This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
There are a couple pricey pitchers who have my eye for Thursday's slate and hopefully won't have any postponements. I went with a couple big bats but also supplied some cheaper plays in order to have a decent, all-around lineup with a couple aces leading the way. For those interested, we've started an MLB DFS Slack channel for paid RotoWire subscribers. (There is a season-long one as well.) To join those channels, e-mail support@rotowire.com
PITCHER
Masahiro Tanaka, NYY vs. BAL ($51): Things aren't working for the Orioles at the moment, and Tanaka isn't going to help. After getting hammered in the spring with a 7.24 ERA, Tanaka carved the Blue Jays in his first start for eight strikeouts in six innings. The Orioles have scored three runs or less in five of six games and are last in the league against righty pitchers with a team .237 wOBA.
David Price, BOS vs. TB ($49): Price was kind of forgotten last season as he tried to return from injury. His price already shot up 10 bucks after he gave up only one hit in seven scoreless innings against the Rays. That goes along with his dominance in the spring, during which he struck out 13 batters in 12 innings. I'll take him again with the Rays sporting a league-worst .179 wOBA and 27.4 K percentage against southpaws, which is partly due to Price. If you need a cheaper arm, Adam Wainwright ($32) is starting the opener for the Cardinals coming off a hamstring injury.
CATCHER
Robinson Chirinos, TEX at OAK ($9): By my calculation, the rain in Oakland isn't supposed to hit until night, but it's worth monitoring as an earlier game. Chirinos hasn't done much in the first week, but his price is worth it against Daniel Mengden, who was blasted for five runs in his first start. Mengden doesn't have a ton of experience in the majors and his career numbers point to struggles against right-handed bats with a 4.82 xFIP. Chirinos had a solid .234 ISO against righties last season and that's reason enough to consider him.
FIRST BASE
Rhys Hoskins, PHI vs. MIA ($24): Hoskins may be the most expensive first baseman, but I think he's worth it. While he hasn't seen many lefties, he still cracked six homers in 58 plate appearances against them last season. I'd say that's good enough even after Caleb Smith put in a solid performance in his first outing against the Cubs. He gave up a homer to Kris Bryant in that game and gave up four homers to 57 righties faced last season.
SECOND BASE
Robinson Cano, SEA at MIN ($19): I'm spending up a little for what I believe is still good value. Cano is only worthwhile against righty arms after he posted a .373 wOBA last season, and he's started this campaign on a solid note with a hit in each game. Kyle Gibson didn't give up a run in his opening start, but I can't trust him, especially with five walks also on that stat line. He gave up a much worse 4.76 xFIP to lefty bats last season.
THIRD BASE
Eugenio Suarez, CIN at PIT ($15): Suarez's price is steadily increasing and could do so again after this game. Steven Brault was thrown into the starting spot and is the cheapest pitcher on the slate for a reason. He'll be hard to trust and doesn't have good numbers against either side of the plate the last couple years with a 4.95 xFIP and .363 wOBA allowed against righties. As for Suarez, he'll be excited to see a southpaw after last season's .383 wOBA and .228 ISO against them.
SHORTSTOP
Orlando Arcia, MIL vs. CHC ($9): The over/under for this game is nine runs, and that points to another difficult outing for Jon Lester, who made it 3.1 innings last week. Lester only gives up hits to righties, with a 4.48 xFIP and much lower 20.6 K percentage standing out last season. Of course, Arcia doesn't have a ton of upside, but against Lester, a couple hits are good enough at this price.
OUTFIELD
Stephen Piscotty, OAK vs. TEX ($14): This is mostly a matchup play because Piscotty hasn't been good in the early season. Martin Perez is making his first start and was blasted by righties in 2017 for a 5.12 xFIP to go with a minimal 12.3 K percentage. That's good news for Piscotty, who has slightly better numbers against southpaws in his short career with a .375 wOBA.
Avisail Garcia, CWS vs. DET ($14): There's precipitation in the forecast according to Yahoo, but that's not until the night and even then it'll probably be snow. If you want, grab every bat from this game, because it has the highest over/under at 9.5 runs as neither pitcher is reliable. Jordan Zimmermann surprisingly struck out eight in his first start, but it's hard to see that continuing after a 5.59 xFIP and 13.0 K percentage against righties last season. Garcia loves facing the Tigers (his former team), and while he's better against lefties, he actually had a better ISO (.184) against righty arms last season to go with a .356 wOBA.
Brett Gardner, NYY vs. BAL ($16): It hasn't been a great start for Gardner, but Andrew Cashner gave up three homers in his first outing and was lit up by lefty bats in 2017 with a 5.96 xFIP. That works for Gardner, who only hits righties and had a .359 wOBA against them last season.
