chicago White Sox ($4,700) – Paredes and the Rays are in a good matchup against Jonathan Cannon ($5,500) and the White Sox. Cannon looked good in his MLB debut but gave up six runs on nine hits in 3 2⁄3 in his most recent start. The 25-year-old has gotten off to a strong start to the season, hitting .280 in his 25 games with six homers and a .377 wOBA. All six of his homers have come off of righties like Cannon, who he has a .377 wOBA against on the season.
Value
Josh Rojas, Seattle Mariners vs. Arizona Diamondbacks ($3,100) – Since J.P. Crawford (oblique) landed on IL for a while, the Mariners have used Rojas as their leadoff hitter in their two games against right-handed starters. He should be back in that spot again on Saturday against Slade Cecconi ($6,700) in the last game on the slate. Rojas was traded from Arizona to Seattle last season at the trade deadline, and he will take on his former team again on Saturday. Rojas has hit an impressive .316 in his first 19 games this season with two homers, a stolen base and a .396 wOBA. He is just 1-for-4 against lefties this year but has had plenty of success against righties. Especially if he’s in the leadoff spot, Rojas has a high ceiling Saturday night.
Value
Willi Castro, Minnesota Twins at Los Angeles Angels ($2,900) – Due to multiple injuries in the infield, Castro has regularly been in the starting lineup for the Twins. While he went just 5-for-45 (.111) in his first 16 games this season, Castro has been much more productive lately. He has hit safely in eight of his last nine contests, going 12-for-32 (.375) with five doubles, a home run, seven RBI and a .446 wOBA. The switch-hitter should continue to start against righty Jose Soriano ($7,000) on Saturday and will remain a regular at least until Carlos Correa (oblique) returns.
OUTFIELD
Stud
Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves vs. Cleveland Guardians ($6,600) – Acuna is a good play almost every time he’s on the slate, and Saturday is no exception. He still only has one homer on the season, but he has still produced 10.4 DraftKings points per game by stacking up 11 stolen bases in 24 games and hitting .272 with a .357 wOBA. He has hit .306 (15-for-49) with 11 walks over his last 13 games and continues to get on base in front of Atlanta’s power-packed lineup. The crazy thing is how productive he has been even while not locked in with his power yet this season. There should be more homers to come as the season goes on, and Acuña offers upside in multiple categories as a result.
Stud
Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners vs. Arizona Diamondbacks ($5,300) – Julio is another great dual-threat option on this slate. Rodriguez also has just one homer on the year, but like Acuña, he has been coming around after a slow start. Rodriguez has multiple hits in seven of his last nine games, going 14-for-39 (.436) with two doubles, a home run and four stolen bases. In his last 10 games, he has averaged 12.0 DKFP per game, and at the same time, he has helped the Mariners go 8-2 over that stretch to surge to the top of the AL West. He and Rojas are a great stack to start with against Cecconi on Saturday.
Value
Will Brennan, Cleveland Guardians at Atlanta Braves ($3,200) – The Guardians are still using the 26-year-old lefty as part of a platoon, but when they’ve faced a righty lately, Brennan has been a very productive fantasy option. In 21 games, he is hitting .250 with three home runs, two stolen bases and a .324 wOBA. All three of those home runs have come in his last eight games, during which he has a .483 wOBA and 56% hard-hit rate. Brennan has multiple hits and double-digit DKFP in three of his last four games coming into this matchup with Charlie Morton ($7,900) and the Braves.
Value
Austin Slater, San Francisco Giants at Pittsburgh Pirates ($3,000) – Slater is usually a good value when the Giants take on a lefty even though he has struggled this season. He has gone just 3-for-26 (.115) but did get his first stolen base in his most recent game last Wednesday. Last year, Slater had four homers and hit .288 with a .350 wOBA against southpaws, and he should be a good value if he starts and hits leadoff against lefty Martin Perez ($7,200) despite his low average so far this season.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $175K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
