While most of Major League Baseball starts on Thursday, the New York Yankees visit the San Francisco Giants in a standalone contest on Wednesday night at Oracle Park. Netflix will broadcast the opener as the 2026 regular season gets underway, looking to build on the momentum of an outstanding World Baseball Classic. DraftKings is ready for the first pitch of the season and has some great options lined up for the Yankees at Giants MLB DFS showdown contests.
The pitching matchup features Logan Webb ($11,200) on the hill for San Francisco, while Max Fried ($11,000) gets the call for the Yankees.
Let’s take a look at what to expect and how to attack this Yankees at Giants matchup.
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Yankees at Giants DFS Showdown Strategy
Captain’s Picks
Logan Webb ($16,800 CP) – Even though he’ll be facing the much tougher lineup, Webb is the stronger option in this matchup at home, since he had a much better spring and should be more in midseason form after pitching in the WBC for Team USA. Webb matched a career-high with 15 wins and set a career-high with 224 strikeouts last season, while posting a 3.22 ERA, 2.60 FIP and 1.24 WHIP. Webb was especially sharp at home with a 9.8 K/9 and dominated lefties at home with 10.3 K/9 and only a 2.54 FIP in that split.
The Yankees lineup is definitely a formidable one, but Webb should be fired up for his Opening Night start and ready to stack up strikeouts in San Francisco.
Willy Adames ($12,000 CP) – Adames hit 30 homers in his first season by the Bay and ended up with a .321 wOBA despite only a .225 batting average. While that’s a low average to finish the season with, it’s a dramatic improvement on the .165 he hit in his first 65 games with the Giants.
Adames struggled against both righties and lefties last year but connected on 10 of his 30 homers against southpaws like Fried. He is also 3-for-9 with three doubles in the past against Fried. He’ll be hitting cleanup in the season opener behind the new-and-improved top third of the lineup with Luis Arraez, Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers in front of him.
UTIL Plays
Rafael Devers ($9,600) – Devers hit 34 homers and had 109 RBIs last season while being traded from the Red Sox to the Giants midseason. His average slipped to .252 after it was over .270 for each of the previous four years, but he still brings plenty of pop to the middle of the order, especially against lefties. He’s 3-for-9 with a homer in the past against Fried, and he started finding his groove at the end of the Cactus League after a slow start. Stacking Devers and Adames back-to-back could be a risk that pays off against Fried.
Jose Caballero ($5,400) – Caballero will serve as the team’s starting shortstop to begin the year with Anthony Volpe out with a shoulder injury. Caballero led the majors with 49 stolen bases last season, and he should be a great source of value at his low salary.
Austin Wells ($5,200) – Wells was part of the juggernaut that was the Dominican Republic in the WBC and went 4-for-15 in five games with a pair of home runs and five RBIs. He went 4-for-20 with two doubles and another in his time with the Yankees. He brings great power at an affordable price and is a great salary stretcher as he takes on Webb.
Fades
Heliot Ramos ($7,000) – While I like several members of the Giants lineup, I’m not in on Ramos, who is usually one of my go-to options, especially against lefties. However, he only went 1-for-16 in the WBC. He did look much better in his time in the Cactus League, but I’d rather get my big bats from the middle of San Francisco’s order and cheap options from the Yankees’ side of the box score.
I also don’t trust Fried at all since he had control issues and his velocity dropped in spring training. He could bounce back when the lights go on for real, but I’m not confident in him enough to build around him at his high salary.
The Outcome
The Yankees lineup will mash again this season, but Webb should be able to hold them in check on Opening Night. While it probably will not be a high-scoring game, I think the Giants will scratch out enough against the early-season Fried and pull out the win on Opening Night.
Final Score: San Francisco 4, New York 2
