This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
After a couple days with a single MLB playoff game, Thursday gives us one of our final opportunities to watch multiple MLB games until 2024. That means a first pitch at 5:07 p.m. ET, so keep that in mind when setting DFS lineups. For both series, the pitching situations are a little dicey, as it is too early for teams to flip back to the start of the rotation. Here are my DFS recommendations for Thursday.
Pitching
Brandon Pfaadt, ARI vs. PHI ($7,700): This was tricky. Thursday feels like a day where I don't see a single starting pitcher going more than four innings. So, I figured I'd see how these teams stacked up in terms of striking out this season. The Phillies had the eight-most strikeouts as a squad. Pfaadt, a rookie, struck out 8.80 batters per nine innings in MLB, which is solid. Plus, getting the Phillies away from their home park probably doesn't hurt. This is a stab at Pfaadt maybe racking up four or five K's before getting relieved. That's as viable as anything Thursday.
Top Target
I'm not so enamored with Pfaadt I'm going to avoid Phillies hitters! You need a catcher, and J.T. Realmuto ($4,300) is my guy at that position. He's the rare Philadelphia player who may be happy to be away from the City of Brotherly Love. Oddly, he had a .576 OPS at home in 2023, but a .951 OPS on the road. Pfaadt, meanwhile, allowed righties to hit .290 against him.
Bargain Bat
The reintroduction of Michael Brantley ($3,300) hasn't given the Astros the extra oomph they were looking for, but he does give them a third lefty bat. He also does have an .873 OPS against righties since 2021. The Rangers seem likely to do the Andrew Heaney/Dane Dunning double act once again. Dunning, a righty, allowed lefties to hit .271 against him. However, the lefty Heaney actually let southpaws hit .276 against him as well.
Stack to Consider
Rangers vs. Astros (Jose Urquidy): Adolis Garcia ($5,000), Evan Carter ($4,200), Leody Taveras ($3,100)
It would be excessive for the Astros to try and push Justin Verlander into this one, but if they feel desperate enough they may try. For now, though, Urquidy seems likely to start. His 4.28 road ERA was much better than his 6.06 home ERA, but it still isn't good. The righty doesn't struck out many batters, he can be walk prone, and his fellow righties hit .292 against him this year. That's why I have two righties in this stack.
Garcia gave up on stealing bases, he had nine after swiping 25 last year, but he hit 39 homers and notched over 100 runs and RBI, so it all balanced out. He hit both lefties and righties reasonably well, encouraging in the bullpen-heavy playoffs, but his .959 OPS at home this year stands out. Carter is a lefty, but nothing he has done in MLB thus far leads me to feel anything but utter confidence in his bat. He had an 1.238 OPS against righties during the regular season, an 1.289 OPS at home, and in the postseason his OPS is over 1.200 as well. Taveras has sneakily gotten hot and is keeping pace with Carter and Corey Seager in terms of production. During the regular season he had 14 homers and 14 stolen bases. The switch hitter was better against righties (.768 OPS), but he was also better at home (.789 OPS).
