As a jam-packed Memorial Day weekend continues in Major League Baseball, Saturday night features a fabulous six-game fantasy baseball slate on DraftKings. Two games get the party started at 7:15 p.m. ET as the Dodgers visit the Reds and the Cubs and Cards meet up in St. Louis. The four later games include a great pitching matchup in San Diego and the league-leading Phillies trying to tame the Rockies at Coors Field after losing the series opener on Friday night in extra innings.
With a dozen teams in the player pool, there are a wide variety of ways to attack the slate, including stacking either the Phillies or the Dodgers. It’s also a tricky starting pitching slate to solve since the most expensive pitchers come with huge risk factors. Let’s dive into my top plays for Saturday night:
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PITCHER
Stud
Tanner Bibee, Cleveland Guardians at Los Angeles Angels ($8,800) – With Dylan Cease ($9,700) facing the red-hot Yankees and Aaron Nola ($9,000) at Coors Field, Bibee is a pivot play that makes a lot of sense in his matchup against the Angels. Bibee had a strong rookie season last year and has built on that through his first 10 starts of this season. He is 2-1 with a 3.93 ERA and 3.76 FIP and his strikeout rate has ticked up to 9.6 K/9 with 56 strikeouts in his 52 2⁄3 innings. Bibee has been especially sharp on the road, where he sports a 1.69 ERA and 3.05 FIP. He was knocked around in a home start against the Angels early this month, but will look for stronger results this time around. He is coming off a strong outing against the Twins, in which he earned 26.8 DKFP in a no-decision with seven strong innings, eight strikeouts and just one run allowed. Bibee has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his last seven starts and earned at least 17 DKFP in four of his last six.
Value
Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds ($8,500) – If you go a little cheaper with Bibee than Cease or Nola, that should allow you some extra salary for your second starting pitcher. Buehler is still a little risky since he’s working his way back from his second Tommy John surgery, but he showed enough in his last outing to be a good option at $8,500. He’ll be facing the Reds for the second straight game after earning 29.7 DraftKings points in six shutout innings last Saturday allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out seven. The Reds had a big night offensively Friday but had no answers for Buehler last week. On the season, Cincinnati has the third-highest K% and the lowest team batting average in the MLB at just .215. They have good power and speed but haven’t been able to get enough hits to realize their potential yet this season. Buehler will hope to continue that trend and also continue the turnaround he showed last week.
INFIELD
Stud
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds ($6,600) – Ohtani always seems to be a good pay-up play and finds ways to contribute meaningful numbers in almost every game. In May, Ohtani has gone 25-for-72 (.347) with six home runs, eight stolen bases and a .458 wOBA. He went 0-for-5 on Friday night but is still averaging 10.3 DKFP per game over his last 10 contests and 11.8 DKFP per game on the season. Hunter Greene has been better lately but has struggled at home this season with a 4.19 ERA and 3.83 FIP at home compared to a 1.85 ERA and 2.55 FIP on the road. Greene was good against the Dodgers last Sunday, but Shohei and friends will look to solve him this Saturday in Cincy.
Stud
Andres Gimenez, Cleveland Guardians at Los Angeles Angels ($4,900) – Gimenez has produced double-digit DKFP in five of his last seven games and is typically locked in as the second hitter in the Guardians lineup against righties, a great run production spot. He has six multi-hit games in his last 10 contests, hitting .385 (15-for-39) in that span with a double, two stolen bases, two homers and a .431 wOBA that has boosted him to an average of 12.1 DKFP per game over that 10-game stretch. He comes at under $5,000 into this road matchup with righty Jose Soriano ($7,000). Most of Gimenez’s success has come away from The Land, as he has a .330 road batting average and .379 road wOBA.
