This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Thursday is a day off for much of MLB, and so we have a light night of baseball. There are five games on the slate starting at 7:05 p.m. ET or later. Don't miss out on the DFS opportunity, though! I've got some recommendations for your lineup.
Pitching
Zack Wheeler, PHI at WAS ($9,600): Since joining the Phillies, Wheeler has been one of the steadiest hands in baseball. He makes almost all of his starts, often pitches at least six innings, and has a 2.82 ERA with Philadelphia. This year he's been as good as ever, with a 2.12 FIP through 11 starts. The Nationals are in the middle of the league in runs scored, but they only really have a couple foreboding bats.
Martin Perez, TEX at DET ($9,000): At this point, you can feel free to use any starting pitcher against the Tigers, assuming they aren't opening a bullpen game. Detroit is last in runs scored by 40 runs and has a sub-.600 OPS as a team. Perez, though, is having the best season of his career. The southpaw has a 2.18 ERA through 12 starts.
Top Targets
Although it's hard to escape the shadow of Aaron Judge this season, don't overlook Giancarlo Stanton ($5,300). He's slashed .268/.346/.514 with 13 home runs in 50 games. We've got Josh Fleming pegged to return from Triple-A for a start, but the southpaw has a 6.38 ERA and likely is only in the running for a start because the Rays are in a pinch.
So far Pete Alonso ($5,100) is having his best season since he hit 53 home runs as a rookie. That's pretty impressive, given that he had an .863 OPS with 37 home runs in 2021. Aaron Ashby has a 3.91 ERA jumping from the rotation to the bullpen and back, but over his last two starts he has an 8.44 ERA.
Bargain Bats
The lefty Rowdy Tellez ($3,600) is in his first full season with the Brewers, and he's slugged .457 and hit 10 home runs. Versus righties, Tellez has an .806 OPS. Tylor Megill has a career 4.51 ERA, and he has serious issues with southpaws. In his career, lefties have hit .305 against Megill.
Jared Walsh ($3,500) had a breakout campaign in 2021, and while he's taken a step down this year he's still doing just fine against righties. Since 2020, the southpaw has a .951 OPS versus right-handed pitchers. The righty George Kirby has a 3.65 ERA as a rookie, but he's allowed 1.70 home runs per nine innings.
Stacks to Consider
Phillies at Nationals (Patrick Corbin): Rhys Hoskins ($4,400), J.T. Realmuto ($4,700), Alec Bohm ($3,100)
Corbin has been cannon fodder for three years now. This year has been particularly brutal, as he has a 6.65 ERA. Not only that, he has a 7.22 ERA over his last six starts because he's allowed eight home runs in that time. You could probably get away with stacking Bryce Harper against a fellow lefty, but I went with three righties for my stack. Righties have hit .306 against Corbin since 2020.
Realmuto is having a down year, but he's a catcher with a career .273/.330/.447 slash line, and you need a catcher for your lineup on DraftKings. Plus, Realmuto has seven stolen bases. Hoskins has a .485 slugging percentage, and he has a career .499 slugging percentage. He also has 13 home runs and has at least 27 home runs in every season where he's played more than 100 games. Bohm isn't hitting righties, but he has a .792 OPS against lefties in 2022, and since 2020 he has an .810 OPS versus southpaws.
Rangers at Tigers (Beau Brieske): Corey Seager ($4,900), Marcus Semien ($4,600), Adolis Garcia ($4,600)
Brieske hasn't exactly thrived at the MLB level. Through his first nine starts the rookie has a 4.34 ERA, but dig deeper and it gets bleaker. Brieske has a 6.05 FIP, has only struck out 5.85 batters per nine innings, and has allowed 2.27 home runs per nine innings. The Rangers have a couple big free-agent signing still hoping to turn things around, but this is the kind of matchup that can help make that happen.
Seager has 13 home runs and three stolen bases, and his previous level of play gives me confidence he'll figure it out. The former Dodger came into this season with a career .870 OPS. Semien got off to a bad start, but he's turned it around. Over the last three weeks he has a .973 OPS, and he has six home runs and 11 stolen bases on the season. Garcia doesn't really get on base, but he still makes a big impact for fantasy players. He's got 12 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 60 games after he had 31 homers and 16 swiped bags as a rookie in 2021.
