After a strong afternoon slate, the MLB has seven games on the main DFS slate on Saturday night, with the action starting at 7:10 p.m. ET. Four of the games start right away, with the Padres, Dodgers and Mariners closing things out later in the evening. If you’re searching for some MLB DFS value picks to round out your roster on this Saturday night slate, check out these three affordable options that bring nice upside.
The weather doesn’t look like it will be much of a factor with roofs in Milwaukee and Seattle along with clear skies across the rest of the slate. The wind will be blowing out at Dodger Stadium, giving bats a bit of a boost in Hollywood. While there are a few pay-up starting pitchers and big bats to consider, there are also a few great plays that cost much less but still have major upside.
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Best MLB DFS value plays
SP Foster Griffin, Washington Nationals, $6,800
Of the probable pitchers on Saturday, Griffin is the best cheap option with the most upside from his affordable salary under $8,000. Both Parker Messick ($8,100) and Kyle Harrison ($8,200) are solid midrange options, but Griffin brings good upside from an even lower salary. Griffin has pitched 10 innings in his two starts, giving up three runs on 10 hits with 11 punchouts. He earned 17.6 FPTS against the Phillies and 16.4 FPTS against the Dodgers.
The 30-year-old lefty pitched for the last three years in Japan, going 18-10 in three seasons with an ERA under 3.05 each season and 318 strikeouts in 315 2/3 innings in 54 games. Griffin looks ready to contribute in his return to the majors, and the lefty will look to deliver good value again even in this tough matchup against Milwaukee. The Brewers have scored the fifth-most runs in the majors, but they are only hitting .219 against lefties with a 25.7% strikeout rate. Griffin hasn’t been efficient enough to pitch into the sixth inning yet, but he’s been effective in each of his two five-inning outings.
OF Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals, $3,200
I’m going back to the well again on Saturday with Jordan Walker, who has been excellent in the early part of the season and gets another matchup against a lefty on Saturday night. Walker has been a trendy option at times in the past, but he hasn’t had staying power. Over his 13 games this season, Walker is 15-for-48 (.313) with two doubles, five homers and an impressive .456 wOBA that has helped him average 11.2 FPTS per contest.
He went 2-for-4 with 8 FPTS in the first game of this series against the Red Sox. He’ll go up against lefty Ranger Suarez ($8,300) on Saturday night, and he is 7-for-15 (.467) with two doubles, three homers and a .724 wOBA against southpaws this season.
1B/2B Casey Schmitt, San Francisco Giants, $2,700
Schmitt has been very productive in his nine games this season, going 10-for-30 (.333) with two walks, a stolen base, eight runs scored and three RBIs. Schmitt has at least 9.0 FPTS in each of his last three games, including a big game to start the series in Baltimore.
He went 3-for-5 with three doubles and 21 FPTS on Friday night and is 7-for-11 in his last three games. Over his last two games, he has a 100% hard-hit rate, and on the season, he’s up to a 50% hard-hit rate and .500 SLG. Schmitt and the Giants should be in a favorable matchup against Chris Bassitt ($7,500), who has allowed 10 runs on 12 hits with six walks over 6 1/3 innings in his first two starts. Schmitt is an extremely cheap option to slot in at 1B or 2B with good upside if he keeps hitting the ball so well.
