It is time for Saturday baseball! Today we get a main slate of 8 games kicking off at 4:05 PM EST on both DraftKings and FanDuel. It was originally a 9-game slate, but the Cleveland Guardians vs New York Mets game has been postponed. There are plenty of exciting matchups happening, although it is a slate void of many true ace pitchers. The top pitching options today are highlighted by Logan Webb and Mitch Keller. In a day without top-end pitching, getting some value options as pitchers instead can be a great way to build a winning DFS lineup. There are also some strong offenses to go after today, with my favorites being the Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, and Cincinnati Reds but with quite a few other options being viable as well. With that said, let’s dive into some of my favorite value options of the day! 

 

MLB DFS Value Pitchers

Braxton Garrett, Miami Marlins (DraftKings: $6,300 / FanDuel: $7,200) 

After a rough outing against the Atlanta Braves, where he surrendered 11 runs off 14 hits, Braxton Garret has bounced back and settled back into pitching very well. In his last outing against the Cincinnati Reds, he struck out 8 and only have up 1 run through 5 innings. The San Francisco Giants shouldn’t be much of an issue for him today, as they are terrible against left-handed pitching. At this price, he is a fantastic option to rack up a ton of strikeouts (Giants 26.7 K% against lefties) and overall put up a good outing. 

Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks (DraftKings: $5,400 / FanDuel: $6,000) 

It is rare to find a pitcher this cheap that you can trust, but I think Brandon Pfaadt is a decent option today in this matchup. In his last start, he put up 5 innings of one-hit ball (a solo home run) and struck out 5 against the San Francisco Giants, who aren’t terrible against right-handed pitching, and today he gets to face the Pittsburgh Pirates. Don’t let the Pittsburgh Pirates strong start at the beginning of the season fool you into not targeting them. Over the last 30 days, they have slashed .239/.319/.369 and in the last 14 days, that drops even further to a .229/.307/.336 slash line. The Pirates hot streak is over, and you should be targeting them, especially when the pitcher facing them comes in at this price. 

MLB DFS Value Hitters

Jonah Heim, C Texas Rangers (DraftKings: $4,100 / FanDuel: $3,800) 

Jonah Heim is starting to be much more reasonably priced compared to what he has been, but it still hasn’t moved enough for him not to be a great value play when facing a left-handed pitcher like he is today in Kyle Freeland. Kyle Freeland is not a great pitcher and, lots of times, struggles more on the road than he does at home in Coors. Jonah Heim still holds a 1.109 OPS against left-handed pitching and if you aren’t punting the catcher position today, Heim should be the one in your lineup. 

Harold Ramirez, 1B Tampa Bay Rays (DraftKings: $4,000 / FanDuel: $3,100) 

Here we have another lefty killer that is being far undervalued in a matchup today with Harold Ramirez. Ramirez is slashing .385/.407/.654 against left-handed pitching. I don’t expect Eric Lauer to be able to handle this strong Tampa Bay Rays lineup today at all, and Harold Ramirez should be batting right in the heart of it. Harold Ramirez doesn’t look to be much of a power hitter but with 6 home runs already on the year, you can’t count him out to take one deep, especially in a good matchup like today. 

Taylor Walls, 2B/3B Tampa Bay Rays (DraftKings: $4,000 / FanDuel: $3,400) 

All the stuff I just said about Harold Ramirez can be applied to Taylor Walls, except Walls has been even better against left-handed pitching than Ramirez. Walls is slashing .423/.483/.808 against left-handed pitching. Yes, that is an .808 slugging, not an .808 OPS; his OPS is 1.290, which is 5th best of all hitters in the majors with at least 20 plate appearances. While Walls seemed like a glove-first player coming up (he still is, but because he might be one of the best defensive players in the league), it is clear that he can hit as well, and I am willing to be on him against Eric Lauer today. 

Ezequiel Duran, SS Texas Rangers (DraftKings: $2,700 / FanDuel: $2,900) 

Ezequiel Duran is red hot right now with 10 hits in his last 7 games, with 6 of them being extra-base hits, including 2 home runs and a stolen base. He has been amazing against left-handed pitching all season as well. He has a .981 OPS against left-handers so in a matchup against Kyle Freeland today, he should be able to keep this hot streak going; yesterday, he had 3 hits and a stolen base. Duran is batting lower down in the lineup, but the Texas Rangers offense is strong, and stacking the lefty killers of Ezequiel Duran, Jonah Heim, and Josh Jung is a very viable option in this sort of matchup. 

 

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