This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Ready for another Thursday of MLB action? That's great, because I'm ready with my DFS recommendations. As per usual, a handful of teams have Thursday off across the majors. That leaves us with seven games starting at 7:05 p.m. EDT or later. With that in mind, here's who I like for your lineups.
Pitching
Jose Berrios, TOR at NYY ($10,800): Since the start of July, Berrios has a 3.11 ERA in 13 starts. Sure, he's been better at home this season, but who cares? The Yankees have a brutal offense, bottom eight in runs scored with a .225 batting average as a team. Additionally, Berrios has held righties to a .215 average while being hit at a .263 clip by lefties, and the Yankees have zero viable lefty bats.
Tarik Skubal, DET at OAK ($10,300): Skubal has been a bright spot for the Tigers this season and last season, despite missing significant time due to arm surgery. This will be his second campaign in a row with a FIP under 3.00, and he has an incredible 6.46 K/BB rate this year. Then, of course, there's the matchup. Oakland is last in runs scored and team OPS, and it is last in runs scored by a comfortable margin.
Top Targets
Yeah, stolen bases were up in 2023, but the fact remains that Bryan Reynolds ($3,400) has his first 20/10 campaign. He's a switch hitter, but with an .845 OPS against righties, and also an .874 OPS on the road. Though he hasn't allowed many homers or walks, Kyle Hendricks also doesn't really strike anybody out, so his 4.41 ERA at home is built on allowing a lot of contact.
Atlanta's lineup is so stacked, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year often bats ninth. It's not like Michael Harris ($3,200) has struggled, either, as his sophomore campaign has seen him bat .291 with 18 homers and 20 stolen bases in 128 games. Jake Irvin – spoiler alert – will not be NL Rookie of the Year in 2023, what with his 5.29 FIP and .270 batting average allowed to southpaws.
Bargain Bats
Though Oakland's cavernous (and decrepit) stadium isn't an ideal power venue, Kerry Carpenter ($3,000) is not an all-or-nothing hitter. Yes, the southpaw has 20 homers, but he also has 16 doubles and two triples to go with his .290 batting average. There's a chance Mason Miller will serve as the opener for the Athletics, and likely give way to Luis Medina. Both are righties, and Medina has allowed lefties to hit .274 against him.
With a righty on the mound for Pittsburgh, we will likely see Mike Tauchman ($2,800) in the lineup for the Cubs. It also helps that this one is in Chicago, as the southpaw has an .802 OPS at home. The righty in question is Johan Oviedo, who has a 4.38 FIP and has given up 13 of his 17 homers to left-handed batters.
Stacks to Consider
Phillies vs. Mets (David Peterson): Trea Turner ($4,000), Nick Castellanos ($3,500), Alec Bohm ($2,900)
Given that the Mets have nothing to play for, they can just go ahead and let Peterson start this one. He has a 7.35 ERA on the road in 2023, and a 5.93 ERA on the road over the last three seasons. Since he is a southpaw, I have three righties in this stack. Although lefties have hit .289 against Peterson, righties have hit .294, so I won't get cute with any lefty-on-lefty players here.
Turner has tallied 26 homers and 28 stolen bases, and he'll end up scoring over 100 runs as well. Also, while he had some struggles earlier this year, Turner mostly had issues on the road, as he has an .892 OPS at home on the campaign. Castellanos has a 25/10 season, and his home OPS is .886. As per usual, he's feasted on lefties, as he has an .871 OPS in those matchups since 2021. Bohm, like his teammate Castellanos, love to face a lefty. Over the last three seasons he has an .887 OPS in those matchups.
Mets at Phillies (Ranger Suarez): Pete Alonso ($4,200), Francisco Lindor ($3,700), Mark Vientos ($2,300)
I'm flipping this one around for my second stack. While Peterson has been brutal on the road, Suarez has a 4.94 ERA at home. He's also a southpaw, and he's allowed righties to hit .277 against him in 2023. That means a Mets stack of righty-hitting batters, which features two obvious names and then a search for a third hitter.
Alonso has his third 40-homer season, and in his career he's slugged .532. However, since 2021 he's actually slugged a robust .572 on the road. I feel like somewhat quietly Lindor has hit 26 homers and posted a career-high 28 stolen bases. The switch hitter has an .870 OPS against lefties, not to mention an .877 OPS on the road. As for Vientos, well, he'll be in the lineup. The righty has a .754 OPS over the last three weeks, and in his brief career he has a .682 OPS versus lefties. No, that isn't good, but it is better than his .539 OPS against righties. This is, I will admit, a roll of the dice, but with real bang-for-your-buck potential.
