All 30 MLB teams are on the schedule this Saturday, and for a second straight night, DraftKings has a solid seven-game evening slate on the board. The 14 teams in action offer plenty of different ways to attack the slate, so let’s break it down and pinpoint a few places that make sense for value plays this Saturday night.
Some teams are playing their third game of the season while others had a day off on either Thursday or Friday and are playing just their second. Teams are still near the top of their rotation, so strong options are toeing the rubber, for the most part. Even with plenty of good arms in play, there are some strong value picks on the board! Let’s take a look.
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Best MLB DFS value plays
SP Will Warren, New York Yankees at San Franicsco Giants, $7,200
Warren is always a tantalizing value play on DraftKings due to his high strikeout rate. Last year, he went 9-8 with a 4.44 ERA and 4.07 FIP with 171 strikeouts in 162 1/3 innings. His 24.1% K% gives him lots of potential to produce when he’s at the top of his game, and his peripheral numbers show room for improvement this year. The 26-year-old had an impressive spring with just four earned runs allowed over 25 1/3 innings, plus 22 strikeouts. He worked into the fifth inning in his final tune-up and should be set for a standard workload against the Giants.
The Giants have yet to score in their first two games against the Yankees, going a combined 4-for-59 (.068) as a team. The Giants also have 19 strikeouts in 18 innings, and Warren will look to continue their early-season slumps on Saturday night.
1B/OF Jake Bauers, Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago White Sox, $2,700
Bauers is an outstanding value for DFS lineups on Saturday against Sean Burke ($6,500) and the White Sox. Bauers had a huge Spring Training, going 18-for-39 (.462) with six doubles, seven homers and only five singles. He was hitting everything hard and carried that over to Opening Day, when he went 2-for-5 with a three-run blast and an additional run scored.
Bauers will be very busy in the early part of the season with Jackson Chourio (hand) out, and his power potential and hot bat make him a strong play under $3,000, especially since he can slide in either at first base or in the outfield. I highlighted Bauers in my top home run props of the day as well.
2B/3B Santiago Espinal, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, $2,200
Espinal earned a spot on the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster with a huge spring, slashing .378/.415/.644 along with two homers, 13 RBI, 13 runs scored, and a stolen base. The team opted to keep him over Hyeseong Kim, partly due to the fact that he is a right-handed bat who can split time and start against lefties like Eduardo Rodriguez ($7,400). Rodriguez will be the first lefty the Dodgers have faced, which could get Espinal in the lineup at this salary just over the minimum.
Coming off a hot spring, he has great upside as a value play at either 2B or 3B, especially if he hits ninth right ahead of the big bats when the lineup turns over.
