This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
There's a cozy seven games for the Thursday night main slate. That means there's a smaller pool of players to use, which should make strategy even more interesting.
Pitching
Yu Darvish, SD vs. WAS ($11,400): This is a "no rake" type of play, meaning there will be enough DFS players shying away from Darvish that in cash games you won't really be paying the juice if you use him. Darvish won't have to face Kyle Schwarber and has had ridiculous numbers at home this season (2.12 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 11.6 K/9IP). Washington is both in the bottom half of the league in ISO (.150) and strikeout percentage (24.4 percent) on the road against right-handed pitching as well.
Taijuan Walker, NYM vs. PIT ($9,500): Walker has had a stellar season for the Mets to this point and there's been a lot of "drama" around him over the last couple of weeks with both his grandmother passing and the All-Stars being named. I think this is a great spot for him to overcome all that's been going on (terrible fantasy analysis by the way), so let's look at some numbers. Walker has a 1.52 ERA at home this season while striking out over a batter per inning. Pittsburgh has a .284 wOBA on the road against right-handed pitching which is the fourth worst in baseball. His salary isn't a huge help to the cap but he should be a less popular play for GPPs.
Top Targets
Nelson Cruz, MIN vs. DET ($4,000): Cruz is facing a lefty in Tarik Skubal, so why not use the ageless one? The upper-tier hitters tonight largely grace the SD/WAS game, but it's hard to trust any of them with two of the best pitchers in baseball on the mound. Cruz has a .458 wOBA this season against left-handed pitching and that is actually higher than his career mark (.403). He's an elite play against Skubal, who has a .352 wOBA against lefties this season (.383 on the road).
Jesse Winker, CIN at MIL ($4,200): Winker has been a monster this season with 19 home runs and 49 RBI all while hitting north of .300. Not surprisingly, he has a .453 wOBA against right-handed pitching and he'll get that matchup against Adrian Houser. Houser isn't an elite prospect and has allowed a .346 wOBA to left-handed hitters this season.
Value Bats
Jace Peterson, MIL vs. CIN ($2,400): Peterson isn't some big prospect, but looking at his box scores you'll see he has a 1.265 OPS over the last two weeks. Yesterday he had 21.9 and 12.2 fantasy points in a twin bill against the Mets and has stolen two bases over the last 10 days. Tyler Mahle is a middle of the rotation pitcher who can be faded, and Peterson should be hitting in the middle of the lineup, a good RBI spot.
Didi Gregorius, PHI at CHC ($2,600): The Phillies playing in Chicago has made for a lot of fireworks with there being 52 runs scored in the last three games. Gregorius fills a positional scarcity need and has two home runs in five games since returning from the IL. He'll face off against Adbert Alzolay, who has allowed a .390 wOBA to left-handed hitters this season.
Stacks To Consider
Blue Jays vs. Keegan Akin: Vladimir Guerrero ($4,700), George Springer ($3,900), Teoscar Hernandez ($3,500), Randal Grichuk ($3,600)
It seems like you can write up a Toronto stack every day given how good their offense is, especially against a southpaw. All of these hitters have excellent numbers against left-handed pitching this season with the exception of Springer, but he has a career .381 wOBA in that split so that's the number we'll focus on. Akin isn't as bad as his 7.46 ERA suggests, but he's not an elite prospect and has given up a .373 wOBA to right-handed hitters this season. This is the most obvious team to stack of the night, so don't be afraid to mix and match different hitters.
Twins vs. Skubal: Cruz, Robbie Grossman ($3,300), Trevor Larnach ($2,800), Jorge Polanco ($3,100)
Polanco has only a .325 wOBA against left-handed pitching but offers so flexibility, being eligible at both middle infield positions. Larnach has hit the ground running thus far with seven home runs in only 191 plate appearances while Grossman (.378) and Cruz (.458) have crushed left-handed pitching this season.
