This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
FanDuel's Saturday main slate features eight games in the evening, with first pitch spanning between 7:05 p.m. EDT and 9:38.
Weather looks mainly dry with the possible exception of Kansas City, though a postponement seems unlikely. And we're looking windy there and in Colorado, where we could see up to 40 mph gusts! It's no surprise that Coors' Field brings us our highest run total on the slate at 11.5, but Astros-Rangers isn't too far behind at 10.0. The low point comes in Padres-Giants at just 8.0 runs.
Unlike Friday where we had a plethora of big pitching prices, Saturday offers just one arm priced in five-figures and two more above $9,000, so we're seemingly going to be seeking value there and likely will have some additional funds for offense as a result. We don't have a listed arm for Tampa, but in Colorado they wouldn't be under consideration. It just limits our ability to confidently target Rockies' hitter splits.
Pitching
Garrett Whitlock, BOS at LAA ($8,900): I'm really not digging the arms priced above Whitlock Saturday due to tough matchups and early poor form. So we'll settle here for an arm in an identical spot as last night where I unsuccessfully back Kutter Crawford. Whitlock had a terrific spring and followed it up with eight strikeouts in five innings to open the year. Los Angeles is striking out at a 26.1 percent rate off righties.
Michael Wacha, KC vs. CWS ($8,100): When there's no one you really believe in, the fallback is almost always going to be to look and see who is facing the White Sox. They're 1-6, have scored just 13 runs all season, being shut out as many times as they've topped three runs. The 20.8 percent strikeout rate isn't huge out of the gates, but that's not really Wacha's game, as he hasn't topped one per inning since 2020. We're just looking for five or six clean innings and some run support to boost his upside into a 4x return.
DL Hall, MIL vs. SEA ($6,300): Just a dart throw here at 20 fantasy points for less than $7,000. We know Hall has good stuff, the question has always been if he can harness it and throw enough strikes. You can argue he did in his opener, as he allowed six hits in four innings, so let's see if he can keep it in the zone here and induce more swings and misses. The Mariners have the second-fewest plate appearances against lefties to date, so maybe Hall can sneak up and give them something they haven't seen much of. Seattle has just an 19.6 percent strikeout rate against southpaws, but also just a .277 wOBA, suggesting Hall can limit damage.
Top Targets
Astros' starter J.P. France was tough on lefties last season, but he hasn't solved Corey Seager ($3,800) in limited chances, allowing three hits, including two homers, in just five at bats. Seager is in fine form out of the gates with nine hits in six games.
The same logic in targeting pitchers against the White Sox applies to hitters against them, as their staff as a whole has a 4.71 FIP while striking out just 7.9 per nine. As such, we can feel comfortable building around Bobby Witt ($4,100), who's already collected 12 hits through eight games. He's been thrown out stealing three times, but we can find upside in the fact he's already attempted five steals. A fun player who impacts the game at all levels.
Bargain Bats
We know we're going to want shares in Rockies-Rays, but I don't really love the priced up spots due to the ballpark factor. Nolan Jones ($3,500) looks like a fair option at a discounted price. He got off to a slow start, but is 3-for-8 over his last two and was active across the board yesterday. For Tampa, if you're trusting early season splits, Jose Siri ($3,400) has a team-leading .468 wOBA and 221 wRC+ off righties, even if the game logs don't suggest that much success. Ben Rortvedt ($2,600) sits at .426/191, though only has 11 plate appearances, which is far north of his career norms, but he's a dart throw if behind the dish.
San Diego's Michael King is walking a whopping 12.3 per nine and allowing 2.45 HR/9. We can't trust him to work deep, but stacking Giants isn't a bad idea as they're cheap. But for a one-off, Michael Conforto ($3,500) is scorching hot, and boasts an unsustainable .527 wOBA, 227 wRC+ and .400 ISO off righties. Patrick Bailey ($2,600) doesn't have the same upside but is priced well to use as you round out your build.
Stacks to Consider
Astros vs. Jon Gray (Rangers): Jose Altuve ($3,800), Kyle Tucker ($3,600), Chas McCormick ($2,900)
This is a weird slate in that I don't love the arms, but I don't really love the hitting matchups either. As such, if you're a believer in stacking, it makes sense to just target the better offenses on the slate, which Houston certainly qualifies as. Gray struggled in his opener and was far worse at home last year (5.15 FIP) than on the road (3.78 FIP). This isn't a traditional lineup order stack, but Altuve and Tucker give us shares around the slow-starting Yordan Alvarez. Tucker is off to a decent enough start, and I'm going to target him almost every night with this mid-tier price. Altuve has a robust .578 wOBA, 297 wRC+ and .500 ISO off righties through 25 plate appearances. McCormick gives us some salary relief and is 5-for-7 off Gray with a 1.625 OPS.
Blue Jays vs. Clarke Schmidt (Yankees): Vladimir Guerrero ($3,400), Bo Bichette ($3,000), Justin Turner ($3,000)
The current Blue Jays lineup is 10-for-48 (.208) off of Schmidt, with no one having faced him more than eight times, so perhaps not enough to support trends. But half of those hits have been homers so there's some upside, and given the price points in the Jays lineup, you can seemingly target whomever you prefer and/or go strictly based on positional needs as you have openings. Bichette and Guerrero are no doubt scuffling out of the gates, which will give us lower roster percentages, and Turner benefits from hitting in the cleanup spot around these big names. Certainly a GPP-only stack here given current form.
