- Saturday's matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinalsfeatures a pair of worthy streamers in Merrill Kelly (rostered in 50% of ESPN leagues) and Miles Mikolas (48%). Kelly has delivered a 1.69 ERA over his first four starts to go along with a career-best 9.3 K/9 rate, which has been fueled by a 36.4% whiff rate on his changeup. Mikolas, meanwhile, owns a 1.21 ERA over four outings and gets one of the day's better matchups against the D-backs, who rank 29th in baseball with a .267 wOBA.
- It was easy to write off Jesus Luzardo (45%) after he posted a 6.61 ERA in 25 appearances in 2021, but it's hard not to get pulled back in after his strong start to the season. The 24-year-old, who boasts a 3.77 ERA and 14.4 K/9 in three starts, has experienced a nearly two mph jump in his fastball velocity (95.5 mph to 97.4 mph). He's also now throwing his curveball nearly 45% of the time (up from 28.7% in 2021). The Seattle Mariners have been tough on lefties this year, but Luzardo offers enough strikeout upside to give him plenty of DFS and streaming appeal.
- The Cincinnati Reds offense has been almost non-existent so far, but Coors Field is a great place to jumpstart a lineup. The Reds' left-handed bats could make for a sneaky DFS stack against Chad Kuhl, whose past home-run issues are bound to crop up again at Coors Field. Although Joey Votto is slumping to start the season, it's worth noting that he has a career .347/.450/.589 slash line in Colorado.
- There were questions about Alec Bohm(24%) and his playing time heading into the season, but he's now playing every day and making the most of it, hitting .326/.375/.500 with a pair of homers and 14 RBIs in 18 games. He's also sporting strong strikeout (13.5%) and walk rates (11.5%) to go along with a 53.8% hard-hit rate, so he's not simply getting by on good luck. Consider grabbing him for the short-term, and he might just end up being a long-term asset.
- Eric Lauer (39%) is coming off an absolutely dominant outing against the Philadelphia Phillies in which he fired six shutout frames and fanned a career-high 13 batters. The left-hander is working with career-best velocity this season, so it's possible some of this early-season success sticks. Let it ride on Saturday against the Cubs, who have been less effective against lefties this season.
What you need to know for Saturday's MLB games
- Thread starter biggins
- Start date
