Thursday bring us another split slate of games. This article will focus in on the four-game evening slate. It is difficult to come up with two pitchers to use on two-pitcher sites with the short slate and a dearth of strong pitching options to choose from. As such, you will either need to completely punt on pitching and just roll the dice with a couple cheap options or pay up for the only two high-priced options on the slate and scrounge around for loose change to fill out your hitters. Since we just have a 4-gamer Thursday, today’s article will be FREE!
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Let’s mow down the competition 3 Up and 3 Down…
3 Up
Ace
Lance McCullers (FD-$10,400 / DK-$11,100)
Which high-priced ace you choose will likely come down to pricing on each site. Give me the cheaper option between McCullers and Aaron Nola, which would be Nola on FanDuel and McCullers on DraftKings. I don’t love McCullers road splits as he travels to Tampa to face the Rays but he does offer good strikeout upside against a Rays team that has the 4th highest strikeout rate (25.9%) against righties over the last 30 days. They also rank in the bottom five in wOBA (.283), ISO (.132) and wRC+ (80) during that span against righties.
Value
Junior Guerra (FD-$8,400 / DK-$8,200)
If you don’t want to try to jam in both McCullers and Nola on two-pitcher sites then give Guerra a look in the mid-range. Guerra has been solid all season with a 2.82 ERA while allowing three runs or fewer in eight straight starts. He can generate 5-7 strikeouts per game and threw 5 2/3 shutout innings of one-hit ball against the Reds earlier this season. I wouldn’t call him “safe” but on this slate, he is still probably “safer” than most options to at least not cannonball your lineup.
Darkhorse
Anthony DeSclafani (FD-$6,700 / DK-$6,400)
The thing with short slates is sometimes you have to recommend players that go against some of your other recommendations. While this feels strange to do it can serve as a hedge and be a little contrarian as well. DeSclafani has been solid in his first four starts this season including three straight wins while allowing just two runs in each of the last three outings. He has been solid against Brewers hitters in a limited sample, allowing just a .279 wOBA and one extra-base hit in 31 plate appearances. Meanwhile, the Brewers have the 3rd highest strikeout rate (26.5%) against righties over the last 30 days. He’s worth a GPP shot to give you a chance to get in some high-priced bats.
3 Down
Top Stacks
Red Sox vs. Jaime Barria
Barria has pitched fairly well this season with a 3.40 ERA through 10 starts. While his 3.10 road ERA looks good, some of the underlying numbers suggest that negative regression could be on the way as he has allowed a .364 wOBA and an elevated 2.66 HR/9 on the road this season. A trip to Fenway to face the Red Sox lineup could realign those numbers in a hurry. Consider a wraparound stack to save a little salary.
Mookie Betts (FD-$5,100 / DK-$6,000) – Betts has a .449 wOBA and .288 ISO at home against righties this season.
Andrew Benintendi (FD-$4,000 / DK-$5,000) – Benintendi has posted a .445 wOBA and .284 ISO at home against righties this season.
Jackie Bradley Jr. (FD-$2,700 / DK-$3,400) – Bradley has seven hits over his last three games including a double and a homer.
Christian Vazquez (FD-$2,300 / DK-$2,600) / Sandy Leon (FD-$2,200 / DK-$2,700) – Consider whichever catcher puts on the gear Thursday night as a cheap punt play to include in a Red Sox wraparound stack.
Brewers vs. Anthony DeSclafani
I know I touted DeSclafani as a Darkhorse pitcher to use but I’m also high on the Brewers bats playing in a hitter-friendly park in Cincy with temps in the mid-80s. Numerous Brewers bats have a great history playing at the Great American Ballpark or just against the Reds in general.
Eric Thames (FD-$4,000 / DK-$5,100) – Thames has clubbed 12 homers in 19 career games against the Reds. They might as well just walk him which they have also done 15 times.
Ryan Braun (FD-$3,200 / DK-$4,200) – In 85 career games at Cincy, Braun has hit 25 homers.
Travis Shaw (FD-$3,500 / DK-$4,300) – The Ohio native is expected to return to the lineup tonight and has five homers in 12 career games at Great American Ballpark.
Brad Miller (FD-$2,500 / DK-$3,300) – Miller has been starting at SS for the Brewers recently even though you’ll need to play him at 1B on DFS sites. He hit a three-run homer yesterday and has a .343 wOBA against righties this season.
Contrarian Stack
Phillies vs. Tanner Roark
Going way off the grid for my Phillies stack tonight in an attempt to save a bunch of salary to either jam in both high-priced pitchers or an expensive hitting stack to pair with them. Roark did just yield six runs to the Phillies in his last start, so hopefully, the bottom of the Phillies lineup can get to him tonight.
Nick Williams (FD-$2,400 / DK-$3,300) – Williams has a .286 ISO at home against righties this season.
Scott Kingery (FD-$2,400 / DK-$3,000) – Kingery is riding an eight-game hitting streak.
Maikel Franco (FD-$2,700 / DK-$3,500) – Franco has a five-game hitting streak that has included three doubles and a homer.
Jorge Alfaro (FD-$2,100 / DK-$2,800) – Alfaro is 3-for-5 with a double and homer off Roark in his career.
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