This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Buckle up for a wild ride. Wednesday brings two deciding Game 5's in the National League with the winners set to face each other in the League Championship series. We also have another opportunity to play DFS on Yahoo, so let's discuss how both contests might play out.
Starting Pitchers
As far as pitcher's duels go, it doesn't get much better than Stephen Strasburg ($49) facing Walker Buehler ($46) in a winner-take-all Game 5 between the Nationals and Dodgers. Strasburg was lights out in Game 2, recording 10 strikeouts over six shutout innings. Buehler was magnificent in Game 1 with eight strikeouts across six shutout innings of his own. With this game being played in Los Angeles and Buehler priced three dollars cheaper, he might be the better option of the two, but it's really just splitting hairs as they both carry tremendous upside.
The Cardinals had to start Jack Flaherty ($46) during the final weekend of the regular season in an effort to stave off the Brewers and win the NL Central. While that left him unavailable to start Game 1, he did start Game 2 and the Cardinals will now have their ace on the mound again for the deciding Game 5. The Braves were able to score three runs off of him in his first start, but he still had eight strikeouts over seven innings. Some people might shy away from him due to the Braves' potent lineup, making Flaherty an option to potentially target in tournament play.
Correlations
Mike Foltynewicz certainly pitched well in Game 2 by recording seven strikeouts over seven scoreless innings. Still, with the likes of Strasburg, Buehler and Flaherty included in this slate, he's one of the more underwhelming pitchers, so expect to see plenty of Cardinals' hitters included in entries. Paul Goldschmidt ($22), Marcell Ozuna ($17) and Tommy Edman ($18) provide a dangerous trio while Yadier Molina ($13) presents a viable target behind the plate after delivering two key RBI in Game 4.
As good as Flaherty has been, the fact that the Braves did score three runs against him in their first matchup could make them one of the more dangerous stacks of the night. The obvious high-end hitters on the team are Ronald Acuna Jr. ($24) and Freddie Freeman ($16). As far as cheaper options go, don't sleep on Dansby Swanson ($10). He had a career-high .172 ISO during the regular season and is 7-for-14 with three doubles in this series.
One-Offs
Even with Strasburg on the mound, Max Muncy ($23) could be a popular one-off since he is 4-for-14 with two home runs in this series. With the limited catching options, the powerful Will Smith ($11) also provides upside. While he is only 1-for-9 in the series, he has drawn three walks and has a monstrous regular season with a .318 ISO. Staying in that same game, Anthony Rendon ($18) also makes a lot of sense at his reasonable price. He's 6-for-17 with three doubles in this series and finished the regular season with a career-high 154 wRC+.