Value
Edmundo Sosa, Philadelphia Phillies at Colorado Rockies ($3,900) – Sosa has filled in admirably over the last three weeks for Trea Turner (hamstring), and he is an affordable way to get some exposure to Coors Field on Saturday. Sosa homered at Coors on Friday, giving him three homers on the season to go with his impressive .447 wOBA. Over the last three weeks since Turner has been out, Sosa is hitting .375 (15-for-40) with eight extra-base hits including two homers with a .507 wOBA and a pair of stolen bases. He has double-digit DKFP in three straight games and in nine of his last 12 games with multiple at-bats.
Value
Kyle Manzardo, Cleveland Guardians at Los Angeles Angels ($2,100) – Manzardo was ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Guardians system coming into the season, and the 23-year-old seems to be finding his footing in the MLB after a slow start. He hit .303 with nine homers and a .421 wOBA in 29 games in Triple-A before being called up, but then went just 3-for-23 (.130) with one double in his first nine games in the majors. He has settled in since then, though, hitting safely in six straight games and going 6-for-20 (.300) with five doubles and three RBI. He has six hard-hit events in that span after posting just three in his first nine games. He seems to be coming around, and he is barely more than the minimum salary for Saturday’s matchup with Soriano.
OUTFIELD
Stud
Juan Soto, New York Yankees at San Diego Padres ($6,300) – Soto successfully returned to San Diego with a home run and 23 DKFP on Friday night, and he and the Yankees will look to keep their recent success rolling in a tough matchup against Cease. Soto is 2-for-5 in his past meetings with Cease including a home run. After picking up two hits on Friday, Soto has four multi-hit games in his last seven and has gone a sizzling 11-for-27 (.407) with five homers and a .613 wOBA over that span. He has been locked in most of his first season in the Bronx and has 14 homers and a .426 wOBA on the season.
Stud
Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Miami Marlins ($4,300) – I double-checked—that’s really Carroll’s salary. For a player who looked like the next big power-speed combo during his fantastic rookie season, it’s amazing to get him at barely over $4,000, but it also speaks to how rough this season has been for the 23-year-old lefty. He’s hitting just .188 in 49 games with two homers, eight stolen bases and a .250 wOBA. Last year in 155 games, he had 25 homers and a .370 wOBA. Despite his slump, he remains a key part of the Diamondbacks’ offense and has hit first or second most of the season. He has shown some signs of life lately, according to advanced metrics which show he’s hitting the ball much better over the past week. He had a mini five-game hitting streak come to an end on Friday and had four extra-base hits during that streak while posting a .320 wOBA. If he’s turning it around, the matchup with Sixto Sanchez ($6,000) should be a good one for him to continue trending in the right direction. He brings a very high ceiling compared to the other options in this salary range, so it makes sense to go with him and hope his long-term talent wins out over his shorter-term form.
Value
Tyler Freeman, Cleveland Guardians at Los Angeles Angels ($3,600) – Freeman has been helping to fill in the Guardians leadoff spot while Steven Kwan (hamstring) has been sidelined. Freeman is still only hitting .213 on the season but has averaged a very solid 9.5 DKFP per game over his last 10 games by going 11-for-36 (.306) with five walks, four doubles, two stolen bases, a home run, a .369 wOBA and 10 runs scored. Freeman has good reverse splits against righties and can be a good part of a value stack with Gimenez and Mazardo on Saturday.
Value
Jake Cave, Colorado Rockies vs. Philadelphia Phillies ($2,700) – Cave has been playing in a platoon for the Rockies and will likely get the start against his former team the Phillies and righty Aaron Nola on Saturday. He has made the most of his opportunities lately, hitting safely in eight straight games with multiple plate appearances. He batted second in the lineup on Thursday, which would put him in an extra-juicy spot, but even further down he has been productive enough to be a nice play under $3,000. Over his last 10 games, Cave is 11-for-33 (.333) with a double, a triple and a stolen base for an average of 5.4 DKFP per game. He is a nice way to get exposure to Coors Field without breaking the bank.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $150K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
