This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
The featured slate on DK for Saturday kicks off at 4:05 pm EDT and features seven games. It's a pretty thin day for pitching, with no starter reaching a five-digit salary point. As for some favorable hitting environments, Cincinnati at Milwaukee and Tampa Bay at Atlanta are some decent places to look not accounting for matchup.
Pitchers
There are few quality pitchers with good matchups to work with, particularly in the cheaper portions of the player pool. For those who want to pay up, Justin Verlander ($9,900) is one preferable option. He's been extremely boom or bust, though a matchup against the Tigers should give him the chance to turn in a performance on the better side of things.
Jack Flaherty ($8,900) may only be the third-highest salaried pitcher of the day, yet he's the standout arm as one of only two on the slate with a strikeout rate of at least 29.5 percent. Facing Houston isn't ideal, but his skills are so superior to the rest of the player pool that I'm willing to take the risk.
Ryan Pepiot ($7,800) is in a similar position. He lists both the second-highest strikeout rate and SIERA of the available arms. Atlanta is a tough matchup, though they'll be without Michael Harris in addition to Ronald Acuna and the lineup hasn't hit at its potential for most of the season.
Trevor Rogers ($5,600) has a wide range of outcomes, but it won't take much for him to deliver value at this salary. After some significant struggles for a stretch, he's worked at least five innings in each of his last three starts while recording double-digit DK points twice. Rogers draws a matchup against the Nationals, who have a miserable .276 wOBA with a 23 percent strikeout rate against lefties this year.
Top Hitters
Baltimore represent a solid stack to consider in a matchup against Taijuan Walker, though that could be a bit expensive to pull off. Walker has served up 1.7 HR/9, so it's worth jamming at least one Oriole into your lineup. Gunnar Henderson ($6,300) is an obvious choice, but Ryan O'Hearn ($4,300) is an underappreciated part of the lineup and comes in at a fairly reasonable rate.
Value Bats
Manny Machado is back for San Diego and has been used as the DH for the last few games. That has allowed Donovan Solano ($3,300) to maintain playing time at the hot corner while batting either fourth or fifth in the order. He's not an exciting option, though the Padres could put up some runs against Jose Quintana.
Miami is a surprising place to look for value. DJ Herz has conceded a lot of hard contact early in his career and the Marlins carry a few cheaper options who hit atop the order against lefties in Dane Myers ($3,000) and Bryan De La Cruz ($3,600). The latter is a steadier option, while the former offers some pop with a high strikeout rate.
Stacks to Target
Reds at Brewers (Bryse Wilson): TJ Friedl ($4,400), Elly De La Cruz ($5,700), Jeimer Candelario ($4,100)
From a skills perspective, Wilson has everything we look for when stacking against a pitcher. Most notably, he holds a low 17.8 percent strikeout rate and an inflated 1.4 HR/9. Wilson had also gotten excellent surface results for stretches this season, but has now been tagged for at least three runs in each of his last three starts. In addition to the matchup, the Reds also have the benefit of a strong hitting environment and relatively low salary points for the top of their lineup.
Mets vs. Padres (Adam Mazur): Francisco Lindor ($4,900), Brandon Nimmo ($4,700), Pete Alonso ($5,300)
Through two big-league starts, Mazur hasn't looked ready for The Show. Of course, that's a small sample, but he's posted a 4:7 K:BB during his nine innings and was crushed for eight runs last time out. The Mets have shuffled their lineup and are surprisingly ranked seventh in team wOBA the last 30 days. The matchup may make this a pretty popular stack for the field.
