This article is part of our MLB Picks series.
Thursday brings a quiet slate consisting of just six games. Five of those games have early start times. Let's get right to the task at hand and highlight some appealing options on PrizePicks.
Kyle Harrison, SF at BOS: More Than 5.5 Strikeouts
Harrison missed plenty of bats while working his way up through the minors. He made 18 starts at Double-A in 2022, recording a 36.4 percent strikeout rate along the way. Across 20 starts at Triple-A last year, he produced a 35.6 percent strikeout rate. He has made six starts for the Giants this season, finishing with at least five strikeouts in four of them. Two times, he posted at least seven strikeouts.
The Red Sox are a great opponent against whom to rack up strikeouts. They have struck out the fourth-most times in baseball. They are also missing one of their best contact hitters in Masataka Yoshida (thumb), who is on the injured list. Look for Harrison to thrive in this matchup.
Jose Altuve, HOU vs. CLE: More Than 8.0 Hitter Fantasy Score
Altuve is off to a great start in this series, going 3-for-9 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. For the season, he is batting .341 with a .244 ISO and a .433 wOBA. His 10.6 percent barrel rate is on pace to be the highest mark of his career.
Taking the mound for the Guardians in this game will be Logan Allen, who has a 5.46 ERA and a 5.12 FIP over six starts. He has just a 19.3 percent strikeout rate, to go along with a 10.3 percent barrel rate allowed. Altuve has a career .381 wOBA versus left-handed pitchers, so expect him to be a difficult out for Allen.
Jose Ramirez, CLE at HOU: More Than 8.0 Hitter Fantasy Score
By his lofty standards, Ramirez is off to a slow start with a .303 wOBA. He still has just a 12.2 percent strikeout rate, but he hasn't been taking as many walks, leaving him with a 4.6 percent walk rate that is well below his career mark. On the plus side, his 7.4 percent barrel rate is actually more than a percentage point higher than his career mark.
This could be a great matchup for Ramirez to get back on track with Spencer Arrighetti starting for the Astros. Arrighetti had a 4.64 ERA and a 5.36 FIP over 64 innings at Triple-A last year. He has made three starts for the Astros, allowing at least four runs and failing to make it out of the fourth inning in two of them.
Steven Kwan, CLE at HOU: More Than 7.0 Hitter Fantasy Score
Kwan is another hitter on the Guardians who could exploit a matchup against Arrighetti. He is batting .360 with a .403 wOBA, which has helped him score 27 runs over 29 games. His batting average is likely to drop based on his abnormally high .378 BABIP, but his 3.5 percent barrel rate is a big improvement over a 1.1 percent barrel rate last year that resulted in him batting .268 with a .313 wOBA. Given this reasonable fantasy score target for him to hit, more is the way to go.
