This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
It's the first Saturday of the MLB season, and all 30 teams are in action. The first matchup starts at 1:40 p.m. ET, so let's take a look at the full-day slate! You'll have a lot of options across the board for your rosters, so to try and make that easier for you, here are my DFS recommendations.
Pitching
Tanner Bibee, CLE at OAK ($49): The Guardians added Bibee to the rotation last year, and he acclimated himself well as a rookie. He made 25 starts and posted a 2.98 ERA. Oakland was comfortably the worst offense in MLB last year, 30th in runs scored and team OPS, and the team certainly did nothing to lead me to believe that will change in 2024.
Grayson Rodriguez, BAL vs. LAA ($44): Rodriguez hit the Orioles rotation as the most-vaunted pitching prospect in baseball last season. It was a rough introduction to the bigs, but the talented hurler did start to put things together. Rodriguez had a 2.26 ERA over his final 12 starts. The Angels were 18th in runs scored last year, but Shohei Ohtani has moved from Anaheim up to Los Angeles proper, and if they finish out of the bottom 10 on that front this season, most people would probably be surprised.
Tommy Henry, ARI vs. COL ($32): Henry had a 4.15 ERA last season, but he had some stark home/road splits. Away from Arizona he posted a 5.05 ERA, but he had a home ERA of 3.38 and allowed only 0.8 home runs per nine innings. Of course, the Rockies are consistently a worse offensive team away from Coors Field, and even with their home park they finished 18th in runs scored last season.
Top Targets
Hitting well over .300? Scoring over 100 runs? Racking up 29 homers? That's all part for the course for Freddie Freeman ($22). Last year, though, he also added 23 stolen bases, and of course his 59 doubles were eye popping. He'll face his short-lived teammate Lance Lynn on Sunday, and Freeman will be happy to see him again. That's because lefties have hit .274 against him since 2022, though.
The Rays have plans to be aggressive on the base paths according to reports, and Randy Arozarena ($18) has had over 20 stolen bases in all three of his MLB seasons as is. He's also had 20 homers in all three of those campaigns as well. Yusei Kikuchi had a 4.11 FIP and allowed 1.45 home runs per nine innings last year. Those aren't good numbers, but they are also the best numbers of his career outside of 2020. That means he could be worse this year, but even if he isn't, he's a worthy target for your righty hitters.
Bargain Bats
Do I like the fact that Andres Gimenez ($18) had 15 homers and 30 bases last season? Absolutely, as those are strong counting stats for a second baseman. What I like even more, though, is the fact he's actually been slightly better against his fellow lefties the last couple years, as he has a .780 OPS versus southpaws since 2022. JP Sears is a lefty pitcher who is worse against left-handed hitters. In fact, last year lefties batted .323 against him.
Alright, so it turns out Joey Meneses ($13) did not suddenly turn into a high-level slugger in his thirties. However, he hit .275 and had 36 doubles to go with 13 homers in 2023. For now, the righty is the primary DH for the Nationals, and until the rebuild is a little further along, that will likely remain true. Will this be the year Hunter Greene's massive fastball and elite strikeout rates yield better overall numbers? He had a 4.24 FIP and allowed 1.53 homers per nine innings last season, and both of those are improvements upon his rookie campaign in 2022.
Stacks to Consider
Reds vs. Nationals (Patrick Corbin): Spencer Steer ($20), Jonathan India ($17), Tyler Stephenson ($13)
It's a tradition unlike any other: Recommending three righties every time Patrick Corbin takes the mound for the Nationals. He's posted an ERA over 5.00 and allowed over 1.5 homers per nine innings in each of his last three campaigns. Righties hit over .300 against him like clockwork. The Reds get the first shot against Corbin in 2024. It's like putting on a comfortable old pair of slippers getting to the stacking.
In his rookie campaign Steer posted a .356 OBP with 23 homers and 15 stolen bases. Against lefties he managed a .928 OPS, including slugging .550. There were some murmurings about India's future with the Reds, but with Matt McLain injured and Noelvi Marte suspended, the one-time NL Rookie of the Year is still ensconced in the lineup. It's not for a lack of viability, as India is a good hitter for a second baseman. Last season he struggled on the road, but India had an .819 OPS at home. Stephenson is now the number-one catcher for the Reds. Since 2022 he has an .815 OPS versus southpaws and an .808 OPS at home, so this is the kind of game you want to roster him as your DFS catcher.
Cubs at Rangers (Cody Bradford): Seiya Suzuki ($22), Ian Happ ($19), Christopher Morel ($17)
One of the reasons you aren't seeing a lot of people predict the Rangers repeat is that they are treading water with their rotation as they wait for their pitchers to get healthy. Bradford had a 3.63 ERA as a starter in Triple-A last season. He was called up to MLB, mostly pitched in relief (with eight starts), and posted a 5.30 ERA while allowing 1.77 homers per nine innings. Since he's a lefty, I decided to stack three Cubs who can hit right handed.
Suzuki did take a step forward in his second season in MLB, even if he hasn't really "popped" just yet. However, he did bat .285 with 20 homers and six triples. The Japanese hitter also has an .850 OPS against lefties in the majors. Switch hitter Happ had a .360 OBP last season with 21 homers and 14 stolen bases. While he did hit better against righties, Happ had an .832 OPS on the road in 2023, and a few Cubs righties hit decidedly better at Wrigley Field. Morel isn't going to walk much, or challenge for a batting title, but he has true power. The righty slugged .508 last season with 26 homers in 107 games. More to the point, Morel slugged .576 against lefties and .520 on the road.
