This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Saturday's two-game MLB slate begins at 5:07 PM Eastern time and features Game 2s of the Twins-Yankees and Rays-Astros series. Read on to see which players are primed for success.
Starters
Masahiro Tanaka ($36) will start for the home side at Yankee Stadium while the Twins have opted for the inexperienced Randy Dobnak ($25). Gerrit Cole ($60) will start for the home side in Houston against Blake Snell ($36).
Tanaka has always saved his best stuff for the postseason in years past as he's posted a 1.50 ERA in 30 innings over five career playoff starts. He might offer the best bang for the buck in this slate considering Snell isn't stretched out after a midseason elbow injury - he didn't last more than 2.1 innings in any of his three September outings after returning.
Cole represents a great option if you have the money for him, as he's likely to take the Astros' series lead to 2-0. He went 16-0 with a 1.78 ERA and 226 strikeouts in 146.2 innings over his last 22 regular-season starts.
Correlations
The Yankees and Astros will both be favored at home, especially in the context of the pitching matchups. The key to success is figuring which premier bats to pay up for from the favorites and which underdogs to round out your lineup with.
New York racked up seven runs in four innings on Minnesota's bullpen, and Dobnak is unlikely to last much longer than the four innings Jose Berrios lasted in Game 1, leaving open the possibility of more offensive fireworks following a 10-4 result in the series opener. After posting the best season of his career in his first year in pinstripes, DJ LeMahieu ($18) was the catalyst for New York in Game 1 with three hits and four RBI. The leadoff man posted a .406 wOBA at home during the regular season. Brett Gardner ($15) pressed his platoon advantage against righties to the tune of a .368 wOBA this season and went deep in Game 1 after smacking a career-high 28 home runs in the regular season. Giancarlo Stanton ($18) was injured for most of the regular season, but he can rarely be had for this cheap and showed a great batting eye with three walks in Game 1.
Jose Altuve ($21) pummeled left-handed pitching thanks to a .429 wOBA, making him the go-to second base option against Snell, even with his .355 mark against righties likely to come into play against the Rays' bullpen. Alex Bregman ($25) brings even better numbers against lefties with a .473 wOBA and remains more reliable than Altuve against righties with a .397 wOBA. Robinson Chirinos ($15) comes in as a nice option at the catcher position with a lefty starter on the mound for the opposition, as he produced a .389 wOBA in that split.
One-Offs
If the Twins are going to even the series, it will likely be thanks to their power considering their lineup set a new major-league record for home runs in the regular season and hit three balls out of the park in Game 1. The switch-hitting Jorge Polanco ($14) kicked off the scoring in Game 1 with a home run, and the affordable switch-hitter enters as a strong option at shortstop given his .372 wOBA from the left side during the regular season. Nelson Cruz ($21) has been one of the most prolific postseason hitters in league history, and has a great opportunity to go deep again after finding the short right-field porch in Game 1 and smashing 41 home runs during the regular season.
If you're going to be a contrarian and go with the Rays, make sure to go with their left-handed sluggers against the righty Cole. Austin Meadows ($17) and Ji-Man Choi ($14) are both bargains. The former has recorded a .394 wOBA against righties and the latter's at .364.
