FanDuel MLB: Thursday Value Plays

Kevin Payne turns to veteran Royals catcher Sal Perez in an attractive matchup down in Texas on Thursday.
FanDuel MLB: Thursday Value Plays
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PITCHER

Rick Porcello, BOS at TB ($9,300): With only a three-game slate, Porcello will be very chalky given he's the highest-priced pitcher and the matchup. Porcello has games of at least 43 fantasy points in six of his 10 starts and two more in the 30s. The Rays have a .135 ISO (sixth lowest in the league) against right-handed pitching and strike out at 23.5% at home against that handedness (the eleventh-highest mark in the league).

GPP Fade: Steven Matz, NYM at MIL ($7,100): Matz has yet to break the 40 fantasy-point barrier in any of his eight starts this season and only once has made it to six innings. For an encore of last season's .363 wOBA to opponents, Matz has almost equaled that this season with a .351 mark. Danny Duffy, given his track record this season, is someone else to steer clear of.

Cheap GPP Consideration: Blake Snell, TB vs BOS ($8,100): While Snell isn't cheap, there are only five pitching options to choose from tonight on the FanDuel slate. Snell appears to be in a breakout season and continues to be a dominant force at home. Since the start of the 2017 season, he has a 2.69 ERA at home (.264 wOBA) while striking out just under a batter per inning. Remarkably, the ERA (1.07) and wOBA (.235) have gotten better this season, and his ownership should be suppressed tonight due to the Red Sox being in town.

CATCHER/FIRST BASE

Salvador Perez, KC at TEX ($3,300): With such a limited slate, the catcher spot could make the difference tonight in GPPs. Perez comes into this game with home runs in back-to-back games, and he should have the opportunity to drive in runs from the cleanup spot. His .331 wOBA is in line with last season's .329 mark, and the case against his opponent, Austin Bibens-Dirkx will be made shortly.

SECOND BASE

Asdrubal Cabrera, NYM at MIL ($3,900): On a small slate such as this, it might be worth it to check out some BvP data given the small player pool to choose from. No one sticks out at the position, but the Mets have already faced Kyle Davies, and Cabrera appears to be the most attractive option. He's averaged 11 fantasy points this season and has gone 5-for-9 against Davies, good for a 1.378 OPS.

THIRD BASE

Mike Moustakas, KC at TEX ($3,800): Moustakas is a nice player to build around tonight given the move to Arlington and his matchup with Bibens-Dirkx. Bibens-Dirkx is a journeyman minor leaguer who finally made it to Texas last season at the age of 32. The results were not good, especially at home, where he had a 5.79 ERA. His 14 home runs in less than 70 innings shows his penchant for giving up the long ball, leading to a .354 wOBA to opposing batters.

SHORTSTOP

Willy Adames, TB vs BOS ($2,700): Adames might not even be in the lineup tonight if Joey Wendle is back from paternity leave earlier than expected, but that seems unlikely. Adames promptly homered in his first game as a Ray and was hitting .311 with 12 extra base hits (four home runs) at Triple-A Durham before his call-up. Going up against Porcello makes him more of a GPP than cash-game play Thursday and would be an interesting pairing with teammate Blake Snell.

OUTFIELD

Delino DeShields Jr., TEX vs KC ($2,600): Deshields has shown improvement over the last couple of seasons against left-handed pitching, as evidenced by his .349 wOBA since the start of the 2017 season. He's a fixture now at the top of the lineup for the Rangers using his speed to rack up stolen bases (eight) and score runs (18 in only 130 plate appearances).

Domingo Santana, MIL vs NYM ($2,700): Santana has gotten off to a rocky start this season with a .252 batting average and only three home runs but has a plus matchup here. Santana has a lifetime .348 wOBA against southpaws and will face the aforementioned Steven Matz tonight. Santana has two home runs in his last seven contests and was robbed of a third the other night.

UTILITY
Jesus Aguilar, MIL vs NYM ($3,300):
Aguilar has been a nice surprise for the Mets and has scored at least 19.7 fantasy points in four of his last five games. After a .372 wOBA against left-handed pitching last season, he's doing even better in 2018 with a .414 wOBA. Look for him to hit in the middle of the lineup against Matz.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Kevin Payne plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: Fanduel: kevinccp, Draft Kings: kevinccp, Yahoo: kevinccp.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin has worked for RotoWire over a decade and has covered basketball, baseball and football. A glutton for punishment, he roots for his hometown Bills, Sabres and the New York Yankees. You can follow him on Twitter @KCPayne26.
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