Saturday is a jam-packed day of baseball with most of the action in the afternoon, but there are four games on the Saturday night slate, including a great rematch of last year’s World Series. The Dodgers-Yankees rivalry game is the centerpiece of the slate at 7:15 p.m. ET when that game gets underway along with the matchup between the Twins and Mariners up in Seattle. The two later games both start after 9:30 p.m. ET as the Padres host the Pirates and the Nationals visit the Diamondbacks in Arizona. Let’s dive in and take a look at this eight-team player pool and examine some of my favorite MLB DFS picks for this Saturday night slate
Since two of these four games are in stadiums with roofs and two are in sunny Southern California, there are no weather issues to worry about. It should be a fun night of fantasy baseball with matchups making a much more significant impact on player outlooks than the stadiums and weather.
Let’s break down the top options in my MLB DFS picks.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $75K Relay Throw [$20K to 1st] (Night)
PITCHER
Stud
Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, $9,200: Cease has been effective this season but only has a single win to show for it as he comes into this favorable matchup against the Pirates. The 29-year-old righty is 1-3 in his 11 starts with a 4.58 ERA. His 3.25 FIP and 66% LOB% indicate that he has pitched a little better than his ERA shows, and he has been in a good groove lately with three earned runs or fewer in eight straight starts while posting 54 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings.
He has typically been better at home this year than on the road and posted an impressive 27.4 fantasy points in his last home start, which came against the Angels. He struck out 10 in that no-decision, which one of four straight starts with over 17 fantasy points coming into Saturday’s outing.
He gets a juicy matchup against Pittsburgh since the Pirates have scored the second-fewest runs in the majors this season. They are hitting only .226 as a team with a .287 wOBA and 23.3% K%. They have averaged 8.8 strikeouts per game over the last two weeks and should be a good spot for Cease to pick up Ks and hopefully get a victory.
Value
Bailey Ober, Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners, $7,200: When he’s on bigger slates, Ober isn’t usually an option I target since he doesn’t normally bring much strikeout upside. With the limited options on Saturday night, though, his overall effectiveness and ability to limit damage is enough to make him worth a look at this salary.
Ober allowed exactly one earned run in six of his last seven outings while going 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 2.54 FIP over that span. He only had 29 strikeouts in 39 innings over that span, but he also had zero or one walk in six of those seven starts.
Ever since a disaster to start the season, Ober has at least 14 DraftKings points in eight of his last 10 starts. The Mariners have been struggling a little bit lately, scoring three runs or fewer in six of their last 10 contests and averaging just 3.5 runs per game with a 23.8% strikeout rate, which ranks in the top 10 in the majors over that time frame. Even without a ton of strikeouts, Ober should be able to deliver enough fantasy points to be worth a look at just over $7,000.
INFIELD
Stud
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Yankees, $6,500: Shohei loves the spotlight! He rose to the occasion on Friday night after the Yankees got out to an early lead, leading the Dodgers back with a pair of home runs and 28 fantasy points.
Ohtani leads the majors with 22 homers and is hitting .294 with a .441 wOBA and 11 stolen bases on the season. He has five homers in his last five games and 15 homers in his last 25 games dating back to the start of May. He has a .498 wOBA in those 25 games along with a 65.8% hard-hit rate and 27.6% barrel rate. He leads the majors with 38 barrels on the season and has 21 barrels in his last 25 games. While the matchup doesn’t matter much since Ohtani is so good, Yankees starter Will Warren ($8,000) has given up three of his four homers to left-handed hitters, who have a .313 wOBA against him this season.
Value
Josh Bell, Washington Nationals at Arizona Diamondbacks, $3,000: Since you can move Ohtani to the outfield if you prefer, you can still use him along with Josh Bell, who brings nice value at 1B after a few big games. Bell has posted multiple hits and a home run for 20+ fantasy points in three straight games to fuel the Nats to three straight wins with nine runs in each game.
Overall, Bell is still hitting only .181 with a .287 wOBA, but he has been finding a good groove, hitting .294 with four homers and a .408 wOBA over the last 15 games. The switch-hitter also gets the advantage of facing Brandon Pfaadt as a lefty, and left-handed hitters have had success against Pfaadt this year. In his 11 starts, Pfaadt has allowed 12 home runs with seven of those coming from left-handed hitters.
Value
Jose Tena, Washington Nationals at Arizona Diamondbacks, $2,800: Tena is another lefty from the Nats with good potential at a bargain rate this Saturday. The third baseman is 11-for-32 (.344) over his last nine games with four doubles, a triple, and eight runs scored. He averaged 8.0 fantasy points over that span, and he has at least 12 fantasy points in four of his last 12 contests. He went 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk for 15 fantasy points on Friday, too.
OUTFIELD
Stud
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees at Los Angeles Dodgers, $6,600: Judge went yard to start the Yankees’ series against the Dodgers with a bang before Ohtani stole the show and rallied his team to the win. Judge’s blast gave him 19 homers on the season, and he’s hitting .392 overall with a .511 wOBA that would be a new career high if he can continue at this pace.
He has seven of his home runs over his last 18 games with a 55.1% hard-hit rate and an 18.4% barrel rate. He’s in a better matchup than Ohtani since Dodgers starter Landon Knack has given up six homers in 29 1/3 innings this season. Right-handed hitters have hit five of those six home runs with a .291 batting average and .398 wOBA against him.
Stud
Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins at Seattle Mariners, $5,700: If you want a slugger from one of the other games besides Yankees-Dodgers, Buxton is a great option to consider. Over his last 11 games, he is averaging 12.5 fantasy points per contest, going 11-for-41 (.268) with four home runs, two stolen bases, and a .407 wOBA.
Buxton and the Twins will take on the Mariners’ Bryce Miller ($8,500) who is coming off of the injured list after missing a couple of weeks with right elbow inflammation. The Twins tapped out the Mariners’ bullpen on Friday in extra innings, so Seattle could be thin on pitching options behind Miller, setting up Buxton and the Twins as solid plays.
Value
Robert Hassell III, Washington Nationals at Arizona Diamondbacks, $2,600: Hassell is another lefty from the Nats who brings good value upside against Pfaadt. He is averaging 7.0 fantasy points in his eight games since joining the team on May 22. He had two hits and a stolen base in his MLB debut for 15 fantasy points, and he has averaged 12.7 fantasy points over his last three games.
Hassell hit his first home run in the majors on Wednesday and picked up to hits and three RBI on Friday as well. Hassell hit .288 with four homers and nine stolen bases in his 43 games in Triple-A for the Rochester Red Wings and brings both power and speed potential to his matchup against Pfaadt on Saturday night.
