Thursday features a split slate of MLB action with a five-game early slate and a five-game main slate. I’m going to pull double-duty today and provide a brief article that lists out my top plays for each slate.
This article is for the main slate of games where there are a bunch of teams that I want to stack and very few pitchers that I want to use. I still managed to pick three pitchers to consider and contained myself to two full stacks and a couple of two-man stacks.
This article will be a freebie since it is for a small slate and only lists my top plays without much analysis.
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Let’s mow down the competition 3 Up and 3 Down…
3 Up
Ace
Patrick Corbin (FD-$9,000 / DK-$9,200)
Corbin is the best pitcher available on the five-game main slate. He doesn’t have the best matchup going against the Dodgers in L.A. as a road dog but the game has the lowest Vegas total on the board and Corbin has the must strikeout upside.
Value
Joe Musgrove (FD-$8,200 / DK-$7,300)
Sometimes you have to reverse engineer which pitcher to use. That is the case with my Value option on this slate as I have interest in some Mariners bats (J.A. Happ) and some Pirates hitters (Michael Wacha). That leaves Musgrove as my value option pitching against the Cardinals.
Darkhorse
Wade Miley (FD-$7,100 / DK-$6,800)
Miley is inexpensive but is actually the biggest Vegas favorite on the slate pitching at home against the Rangers. Miley is not a big strikeout guy but could see an increase in punchouts on Thursday as the Rangers have struck out 27.8% (5th most) against lefties this season.
3 Down
Top Stacks
Braves vs. Luke Weaver
I love the Braves stack tonight. They play in a good hitters park in Arizona against a pitcher, Luke Weaver, that has allowed a 45.7% hard-hit rate this season.
Josh Donaldson (FD-$3,200 / DK-$4,200)
Nick Markakis (FD-$3,300 / DK-$4,300)
Freddie Freeman (FD-$4,000 / DK-$4,600)
Ronald Acuna (FD-$3,800 / DK-$4,200)
Astros vs. Mike Minor
I have been burned by trying to pick on Minor so far this season, but I’m going back to it again with a right-handed Astros stack in Houston. Minor should suffer some regression soon with a .231 BABIP and an xFIP almost two runs higher than his ERA.
George Springer (FD-$4,400 / DK-$5,000)
Alex Bregman (FD-$4,200 / DK-$4,700)
Jose Altuve (FD-$3,700 / DK-$4,300)
Carlos Correa (FD-$3,900 / DK-$4,200)
Mariners vs. J.A. Happ
Going with a two-man BvP stack here with Healy (3-for-5 with three homers) and Beckham (7-for-22 with two homers) off Happ. I’m not against expanding into a full Mariners stack with the rest of their power-hitting righties.
Ryon Healy (FD-$3,800 / DK-$3,700)
Tim Beckham (FD-$3,400 / DK-$3,800)
Pirates vs. Michael Wacha
A couple of inexpensive lefties for the Pirates hitting near the top of the order to help fill in the holes.
Gregory Polanco (FD-$3,100 / DK-$3,700)
Adam Frazier (FD-$3,000 / DK-$3,400)
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