This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Saturday features 17 games, including two doubleheaders, so there are plenty of players to go around. I found a couple pitchers who don't cost much, yet are in favorable spots and have proven to have high floors in the early season. For those who go big on Carlos Carrasco or Patrick Corbin, I also focused on cheaper bats against beatable arms.
PITCHER
Alex Wood, LAD at SF ($44): My pitchers are a bit against the grain, but I think they can do enough to win some money. Wood is a slight favorite in a game that has the lowest over/under of the day (seven runs). He hast at least 15 fantasy points in four of five outings and already carved through the Giants for eight innings with five strikeouts. San Fran hasn't improved since that outing and sports a 25.1 K% and .299 wOBA against southpaws.
Francisco Liriano, DET at BAL ($32): Liriano surprisingly has been decent this season, striking out 13 in his last two starts and reaching 16 fantasy points in all four outings. His early K rate (21.7 percent) is lower than his career rate (23.8 percent), so it's reasonable to think he could reach more than six Ks in this game. The Orioles have some of the worst numbers against lefties with a 26.4 K% and .279 wOBA. If you don't want to go cheap, Carrasco ($53) is waiting for you.
CATCHER
Alex Avila, ARI at WAS ($8): Avila only plays against righties so he should be in the lineup. He homered earlier in the week and roped in a .377 wOBA against righty arms last season. That's plenty at this price, especially against Jeremy Hellickson, who hasn't looked great in his first two starts and was blasted by lefties in 2017 with a 6.01 xFIP.
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FIRST BASE
Edwin Encarnacion, CLE vs. SEA ($12): Encarnacion didn't have a great start to the season (hence his price) but has turned things around with a hit in his last six games. That's more in line with last season's .262 ISO and .376 wOBA against righties, and that's where Mike Leake comes in. The righty hurler was just torched by the White Sox for eight runs and has allowed 26 hits in his last three starts with four of his five homers allowed to righties.
SECOND BASE
Scooter Gennett, CIN at MIN ($13): Gennett hasn't supplied the power he did a year ago (.236 ISO), but he's at least reaching base enough to warrant fantasy consideration. Also, his .261 ISO and .388 wOBA against righties last season can't be ignored in this spot. Jake Odorizzi has given up nine runs in his last two starts and had a miserable 5.22 xFIP against lefty bats in 2017.
THIRD BASE
Nolan Arenado, COL at MIA ($23): The Rockies are on the road, but there are plenty of reasons to back them even after scoring one run Friday. Arenado dominated southpaws last season with a .395 ISO and .520 wOBA on the road. Caleb Smith could have some issues with Arenado due to his 5.06 xFIP against 130 righties faced since entering the league.
SHORTSTOP
Jose Peraza, CIN at MIN ($10): I already took a lefty against Jake Odorizzi so a righty should cover all the bases. Peraza had a 13.7 K% against righties last season. Odorizzi isn't a big strikeout guy and struggled to get right-handed bats out last year with a .326 wOBA.
OUTFIELD
Jose Pirela, SD vs. NYM ($13): Pirela doesn't provide much power, but he doesn't cost much and gets a pitcher who might be rusty. Jason Vargas is making his debut after dealing with a fracture on his non-throwing hand. He's coming off a wretched season in which he wasn't good against either side of the plate, including a 4.79 xFIP against righty bats. Pirela still hopes to find last year's magic in which he had a .256 ISO and .390 wOBA against southpaws.
Curtis Granderson, TOR vs. TEX ($17): This game has the highest over/under of the day (9.5 runs), so it's a must to grab at least one bat. Granderson should make the lineup with Bartolo Colon on the mound. Granderson has six extra-base hits against righties in 51 at-bats and blasted them for a .255 ISO last season. Colon has had some good starts, but fell back to earth in his last outing, allowing four runs and seven hits to the Mariners. He was also roped by left-handed bats last year with a 5.71 xFIP.
Trayce Thompson, CWS at KC ($9): Eric Skoglund pitches for the Royals in the nightcap of a doubleheader. He's been destroyed in his first three starts for 18 hits and 14 runs and has a career .429 wOBA against 136 righties faced. The White Sox don't have many outfield options, but Thompson supplies power at a good price with a career .231 ISO against southpaws.
