It's Saturday, and that means a full slate with both afternoon and evening action. With every team suiting up, there are plenty of names to consider, so let's not waste any time. Time to dive in.
Pitching
Pitchers to stream
Trevor Cahill (R), 42 percent ownership in ESPN leagues, San Diego Padres at Chicago White Sox: Cahill's ownership percentage is on the rise. Thanks in part to more reliance on his curveball as a put-away pitch, Cahill sports an 11.2 K/9 through his first six starts. In fact, only twice over the last 10 seasons has a pitcher held a whiff rate of 30 percent with a GB rate over 50 percent (surprise, surprise -- it's Clayton Kershaw in both instances). Cahill, meanwhile, currently has a 30 percent whiff rate and a 57 percent GB rate. Over his last four outings, he's allowed one or zero runs three times. Look for Cahill's run of success to continue against a White Sox club that's been the worst team in baseball against right-handed pitching, sporting a 67 wRC+ to go along with a 24 percent strikeout rate.
Matt Moore (L), 36 percent, San Francisco Giants vs. Cincinnati Reds: Moore has had a rough go of it this season, as his 6.52 ERA and 1.55 WHIP can attest. Most of that damage, however, has come on road. When pitching at AT&T Park this year, the lefty owns a nice 3.05 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 20 2/3 frames. That's where Moore will be toeing the rubber on Saturday, squaring off against a Reds squad that's hit well this year but will be dealing with a huge park downgrade leaving Great American Ballpark.
Nate Karns (R), 12 percent, Kansas City Royals vs. Baltimore Orioles: Karns is also benefiting from a significant park downgrade, as the Orioles trade in Camden Yards for Kauffman Stadium. That won't help an offense that's already middle-of-the-road versus right-handed pitching. Karns' 4.58 ERA may be less than desirable, but a 3.64 xFIP suggests he's had some bad luck. More importantly, the righty's 9.2 K/9 combined with a 57 percent ground ball rate is a skill set worth investing in.
Zach Davies (R), 14 percent, Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Mets: The 5.60 ERA is ugly, but Davies has settled down of late, going 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA and 9.2 K/9 over his last three outings. Miller Park is a terrible venue for pitchers, so there's still risk here, but a matchup against the Mets, who are below average against righty pitching, is far from intimidating.
Pitchers to avoid
Julio Teheran (R), 89 percent, Atlanta Braves at Miami Marlins: It might be best to take a break from Teheran for a while. The right-hander has failed to register a quality start in three of his last four outings, and he's not missing enough bats (6.7 K/9) to compensate for his struggles. The Marlins don't have a great lineup, but they make a lot of contact and have been an above-average offense so far in May.
Bullpen
News came out on Thursday that closer Jeurys Familia is dealing with an arterial clot in his right shoulder that might lead to surgery. That would leave Addison Reed, still available in 72 percent of leagues, as the Mets' ninth-inning man going forward. Reed is 4-for-4 in save chances this season and has top-10 closer potential. Those in holds leagues should also be aware of Hansel Robles and lefty Jerry Blevins, both of whom are on pace for 25+ holds in 2017.
Projected game scores
Note: W-L, ERA and WHIP are full-year 2016 statistics. GS is the projected game score for the pitcher. A "*" means that the pitcher lacks requisite career major league data to produce an accurate rating; these are the author's ratings.
Hitting
Catcher
Alex Avila (L), 30 percent, Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Angels (RHP Ricky Nolasco): Avila is hammering right-handed pitching this season (.400/500/.711) and looks to do some damage against Nolasco, who sports a 5.29 FIP this year to go along with the highest FB rate (48 percent) and the highest hard-hit rate (36 percent) of his career. Twenty of Avila's 22 career homers have come against righties.
First base
Yonder Alonso (L), 51 percent, Oakland Athletics at Texas Rangers (RHP Nick Martinez): Alonso just barely cracks the 50 percent ownership threshold, but we'll sneak him in. Thanks to an altered swing, Alonso has already hit a career-high 11 homers, and he's smoking righties to the tune of a .456 wOBA. It's a dream matchup against Martinez, who doesn't miss bats, sports a 6.23 FIP (even worse than his 5.18 ERA) and is allowing a .310/.417/.606 slash line to lefty hitters.
