This is the second Saturday in a row where most games occur at night. It’s hard to understand why MLB is doing that, but we love it from a DFS perspective. It allows us to zone in on the main slates starting at 7ET and gives us a ton of players to talk about. With that in mind, let’s look at the pitchers for this slate!
UPDATE: Three games have been moved up from Sunday to Saturday, but all the picks remain the same! It will be chaotic with three doubleheaders, though!
Starting Pitcher Rankings
This is the second Saturday in a row where most games occur at night. It’s hard to understand why MLB is doing that, but we love it from a DFS perspective. It allows us to zone in on the main slates starting at 7ET and gives us a ton of players to talk about. With that in mind, let’s look at the pitchers for this slate!
UPDATE: Three games have been moved up from Sunday to Saturday, but all the picks remain the same! It will be chaotic with three doubleheaders, though!
Starting Pitcher Rankings
Starting Pitcher Strategy
This is a fascinating slate from a pitching perspective. We don’t have many top-notch aces taking the mound, but we have plenty of good options. It’s strange just how many pitchers we like in the same price range, but none of them are too expensive, either. Most of these guys have shown some flaws all year, but we trust all four of these guys to do well in such premium matchups. With that in mind, let’s start with a young Dodgers pitcher!
Cash Game Recommendations:
Julio Urias (LAD) vs. MIA
The Dodgers are rolling right now, and they’re starting pitching is the primary reason why. Urias has been one of their studs since his call-up, compiling a 2.90 ERA and 1.03 WHIP since 2018. We love that, paired with his recent form, totaling a 1.50 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, and 11.0 K/9 rate across his last three starts. That hot stretch should continue in this marvelous matchup, with Miami ranked 25th in runs scored.
Tanner Bibee (CLE) vs. DET
The Guardians always manage to pull these gems out of the minors, and Bibee is yet another one of them. The right-hander has allowed three runs or fewer in 17 of 19 starts this year, tallying a 2.23 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in those outings. He’s also scored at least 34 FanDuel points in five of his last six starts and should reach that against Detroit. The Tigers rank bottom four in runs scored, OBP, OPS, wOBA, and K rate, with Bibee entering this matchup as a -170 favorite.
GPP Recommendations:
Sonny Gray (MIN) vs. PIT
Gray has quietly had a bounceback season in Minnesota, maintaining a 3.04 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and 9.2 K/9 rate. A rough stretch in the middle of the season hurt his averages, but Sonny has five straight quality starts entering this matchup. One of those looks like a near guarantee against Pittsburgh, ranked bottom three in runs scored, wOBA, and K rate since the opening month of the year.
Yu Darvish (SD) vs. ARI
Darvish is having one of his worst seasons, but this is a great GPP option. This has been one of the best pitchers over the last decade, and he can go off in any good matchup. That’s what he has here, with Arizona sitting near the bottom of every offensive statistic since the All-Star break. That was evident when Yu surrendered just one run in their two matchups earlier in the year.
Top Lineup Stacks
We’ve been stacking against Oakland all year, and it’s easy to understand why. The A’s rank last in ERA and WHIP, with Waldichuk collecting a 6.07 ERA and 1.70 WHIP. He’d likely be kicked out of any other rotation in the league, but Oakland needs him to swallow up innings. That’s scary against a bludgeoning lineup like Baltimore, ranked eighth in runs scored while plowing left-handers all year.
There aren’t many offenses we like today, but using anybody in Coors Field against Colorado is a good idea. The Rockies rank 29th in ERA and WHIP, while Coors has surrendered the most runs in the league since it was built. That should get this struggling White Sox offense going, especially against Kyle Freeland. The Rockies lefty has a 6.19 ERA and 1.71 WHIP since the middle of May.
Stacking this Coors Field game is the best way to approach this slate. We have two questionable pitchers in the most hitter-friendly environment in baseball. Scholtens might not look too shabby on the surface, but his 4.90 xFIP is 1.70 runs above his ERA. That means some negative regression is right around the corner, and a start in Coors Field might kickstart that regression.
Core Studs
- The White Sox have had a woeful season, but it’s no fault of Robert. The outfielder is actually having a career year in Chicago, slinging a .273 AVG, .567 SLG and .895 OPS. He’s also got 32 homers and 16 steals, making him an elite DFS option in Coors Field. He’s also scorched southpaws too, totaling a .402 OBP, .616 SLG, and 1.018 OPS against them over the last three years.
- It’s hard to believe the sort of run Freeman is on right now. The MVP candidate has a .374 AVG, .444 OBP, .648 SLG, and 1.094 OPS across his last 43 games. That’s scary since he has a .420 OBP against righties over the last three years, and he could get to a struggling Eury Perez. The Marlins righty has a 9.00 ERA and 1.67 WHIP across his last four starts.
- If we use the Orioles against a lefty, Mountcastle needs to be the first player in our build. The first baseman has a .339 AVG, .374 OBP, .688 SLG, and 1.061 OPS with the platoon advantage in his favor this season. He’s also been rolling recently, registering a .471 OBP, .667 SLG, and 1.137 OPS across his last 21 games.
- The first place you need to start when stacking the O’s is to get Mountcastle and Rutschman into your lineup. We love Adley because he’s one of the few dominant players at the catching position, amassing a .427 OBP, .500 SLG, and .027 OPS against left-handers this year. These two are why this team has clobbered southpaws all year, and there’s no chance a guy like Waldichuk slows them down.
Value Plays/Punts
- Jones has been the Rockies most reliable bat in his rookie season, and he will have a nice career in Coors Field. The outfielder is up to 12 homers and seven steals, despite playing just 65 games. He’s also got a .963 OPS across his last 13 outings and will likely be a .900 OPS player whenever he hits Coors Field against a righty.
- We don’t trust many White Sox bats, but Vaughn is a worthy cheap option. The slugger has a .746 OPS since the start of last season but was closer to a .900 OPS in the minors. Experts project he’ll get closer to that, which is what we’ve seen recently. Vaughn has a .293 AVG and .817 OPS across his last 16 games while posting a .826 OPS against left-handers since his call-up.
- It’s been a disappointing season for McNeil and the rest of the Mets, but this is still one of the best pure hitters in baseball. The three-hole hitter for NY has a .297 AVG, .362 OBP, and .798 OPS throughout his career! He’s got a .392 OBP and .869 OPS across his last 12 outings while mauling Miles Mikolas in their matchups. In 12 at-bats against Mikolas, McNeil has a .583 OBP, .727 SLG and 1.310 OPS.
- Joc Jams has made a career of killing right-handers, which consistently earns him a prominent spot in the Giants lineup against them. Over the last three years, Pederson has a .813 OPS with the platoon advantage in his favor. That makes him way too cheap against Yonny Chirinos, compiling an 8.61 ERA and 1.57 WHIP across his last five starts.
Hitter Strategy
We have a ton of solid pitchers toeing the rubber, which made picking hitters challenging. There were only a handful of offenses we wanted to use today, with the Chicag0-Colorado matchup looking like the game stack of the day. That total is massive compared to everything else, especially since we have so many dominant pitchers across the board. We want to pair some of those arms with the hitters in that game and then mix in some Orioles, Mets, and Giants.
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Joel Bartilotta is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Joel, check out his archive and follow him @Bartilottajoel.
