This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Thursday's DFS action starts at 1:35 p.m. EDT with an early-only slate consisting of four games, including the Yankees visiting the Mets. The main slate has only four games, making for a pretty limited player pool.
Pitchers
Clayton Kershaw, LAD vs. ARI ($10,900): There's no Coors Field game, and outside of Boston every game has an over/under below 10, so it makes sense in cash games to pay up for Kershaw. He has averaged 41.4 fantasy points per game this season and has a good home matchup against the Diamondbacks. Arizona has only a .270 wOBA against left-handed pitching, which is the second-worst mark in baseball. Kershaw has a career 2.17 ERA at home over his career along with a 10.04 K/9IP.
Dylan Cease, CWS at KC ($8,900): Outside of an disastrous first start Cease has been very consistent, scoring at least 25 fantasy points in each of his other six starts. While a 6.19 FIP suggests he's been lucky, Cease has a very good matchup tonight. The Royals have a team .303 wOBA against right-handed pitching, the fourth-lowest mark in baseball. Their 24.2 percent strikeout rate is below league average as well. Cease is a pitcher to target for GPPs, as he could hit 40 fantasy points at this price and he allows more salary cap relief than the elite pitching options.
Top Targets
Teoscar Hernandez, TOR at BOS ($3,900): Toronto is favored in a game that has an over/under of 10.5 runs, so it's not a bad idea to roster the cleanup hitter for the Blue Jays. Hernandez is enjoying a breakout season, hitting .307 with 12 home runs. He's improved on a .347 wOBA against lefties last season to a .449 mark this season. Martin Perez is a great matchup for Hernandez, as Perez has allowed a .351 wOBA for his career to right-handed hitters.
Jose Abreu, CWS at KC ($3,800): Abreu has crushed southpaws since coming into the league and his career mark against them for wOBA sits at .388. Danny Duffy is a good matchup for Abreu, as he's allowed a .332 wOBA to right-handed hitters in his career. Remarkably, Abreu has scored fantasy points in every game except two and comes into this contest having scored fantasy points in 16 straight games.
Value Bats
Alex Verdugo, BOS vs. TOR ($2,900): Verdugo's batting average is over .300 and he's scored runs in six straight games as Boston's leadoff hitter. He has a .390 wOBA this season against right-handed pitching and that mark stood at .352 last season. Taijuan Walker is having a nice season, but Vegas seems to think the Red Sox will score five runs in this game, and Verdugo should be a part of whatever offense they generate.
Christian Walker, ARI at LAD ($3,000): This pick is best left for tournaments and not for any cash games. Walker is enjoying a nice season, hitting .290 with 21 RBI out of the cleanup spot. What's kind of wild here is his past success against Kershaw, albeit in a small sample. Walker has gone 5-for-11 against the Dodger southpaw with four of those hits being home runs. Again, use Walker only in GPPs.
Stacks To Consider
Blue Jays at Perez: Hernandez, Randal Grichuk ($3,400), Vladimir Guerrero ($3,300), Lourdes Gurriel ($2,900)
In a small sample this season, Grichuk has a .486 wOBA against lefties while Gurriel has a career number sitting at .371. Vladito got off to a slow start but heated up in the second half of August. Perez struggles against right-handed hitters and all of these batters fit that mold.
Diamondbacks at Kershaw: Walker, Ketel Marte ($2,800), Eduardo Escobar ($2,800), Nick Ahmed ($2,600)
It's a small slate, and this would be the core of an interesting entry in any single-entry tournament. This is the most contrarian play of the night and as such, it will be used in any multi-entry tournament. Kershaw was torched in his one outing at home and on any given night any ace can be lit up by the opposing team. All of the players listed have plus numbers when given a matchup against a lefty.
