Welcome to the MLB Yahoo Cup Hot Corner! This free-to-enter, single-entry contest consists of 27 rounds where the top 1,075 overall entries and the top 70 entries per round share $10,000, with $1,000 to first and $50 to first per round. Scoring will be cumulative across all rounds, with your seven lowest scores dropped at the end. You may join this multi-round MLB DFS contest at any point, but enter today to give yourself the best chance to take home the title. Click here to begin the chase!
Let’s focus on three players — one pitcher, one infielder and one outfielder — to be our MLB baseball DFS strategy for tonight’s MLB Yahoo Cup contest.
MLB DFS Pitcher: Walker Buehler — $48
No one needs to be told to play Gerrit Cole. Those who can afford his $62 salary on Yahoo are without question getting the top pitcher on this slate. But if looking for an alternate lineup construction — or pairing Cole with another expensive pitcher and paying down for a cheaper stack — look no further than Buehler. He is currently projected by the Awesemo Top Pitchers tool to have a 26.7% chance of finishing as a top-two pitcher on the slate, the second-best mark behind Cole.
The Giants have been the surprise team of the season, sitting at 30-20 and only 1.5 games back in a loaded National League West. But despite some eye-popping power numbers up and down their lineup, the strikeouts are still there to be had with their collective 26.4% strikeout rate. And Buehler is an elite pitcher who checks all the boxes; he works deep into games, is as good as it gets in the league with a 3.6% walk rate and has an above-average 26.6% strikeout rate. If the four-seamer he throws 50% of the time is up to its usual tricks with its 97th percentile spin rate, it could be a long night for this Giants lineup that is due for some regression.
MLB DFS Infielder: Yoan Moncada — $22
With Cole being so expensive on tonight’s slate, it’s going to force some difficult decisions when it comes to hitters. There are only one or two expensive bats that are worth paying up for as one-offs if targeting the top end of pitching, so be selective. But considering a matchup with righty Matt Harvey, who continues to struggle mightily versus lefties, look no further than Moncada.
It is not very encouraging to see only three home runs for Moncada through 203 plate appearances this season. But considering the long ball doesn’t carry nearly the same weight on Yahoo as it does on other DFS sites, his lack of power is less of a concern. In fact, his xwOBA is in the top 8% of the majors at .392, meaning expect some monster hitting performances in the near future.
And in the event there is money to stack up the White Sox, the Awesemo Top Stacks tool loves this team compared to the field. In fact, it’s the second-most likely stack to score the most fantasy points tonight while only being the fifth-most rostered amongst the 24 teams in action. So if looking for an under-represented one-off or stack to make up some ground in the year-long MLB Yahoo Cup points race, the White Sox are the bats to target.
MLB DFS Outfielder: Shohei Ohtani — $21
Ohtani had a quite the eventful evening on Thursday. He was slated to pitch but was forced to skip his start due to a late arrival to the ballpark on account of — of all things — traffic. He will now double-dip as starter and hitter tonight, and considering other two-pitcher DFS sites have Ohtani available as a pitcher-only, Yahoo has graciously given access to him as a bargain hitter at $21.
Without a doubt, this reduced salary should make him one of the most rostered players on the slate. In lineups fairly chalky elsewhere too, perhaps finding another outfield option would be advisable. But there is no doubt he is the best fantasy point-per-dollar option on the board tonight, as his .350 ISO is tops in baseball, with barrel rates and exit velocity that both sit well within the top 1%. So get exposure to him as a pitcher elsewhere because, for tonight’s Yahoo contests, he’s going to rack up fantasy points at the plate only.
