This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
The baseball season is here, and right on cue the Washington-Cincinnati game was postponed before Thursday even came. Pittsburgh-Detroit was also postposed. For the rest on Opening Day, I wanted to use a little bit of everything. The pitchers won't take up your entire salary and have plenty of strikeout upside. If you're the type to spend up on pitching, there are a few cheap bats worth a look, as well.
PITCHER
Aaron Nola, PHI at ATL ($45): After a stout spring in which Nola threw one strikeout per inning, he's set for another great campaign and this could be his best yet. In 2017, his K percentage was up to 26.6, and he closed with 15 quality starts in 21 tries. Two of those were against the Braves when he went 15 innings and only gave up two runs. To help, the odds have pushed Philadelphia's way, which means bettors are onto Nola.
Noah Syndergaard, NYM vs. STL ($43): Syndergaard finished spring ball by going seven innings, allowing only one run. In his five starts, he went 20 innings and struck out 23. Last season didn't go to plan due to injury and some of that is built into his price. But at full health, he's almost a steal as a decent-sized favorite against the Cardinals.
CATCHER
Evan Gattis, HOU at TEX ($12): Gattis got hit on the elbow last Sunday, but he'll be ready to DH for the opener. Cole Hamels had one good outing against the Astros last season but was also shelled for six runs in the most recent game. Gattis has three career homers in 25 at-bats against Hamels and that goes well with Hamels' mediocre 5.01 xFIP against righties last season.
FIRST BASE
Lucas Duda, KC vs. CWS ($10): It's automatic to go with lefties against James Shields, who got roasted by them last season with a .388 wOBA allowed and 5.97 xFIP. Duda isn't a guy that jumps off the page, but he provides great value and comes in off a successful spring batting .387. In addition to his 30 homers between two teams in 2017, he also had a decent .360 wOBA against righties.
SECOND BASE
Logan Forsythe, LAD vs. SF ($13): This isn't a great spot for Ty Blach, and he'll be lucky to make it five innings. He was beat up by righties last season, giving up all 17 of his homers with a 5.13 xFIP and low 11.3 K rate. Forsythe isn't an exciting option, but he's one of many choices in this lineup even without Justin Turner (broken wrist). At the least, Forsythe was much better against lefties in 2017, sporting a .381 wOBA and a higher 24.2 K rate that may not matter much against Blach.
THIRD BASE
Mike Moustakas, KC vs. CWS ($15): Moustakas will provide a tad more power in another pick against Shields. Moustakas had a decent spring with four homers, and he torched righties last season with a .268 ISO. As for Shields, he gave up 2.82 homers per nine to lefties last season and will likely give up one or two in this outing.
SHORT STOP
Carlos Correa, HOU at TEX ($22): Some think Cole Hamels will turn things around in 2018, but this probably isn't the matchup for that. He struggled mightily against righties last season with a high 9.7 walk rate and 5.01 xFIP. Most of my other bats are value plays, but Correa is worth the money given that he had nine hits (three homers) in his last 23 spring at-bats. If you still have questions, Correa was consistent against lefties last season with a juiced .445 wOBA.
OUTFIELD
Kole Calhoun, LAA at OAK ($13): Calhoun had a great spring for the Angels, hitting .353 to go with nine RBIs in 51 at-bats. That should continue in the opening series with a matchup against on-and-off Kendall Graveman. The righty had a mediocre 4.89 xFIP and 17.3 K rate against lefties last season. He also got beat up in the spring, allowing 12 runs and 18 hits in 14.1 innings.
Max Kepler, MIN at BAL ($14): Kepler didn't have a great spring but can turn that around with a great matchup. Dylan Bundy couldn't get anything going in the spring with 28 hits allowed and 16 earned runs in 20 innings pitched. Combine that with last season's 5.49 xFIP against lefties and this matchup screams Kepler. At the least, his numbers were much better against righties in 2017 with a .350 wOBA and .212 ISO. I'd also give Robbie Grossman ($7) a look if he's in the lineup, pending on Eddie Rosario's ($18) availability.
Adam Jones, BAL vs. MIN ($15): Jones has a chance to start his possible final season with the Orioles on a good note. Half of his home runs came at home against righties last season (13 of 26) with a .349 wOBA in that spot. Jake Odorizzi was good in the spring, but it's hard to ignore his numbers from 2017 in which he gave up more than two homers per nine innings against righties to go with a 5.01 xFIP.
