FanDuel MLB: Thursday Picks

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Published on August 26, 2021

Thursday brings us an unusual nine-game slate, which is a bit bigger than the norm. Chris Sale, Max Scherzer and Yu Darvish are all toeing the rubber, making this an interesting slate to think about. Let's see who we should target.

Pitching

Chris Sale, BOS vs. MIN ($10,700): Sale has scored 39 and 36 fantasy points in his first two starts and now gets the hapless Twins at home. Minnesota no longer has Nelson Cruz and is in the bottom half of the league in strikeouts (23.2 percent) and wOBA (.316) against left-handed pitching. Sale is a -300 favorite according to Vegas, so the win is definitely in play for him as well.

Carlos Carrasco, NYM vs. SF ($5,900): The salary cap hit for "Cookie" is too tempting given the amount of upside he has. The Mets should allow him to pitch at least five innings (like he did last outing) and he's averaging (in a small sample) over a strikeout per inning. Using Carrasco allows for a lot of salary cap space at other positions.

Top Targets

Rafael Devers, BOS vs. MIN ($4,000): Devers should be hitting cleanup for the team with the biggest implied run total according to Vegas. He's at 29 home runs and 91 RBI and has a great matchup at home against John Gant.

Bryce Harper, PHI vs. ARI ($4,000): Going into this season I wouldn't have bet against Zac Gallen, but his 4.59 ERA is not good. Harper is sitting at 21 home runs and has a .438 wOBA at home against right-handed pitching this season. Gallen has allowed eight home runs over his last six starts (33.2 innings), which bodes well for Harper.

Value Bats

Yohel Pozo, TEX at CLE ($2,100): Pozo was given Wednesday night off so he should be refocused and ready to play. He'll have the nice righty-vs-lefty split against Sam Hentges (7.52 ERA) and be hitting in the middle of the Rangers lineup. Pozo is a sneaky play as fantasy managers typically don't use catchers in their DFS lineups.

Bradley Zimmer, CLE vs. TEX ($2,400): Zimmer has a .343 wOBA against right-handed pitching this season and gets Jordan Lyles at home. Lyles has given up a .366 wOBA on the road and that has led to a 5.40 ERA away from Arlington. Zimmer should be hitting sixth in the lineup, providing good RBI opportunities for him.

Stacks To Consider

Seattle vs. Brad Keller: Kyle Seager ($3,500), Mitch Haniger ($3,900), Ty France ($3,400), J.P. Crawford ($2,900)

Seager always seems to be a forgotten man when it comes to DFS, likely because he usually plays in a late game. He has a career .336 wOBA against right-handed pitching; in fact all of these players are killing it this season. Haniger has 29 home runs and France has been a pleasant surprise with 16 himself. France also qualifies at 2B, making him an even more attractive option. The Red Sox, with the highest implied run total of the night are another stack to consider, but the Mariners will be a less popular one in GPPs.

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.