There are nine MLB games on the slate for Saturday, with the first starting at 1:05 p.m. EST. Here are three value picks for the slate. This article is written before the actual lineups come out, so keep track of updates throughout the day.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $125K Bat Flip [$25K to 1st]
SP Kumar Rocker, Texas Rangers vs. Detroit Tigers, $6,400
Rocker was selected with the third overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. He’s a mountain of a man at 6’5″ and 245 pounds. Oh, he also can get the fastball up to 99 mph.
As with most young pitchers, though, he’s struggled in his first real MLB stint. He did appear in three contests last season, but that was only for 11.2 innings. Through 49.1 innings this season, the ERA is a whopping 6.39 and he’s allowed nine home runs. The strikeout rate is only 19.3% and he’s been getting hit hard. The average exit velocity is 91.5 mph, the barrel rate is 13% and the hard hit rate is 48.4%.
He’s cheap for reasons.
But not all is doom and gloom. The swinging strike rate is 11.2% and the chase rate is 30%. He’s averaging 96 mph on the fastball and the FIP is much lower than the ERA at 4.87. The BABIP is an elevated .329 while the strand rate is 64.2%.
The biggest thing, though, is that Rocker has gotten rocked on the road. He’s allowed 29 earned runs on the road, compared to only six at home. He’s pitched 26.1 innings on the road and 23 at home. This game is at home.
In addition, the Tigers strike out at the third-highest rate against right-handed pitching.
SP Lance McCullers Jr., Houston Astros at Seattle Mariners, $6,800
The range of outcomes is extremely wide for McCullers. I’d rather spend my time watching someone play with a yo yo than scroll through his game log.
McCullers has four games below 10 FPTS this season. Two of those were worse than -10. On the flip side, he has two games over 27 FPTS.
In 41.2 innings, the strikeout rate is nice at 24.5%. Unfortunately, the walk rate is an absurd 13% while he’s allowed nine home runs. The ERA is 6.48 while the FIP is 5.77.
Here’s the thing with McCullers this season, though. He’s been much better on the road than at home. Eight of the nine earned runs have come at home while he’s limited batters to a .181/.298/.236 slash on their home field. This game is in Seattle, which is one of the better pitcher-friendly parks in MLB.
2B/OF Angel Martinez, Cleveland Guardians vs. Athletics, $2,800
I feel so gross writing up Martinez because many of the advanced numbers make me want to vomit. The chase rate is 41.4%, the hard hit rate is 27.7%, the barrel rate is 3.8% and the average exit velocity is 87.3 mph.
That said, he does have eight home runs on the season and the ISO is a respectable .154.
While he’s primarily been batting towards the bottom of the lineup, he’s also spent some time in the leadoff or second position. On Friday, Martinez was back in the leadoff spot because Steven Kwan was kept out of the lineup due to a wrist issue. If Martinez is back in the leadoff spot again on Saturday, that by itself probably pays for the price tag.
If that doesn’t float your boat, in the second-to-last series before the All-Star break, Martinez hit a home runs in three straight games.
