Scoring might be hard to come by for Thursday’s five-game evening slate in DFS with so many top pitchers set to take the mound. There are still a couple of stacks to take advantage of, but they figure to have high ownership percentages based on the limited options. Let’s examine some players who are worth considering when building your lineup. Don’t forget to sign up for our Newsletter and try our MLB Lineup Optimizer to help build a winning entry on FanDuel and DraftKings.

STARTING PITCHERS

Aaron Nola vs. Miami Marlins
Stadium – Citizens Bank Park
FanDuel = $8,700
DraftKings = $9,100

The two big pitchers Thursday are Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole. However, they’ll be facing each other and are both pricey. The better route to take might be taking a chance on Nola turning around his poor start against a Marlins team that has scored the fewest runs (65) in baseball. He has been victimized by a .348 BABIP and he still has 28 strikeouts over 25 innings. If there was ever a time for him to look like the dominant pitcher that he was last year, this is it.

Caleb Smith vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Stadium – Citizens Bank Park
FanDuel = $8,200
DraftKings = $7,300

Opposing Nola is another starter who should not go overlooked for this slate. Smith’s season was cut short due to injury last year, but he showed plenty of promise with a 27 percent strikeout rate. He’s been even more dominant this season with a 33.3 percent strikeout rate that has helped propel him to a 2.94 xFIP. He pitched six shutout innings and recorded six strikeouts against the Phillies earlier this season, making him even more appealing at his reasonable price on both sites.

CATCHER

Isiah Kiner-Falefa vs. Marco Gonzales, Seattle Mariners
Stadium – T-Mobile Park
FanDuel = $2,600
DraftKings = $3,000

Kiner-Falefa has been splitting the catcher’s duties with Jeff Mathis, so you’ll need to make sure that he’s in the lineup for this game. He’s by far the better offensive player of the duo, although that’s not saying much since Mathis has a career .248 wOBA. If you decide to pay up at starting pitcher or for a few of the premium bats with favorable matchups, adding Kiner-Falefa could really help your budget while still providing some upside.

Others to consider: Tom Murphy

FIRST BASE

Miguel Cabrera vs. Rick Porcello, Boston Red Sox
Stadium – Fenway Park
FanDuel = $2,800
DraftKings = $3,800

Cabrera has a very strange stat line in the early going. Once one of the most feared hitters in the game, he has a minuscule .047 ISO. He’s also only batting .279 despite an abnormally high .381 BABIP. His strikeout rate sits at 24.2 percent, which is seven percentage points higher than his career mark. Oh, by the way, he’s on a 10-game hitting streak. Porcello has been awful with a 2.41 WHIP, so Cabrera might be able to find his way on base a time or two in this contest.

Others to consider: Edwin Encarnacion and Mitch Moreland

SECOND BASE

Michael Chavis vs. Jordan Zimmermann, Detroit Tigers
Stadium – Fenway Park
FanDuel = $2,400
DraftKings = $3,900

With the Red Sox running out of healthy players at second base, Chavis has been thrust into an everyday role. He recorded a .402 wOBA at Double-A last year, then a stellar .273 ISO after being promoted to Triple-A. An encouraging sign for a young hitter is that he has four walks and four strikeouts in 19 plate appearances since being called up. At this price, he’s someone to target in tournament play.

Others to consider: Danny Santana and D.J. LeMahieu

THIRD BASE

Ryon Healy vs. Taylor Hearn, Texas Rangers
Stadium – T-Mobile Park
FanDuel = $3,300
DraftKings = $4,100

The Mariners jump off of the page as a team to stack Thursday. Hearn will be forced to make his debut in the majors after Adrian Sampson was needed in relief Wednesday. It’s a big jump for Hearn to make considering he only pitched at Double-A last year. While he did finally reach Triple-A this year, he has a 4.85 xFIP across four starts. Healy is not swinging a hot bat by any means, but he’s still an option with the inexperienced lefty on the mound.

Others to consider: Asdrubal Cabrera and Jeimer Candelario

SHORTSTOP

Tim Beckham vs. Taylor Hearn, Texas Rangers
Stadium – T-Mobile Park
FanDuel = $3,400
DraftKings = $4,100

After batting .410 with a 1.323 OPS through his first 10 games, it was only a matter of time before Beckham started to cool off. It’s been a hard fall with him batting .204 with a .597 OPS across the following 15 games. Still, he’s in play against Hearn since his career wOBA is 23 points higher against lefties than righties.

Others to consider: Elvis Andrus and Xander Bogaerts

OUTFIELD

Mitch Haniger vs. Taylor Hearn, Texas Rangers
Stadium – T-Mobile Park
FanDuel = $4,300
DraftKings = $5,600

Haniger stands out as someone to pay up for. He’s off to a great start with a .374 wOBA and he has a career .361 wOBA against left-handed pitchers. If you roll with Nola and/or Smith at pitcher, his lofty price tag also isn’t nearly as hard to swallow.

Mookie Betts vs. Jordan Zimmermann, Detroit Tigers
Stadium – Fenway Park
FanDuel = $3,900
DraftKings = $4,700

The time is now to deploy Betts before his price starts to climb again. He’s come out of his early funk, hitting 9-for-22 with six walks over his last six games. Zimmermann has allowed at least 1.6 HR/9 in back-to-back seasons, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Betts take him deep in this game.

Nicholas Castellanos vs. Rick Porcello, Boston Red Sox
Stadium – Fenway Park
FanDuel = $2,900
DraftKings = $4,100

Castellanos is off to a disappointing start in large part because of his ugly 27.8 percent strikeout rate. He’s also making weaker contact with his hard-hit rate down by almost six percentage points from last season. However, he’s still the best bitter on the Tigers and his slow start has greatly reduced his price tag, so he could be someone to consider with how poorly Porcello has pitched.

Others to consider: J.D. Martinez and Andrew Benintendi

Author Bio:

Mike has been covering fantasy sports since 2007, joining Lineup Lab in 2017. An avid player of both season-long fantasy leagues and DFS, Mike’s work has appeared on numerous sites, including RotoWire, SportsLine and Sports Illustrated. He’s also been featured on DraftKings’ nightly show, The Sweat, and was a finalist for the 2018 FSWA Basketball Writer of the Year award. Follow Mike on Twitter @rotomikebarner.

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