MLB DFS Picks: Yahoo Plays and Strategy for Saturday, April 22

Saturday is wall-to-wall baseball, but this column will be focused on the featured DFS contests. On that front, I'm looking at the seven games starting at 7:05 p.m. EDT or later. A lot of top pitchers are going early in the day, but maybe that means more offensive opportunity. Here are my recommendations.

Pitching

Luis Castillo, SEA vs. STL ($48): The Mariners brought Castillo in to be their ace, but even they didn't expect him to pitch 24.2 innings and only allow two runs - both on the road against the Cubs. And that means former Red has yet to give up anything in Seattle this year. The Cardinals are decent hitters, especially when they can run out their lefty bats against a righty, but I'm not sweating any offense against Castillo.

Tyler Anderson, LAA vs. KC ($40): With my first pitching recommendation, I went with an elite pitcher and didn't worry about the matchup being less than perfect. But here, it's all about the opponent. Anderson posted a 2.57 ERA with the Dodgers last year, but the start to his Angels career has been rough. He's endured two subpar starts, but also went six innings and blanked the Athletics. Oakland is awful offensively, but Kansas City is just as terrible ranking last in team OPS.

Top Targets

I'm just going to go ahead and recommend Mike Trout ($22) for Saturday. You know, the best player of his generation and someone who could retire today and be in the Hall of Fame. He recorded a career 1.001 OPS, and his .949 this season is better than almost any hitter - but would still be high worst number since 2014. Zack Greinke had a strange campaign in 2022 having posted a 1.91 home ERA and a 5.32 on the road. And this year, he's managed a 5.40 after one away start.

Last year, Willy Adames ($16) was swinging for the fences and picked up 31 home runs from the shortstop position. This year, he's at four, but his OBP is up to .365. While Adames is a righty, he's performed better against right-handed pitchers with an .814 OPS in those matchups since 2021. Garrett Whitlock registered a 3.45 ERA in 2022, but was mostly pitching in relief. In two starts this season, his FIP is 5.42 and gave up three homers over five innings against the Rays.

Bargain Bats

The Orioles aren't a perfect team to turn to when a lefty is facing them, but Ryan Mountcastle ($15) provides potential at this salary. He's already crushed six home runs, and two years ago made a splash with 33. Mountcastle also has an .828 OPS at home since 2021. Joey Wentz, a lefty, was decent in seven starts in 2022 with a 3.54 FIP. Through three appearances this season, that number has ballooned to 5.23.

While he calls Petco Park home, Ha-Seong Kim ($8) doesn't really enjoy home cooking. He's struggled in San Diego, but managed a .754 road OPS in 2022. The 27-year-old also produced 11 homers and 12 steals. Merrill Kelly enters with a career 4.08 FIP, and righties have hit .255 against him the last couple seasons.

Stacks to Consider

Rangers vs. Athletics (Shintaro Fujinami): Josh Jung ($20), Adolis Garcia ($18), Nathaniel Lowe ($18)

Fujinami spent a decade pitching in Japan, but America has been a rude awakening for him. He's struggled to an 11.37 ERA through three starts. And even with a 6.41 FIP, that's still bad. That's with two of his starts coming in Oakland's pitcher-friendly (and not long for this world) ballpark. It's an ideal day to use a few Rangers.

Jung's cup of coffee in 2022 was unremarkable, but he remained a top hitting prospect and looks more primed for MLB as he's currently slashing .282/.338/.451 with three homers and a stolen base. He's also raked at home this year, though obviously the sample size isn't remarkable. Garcia has to pick it up to match his 27 homers and 25 steals from last year, but I have faith since he posted 31 and 16 of each the previous season. Lowe slashed .302/.358/.492 with 27 homers last year. He hasn't done much so far, but he's been better against righties and at home. And the southpaw has an .831 OPS versus lefties since 2021, so he's not as susceptible to lefties coming out of the bullpen.

Mariners vs. Cardinals (Miles Mikolas): Julio Rodriguez ($22), Ty France ($18), Jarred Kelenic ($18)

Mikolas is getting absolutely blasted in 2023 with an 8.10 ERA through four starts while allowing 1.80 home runs per nine innings. Lefties have also hit .375 against while righties have gone .412. Obviously, right-handed hitters aren't going to keep looking like Rogers Hornsby against Mikolas all year. But for now, he's serving it up. I'm grabbing a Mariners stack Saturday, including two righties.

Rodriguez wowed as a rookie with 28 homers and 25 steals. He's already at four and five this year, even though he's been caught stealing three times. Rodriguez was unsuccessful all of seven times in 2022, so his stealing rates should arguably go up. France is a career .280 hitter, and this year he's at .300. He doesn't display much power and less of that at home, but has still registered an .811 OPS, .291 average and .370 OBP in Seattle since 202. Kelenic - fingers crossed - is finally putting it together. The lefty has slashed .311/.377/.590 with four homers and three stolen bases.