This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Regular season baseball may be over, but there are still plenty of chances to beat the competition with Yahoo! MLB DFS running through the postseason. This slate encompasses a pair of one-game Wild Card playoff matchups, featuring the Twins and Yankees from the Bronx starting at 8:08 PM Eastern time Tuesday followed by Wednesday's Rockies-Diamondbacks matchup in Arizona. These are the guys most likely to help propel their teams to the next round with strong performances relative to price:
PITCHER
Luis Severino, NYY vs. MIN ($52): Both Yankee Stadium and Chase Field finished among the top four ball parks in home run park factor with Yankee Stadium being slightly more conducive to the long ball, but the New York venue ranked a distant 14th with a 1.02 overall park factor while Arizona's Stadium finished second at 1.20. In addition to pitching at the less hitter-friendly venue, Severino also boasts the lowest ERA (2.98) and WHIP (1.04) of the four available starting pitchers along with a 29.4 percent strikeout rate that's 2.6 percent higher than Zack Greinke's, 5.1 percent higher than Jon Gray's and 10.1 percent higher than Ervin Santana's. The best pitcher among the group in the regular season unsurprisingly makes for the best lineup building block as the postseason begins.
Jon Gray, COL at ARI ($38): Those looking to score big in top-heavy formats would be well served to steer clear of taking both home pitching favorites and consider using Gray alongside Severino instead of Greinke. A number of top Colorado bats have found tremendous career success against the Arizona ace and could easily provide enough support for Gray to notch a win and pull off the upset. The young Rockies righty finished the season strong with a 4-0 record in his final five starts, including a dominant Sept. 12 win at Arizona that occurred when home field advantage in the Wild Card game was still far from decided. His two starts against the Diamondbacks this season both resulted in road wins and were also the only two games this year in which Gray notched double-digit strikeouts. Don't be surprised to see him deliver a similar effort when it matters most.
CATCHER
Jonathan Lucroy, COL at ARI ($13): Lucroy finished strong after being acquired by the Rockies, slashing .310/.429/.437 since joining the team Aug. 3. Those numbers were enhanced by a scorching finish that saw the catcher slash .421/.542/.579 after Sept. 16. Lucroy's season wOBA in righty on righty matchups was .047 higher than his mark against lefties, so he actually benefits from facing the right-handed Greinke here.
FIRST BASE
Joe Mauer, MIN at NYY ($11): Both Mauer and New York's Greg Bird will enjoy a platoon advantage with only right-handed pitchers scheduled to start in this slate, but the Twins veteran gets the nod thanks to having a .115 higher batting average and costing $1 less. The left-handed hitting slugger is coming off a renaissance regular season in which he put up a .354 wOBA against righties for his best result since 2013. He's also one of just five Twins with a hit off Severino.
SECOND BASE
Starlin Castro, NYY vs. MIN ($13): Minnesota's Santana is 0-5 with a 6.43 ERA at the new Yankee Stadium, so putting pinstripes in your lineup is likely to pay off. Castro remains remarkably affordable despite a strong finish that saw him pick up a hit in seven consecutive games prior to Sunday's finale, which he exited after only one plate appearance. He also had two home runs and six RBI in that home-heavy stretch, which isn't surprising considering Castro posted a .372 home wOBA this year compared to a measly .304 on the road.
THIRD BASE
Jake Lamb, ARI vs. COL ($10): Despite going through a second-half slump, Lamb still finished with a .386 wOBA against right-handed pitching while hitting 25 of his 30 long balls and 30 of his 34 other extra-base hits in that split. He's the cheapest starting third baseman in this slate at just $10, but Lamb could easily end up being the most productive given his tremendous power from the left side.
SHORTSTOP
Didi Gregorius, NYY vs. MIN ($15): Gregorius tops all shortstops in this slate with 25 home runs and is in position to whack another one given Santana's aforementioned Yankee Stadium struggles and the venue's second-ranked 1.28 home run park factor. He's got the platoon advantage and the easiest matchup on paper, making Gregorius the obvious choice given the homogeneous pricing of the top four options at the position.
OUTFIELD
Aaron Judge, NYY vs. MIN ($27): No Yankees hitter has ever launched more round trippers at home in one season than Judge in 2017. Of his 52 home runs this year, 33 came in Judge's 77 games at Yankee Stadium, and he finished the season on a tear with 13 long balls in the final 19 games overall. He won't come cheap, but nobody is more likely to make a major contribution in this slate than Judge, especially since his .440 wOBA against righties is actually .044 higher than his .396 mark against lefties.
David Peralta, ARI vs. COL ($10): Don't pay much attention to Peralta's sore back, as he would have been able to suit up Sunday if the game had any significance. The leadoff man will be back in there for Wednesday's all-important tilt and ready to set the table against Colorado's Gray. Peralta's 6-for-13 lifetime against the righty, which isn't surprising given the left-handed slugger's .366 career wOBA against righties and .353 season mark.
Carlos Gonzalez, COL at ARI ($17): There's nobody Gonzalez would rather face in a big game than Greinke. Gonzalez has always taken advantage of his platoon edge against the Arizona starter, going 14-for-42 with five home runs against Greinke in his career. The veteran slugger still posted a .356 wOBA against righties even in a down season and closed on a tear with a .377/.484/.766 line in September.
