Saturday is another awesome day of Major League Baseball with some fun games throughout the afternoon, setting up a tasty nine-game evening slate on the 10th day of May. The main MLB DFS contests have a solid nine-game slate lined up for this Saturday night. The contests begin at 7:10 p.m. ET with games in Chicago, Houston, and Kansas City all getting underway right at that time. With 18 teams in the player pool, there are many strong options to consider, so let’s take a look at some of my favorite MLB DFS picks for Saturday night.
As we get closer to game time, be sure to check the latest weather updates, although for the most part the slate looks clear at this point. There are several top-end starting pitchers in play, with the four most expensive options going head-to-head in matchups that should be great for pitchers but tough for hitters.
Let’s break it all down in my MLB DFS picks.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $125K Relay Throw [$25K to 1st]
PITCHER
Stud
Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals vs. Boston Red Sox, $10,300: Ragans looked outstanding in his last start after getting some extra days off to recover from a mild groin strain. He looked fully healthy on his way to a season-high 11 strikeouts and 34.3 fantasy points in five shutout innings against the White Sox. It was a huge turnaround after he allowed nine runs over seven innings in his previous two starts.
Overall this season, Ragans is 2-1 in seven starts with a 3.79 ERA and 2.38 FIP, but the real reason I’m targeting him as my top pitcher on Saturday is his impressive 14.4 K/9. His strikeout ceiling is remarkably high, and the fact that he’s at home for his duel against Garrett Crochet ($10,900) and comes at a lower salary makes him my top ace of the day.
Value
Tylor Megill, New York Mets vs. Chicago Cubs, $8,100: Megill has averaged 19.4 fantasy points per start, so getting him at only a little over $8,000 is great value. You could go even deeper and take a flier play on Kyle Gibson ($5,200) against the Angels, but Megill is a much safer play with high strikeout upside.
Megill brings a high strikeout ceiling and has been very productive this season, going 3-2 in seven starts with a 2.50 ERA, 2.83 FIP and an 11.25 K/9. He has gone at least five full innings in six of his seven outings and has totaled 45 strikeouts in 36 innings on the year. Megill has earned at least 17 fantasy points in five of his seven starts, with a high mark of 32.4 points in a home matchup against the Phillies with 5 1/3 shutout innings and 10 strikeouts.
He’ll be in a similar tough matchup on Saturday at home, but while facing the Cubs offense is a tall task, he should get good run support against Brad Keller ($4,000).
INFIELD
Stud
Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles at Los Angeles Angels, $5,400: Henderson started the season on IL and has staggered a little bit even after he was activated. He’s starting to come around, though, and is averaging 9.3 fantasy points per game over his last 10 contests after hitting a home run and a triple for 26 fantasy points on Friday night.
He gets a great matchup against Jack Kochanowicz ($5,500), who has a 5.79 ERA and 5.84 FIP while going 1-5 over his seven starts. In those seven outings, he has give up seven home runs, six of which have been to left-handed hitters, who have a .416 wOBA against him. The O’s have several lefties with the potential to produce good value in this smash spot.
Stud
Manny Machado, San Diego Padres at Colorado Rockies, $6,000: The Padres are another team in a smash spot as they visit Coors Field and take on Bradley Blalock ($5,000), who has an 8.03 ERA after giving up 11 runs in 12 1/3 innings.
Machado has been heating up lately and should continue to produce big numbers in this matchup. In his last 10 games, he is 16-for-38 (.421) over his last 10 games, averaging 10.6 fantasy points per contest. He hasn’t had great power production this season, but his hard-hit rate and his run production have remained strong.
Value
Jackson Holliday, Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins, $3,600: Another Orioles lefty that I like on Saturday night’s slate is former top prospect Jackson Holliday, who definitely seems to be finding his way at the major league level after an adjustment period
He is hitting .272 on the season, but has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 11-for-30 (.367) with a double, two home runs and an average of 7.9 fantasy points per game. Given his favorable matchup, he’s a solid value option on Saturday.
OUTFIELD
Stud
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks, $6,600: Ohtani was having a fine start to the season by most standards but was well off his historic pace from a year ago until recently. Over his last 10 games, he has suddenly caught fire with six home runs, an 85.7% hard-hit rate, and an impressive 42.9% barrel rate.
Over those 10 games, Ohtani went 14-for-41 (.341) with six home runs and three stolen bases as well to improve his pace to 52 home runs and 43 stolen bases on the season. On Friday, he went 3-for-6 with two doubles and a home run for a massive 32 fantasy points against Arizona. He and the Dodgers have a tougher matchup against D-Backs’ offseason addition Corbin Burnes ($8,600), but Ohtani has been so dialed in that he’s matchup-proof at this point.
Value
Rece Hinds, Cincinnati Reds at Houston Astros, $3,300: Remember Rece Hinds? Last year, Hinds made a huge splash in the majors with five home runs in his first six games after getting called up in early July. Things didn’t go so well after that initial surge, though, and he went just 1-for-24 (.024) in his other 18 games in the majors after that impressive beginning. Well, he’s back!
The 24-year-old hit .281 with eight home runs and 12 stolen bases in 33 games at Triple-A with a solid .388 wOBA and 47.6% hard-hit rate. He earned another call-up earlier this week. Hinds went 0-for-3 in his first game of the year, but on Thursday, he went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, and 23 fantasy points. He went 0-for-4 against Hunter Brown and the Astros on Friday, but he brings a high ceiling with both power and speed potential while he’s helping to fill in for the Reds’ injuries to Noelvi Marte (oblique), Austin Hays (hamstring), Jake Fraley (calf), and Tyler Callihan (arm).
Value
Addison Barger, Toronto Blue Jays at Seattle Mariners, $2,300: Let’s dive into the bargain bin for the last pick of the day and go with lefty Addison Barger, who brings eligibility at both 3B and OF. Barger and the Blue Jays are in a favorable matchup, and his excellent exit velocity is starting to yield some good results.
Barger went 3-for-4 with three doubles and 21 fantasy points on Friday night and has hit safely in three straight contests to improve to .222 on the season with five RBI and a .287 wOBA. He has an average exit velocity of 95.5 mph, which would be tied with Aaron Judge for third in the majors if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. He has been hitting the ball hard and getting a little unlucky, but with playing time opening up as the Jays deal with some injuries, Barger brings a high ceiling, especially facing Mariners starter Logan Evans ($6,700), who has a 7.20 ERA this season.