Second base
Derek Dietrich (L), less than 1 percent, Miami Marlins vs. Atlanta Braves (RHP Julio Teheran): We highlighted Teheran's struggles above, and much of his trouble this season can be attributed to his sub-par work against lefty bats (.284/.4422/.494). In fact, no pitcher in baseball has faced more lefties with a higher wOBA (.363) than Teheran since the beginning of 2015. For his part, Dietrich is posting a career-high contact rate this season and owns a higher wOBA versus righty pitching over the last three seasons than Daniel Murphy and Yoenis Cespedes.
Third base
Yunel Escobar (R), 19 percent, Los Angeles Angels vs. Detroit Tigers (LHP Daniel Norris): Norris still carries plenty of potential, but the fact that he allowed a .290/.367/.402 slash line to righty bats in 2016 and a .288/.344/.446 slash so far this season is an issue that needs to be rectified. Until then, target right-handed bats against him. Escobar, the Angels' leadoff hitter, is hitting .421 versus southpaws this season and actually owns the seventh-highest batting average in baseball against lefties (min 250 PAs) since the beginning of 2015.
Shortstop
Didi Gregorius (L), 42 percent, New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros (RHP Mike Fiers): Gregorius is hitting .310 with nine RBI in his first 11 games since returning from the disabled list, and on Saturday he draws a nice matchup against Fiers. The righty is surrendering a .356 wOBA to left-handed swingers this season, and Yankee Stadium is place where he could get into some real trouble, as it caters heavily to left-handed power.
Corner infield
Hernan Perez (R), 23 percent, Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Mets (RHP Robert Gsellman): Perez doesn't get the platoon advantage against Gsellman, but it doesn't really matter. The right-hander has allowed a .424 wOBA to righty bats, the worst mark in baseball, and he has managed just one quality start in six turns this season. The fact that Perez gets to hit in one of the game's most offensive-friendly venues increases his appeal.
Middle infield
Jed Lowrie (B), 15 percent, Oakland Athletics at Texas Rangers (RHP Nick Martinez): Lowrie joins in on the fun as part of our Oakland stack against Martinez. The switch-hitter owns a .380 wOBA against righties this season and gets a nice park boost going from the Oakland Coliseum to Globe Life Park.
Outfield
Aaron Altherr (R), 32 percent, Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals (LHP Gio Gonzalez): A matchup against Gonzalez and his 2.64 ERA may not seem ideal, but his 5.01 FIP and 4.80 xFIP tell us regression is coming. Altherr, who has been batting in the top third of the Phillies' order, is hitting .333/.439/.700 versus southpaws this season and has been one of the game's hottest hitters, sporting a .433 average with five dingers and four doubles so far in May.
Matt Joyce (L), less than 1 percent, Oakland Athletics at Texas Rangers (RHP Nick Martinez): Joyce is struggling this year, but he's still a favorable play against a weak righty like Martinez, who we're picking on today. Joyce has hit 25 of his 27 career homers against righties, and the fact that his hard-hit rate is in line with 2016, when he posted an .884 OPS against righties, is a good sign going forward.
Tyler Collins (L), 1 percent, Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Angels (RHP Ricky Nolasco): We're going back to the well with left-handed bats against Nolasco. Although Collins is useless against lefties (.154/.200/.173), he does just fine against righty arms (.264/.323/.420). His value is helped by the fact that he often bats second in the Tigers' order when a right-hander is on the mound.
Notes: Hitter ratings account for the opposing starting pitcher's history (three years' worth, as well as the past 21 days) and ballpark factors. "LH" and "RH" ratings account only for left- and right-handed batters, respectively. Weighted on-base average (wOBA) is the primary statistic used in the calculation. Ratings range from 1 to 10, with 10 representing the best possible matchup, statistically speaking, and 1 representing the worst. So, for example, a 10 is a must-start rating, whereas a 1 should be avoided (if possible); a 1-2 is poor, 3-4 is fair, 5-6 is average, 7-8 is very good and 9-10 is excellent.