This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Now that we're into the MLB season, Thursday is back to being a transitional day during the week. A lot of teams are off in order to allow teams to travel for their weekend series. Setting aside the two afternoon starts, there are five MLB games starting at 6:40 p.m. ET or later. These are my lineup recommendations to try and bring you some DFS success.
Pitching
Jordan Montgomery, STL vs. PIT ($8,500): After being dealt from the Yankees to the Cards, Montgomery posted a 3.11 ERA in 11 starts. The southpaw is off to a strong start to this season and just blanked the Brewers over seven innings. Pittsburgh is floating around the top of the bottom 10 in runs scored so far, but it was bottom five last year. Also, Oneil Cruz's injury certainly hurts things for the Buccos.
Chris Bassitt, TOR vs. DET ($8,200): Bassitt had a brutal start against the Cardinals, and then a good start against the Angels. I'm guessing this one will look more like the latter. The Tigers are down at the bottom of MLB in runs scored and team OPS once again, as they were 30ths in runs scored in 2022 as well. Bassitt has a career 3.54 ERA, so he should be fine going forward, and a pitcher of that caliber should handle the Tigers.
Top Target
Even though he only managed to hit .224 last season, Anthony Rizzo ($4,700) still managed to hit 32 home runs in 130 games. The lefty also appreciated his first full season as Yankee Stadium, slugging .492 in the Bronx. Joe Ryan has posted a 3.82 FIP in his career and has allowed 1.26 home runs per nine innings. That's enough to make me enticed by Rizzo getting to swing for the fences at home.
Bargain Bat
A guy who swings for the fences is maybe not the best plan for Petco Park, but a player with the profile of Brice Turang ($2,600) is a different story. He's off to an encouraging start to the first dozen games of his MLB career, but last year in Triple-A he hit .286 with 24 doubles and 34 stolen bases. Nick Martinez was a poor pitcher before he went to Japan, and that time away did not change things. He still looks like the pitcher with the career 5.13 FIP who has struck out a mere 5.75 batters per nine innings in the majors.
Stacks to Consider
Cardinals vs. Pirates (Vince Velasquez): Paul Goldschmidt ($5,900), Nolan Gorman ($3,800), Jordan Walker ($3,100)
Velasquez is expected to make his start even though he's dealing with an ankle issue. The Cardinals will be happy to hear that. Velasquez has a 9.82 ERA through two starts, which isn't too surprising given that he has a career 4.98 ERA even though he's spent a lot of time pitching in relief. I only have one lefty in my stack, even though southpaws have hit .270 against the journeyman pitcher since 2021, but I am still happy with this trio.
Goldschmidt is one of the elite hitters of his generation, so he could feast on Velasquez even though he isn't a southpaw. The reigning MVP has a career .918 OPS and has a .977 OPS at home since 2021. Gorman is making way more contact than he did in his 89-game debut campaign, but he still hit 14 homers last year. All 14 of those homers can against righties, by the way. So far, the southpaw looks much better in 2023, still showing power (four homers) but with a .313 average. Walker is a rookie that has lived up to the hype thus far. Could he be this year's Julio Rodriguez? The 20-year-old has slashed .319/.360/.489 to start his MLB career.
Blue Jays vs. Tigers (Spencer Turnbull): Bo Bichette ($5,800), Vladimir Guerrero ($5,700),), Daulton Varsho ($4,100)
Unfortunately, Turnbull has struggled in his first action since having Tommy John surgery. Through two starts he has a 13.50 ERA and has struck out only 4.50 batters per nine innings. We can't trust Turnbull can return to the pitcher he used to be, and even if this is just rust, the Blue Jays are catching the Tigers hurler at a good time for their lineup.
Bichette hasn't stolen any bases yet, perhaps he will never swipe 25 bags like he did in 2021 again, but he's hit so well it hasn't mattered. A career .298 hitter, Bichette has hit .327 with four home runs to start this campaign. Some quibbled with Guerrero in 2022, but primarily his issue was that he walked less. He still hit 32 home runs and batted .274, and he had an .841 OPS against righties as well. Varsho is the one lefty I have in the mix, coming off a season where he had an .801 OPS versus righties (and also struggled in what is now his former home park). While he's never shown the batting eye to trust his .391 OBP to sustain itself, he did have 27 homers and 16 stolen bases in 2022, so he's shown what he can do with the counting stats.
