Survival was the name of the game Wednesday. Well, unless you were the Yankees. That includes both the Cubs and Phillies winning after falling behind two games to none. Now, both National League series are getting back at it Thursday for two Game 4s. The first pitch is at 6:08 p.m. ET. Here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Tyler Glasnow, LAD vs. PHI ($8,000): This is about upside and salary joining forces. Glasnow's salary is third highest of the four projected starters for Thursday. He had a 10.56 K/9 rate this season, and he's had a double-digit K/9 rate every single season since 2018. None of these teams offer easy matchups, so I'd rather take a guy who saves you a bit of salary and has as much strikeout upside as anybody.
Top Target
With the Phillies needing a win, Kyle Schwarber ($5,500) blasted two homers, including one that he absolutely obliterated. The lefty hit 56 home runs this season and few guys can lock in as a power hitter quite like Schwarber. Glasnow will strike some guys out, but Schwarber could still hit a homer if he remains locked in.
Bargain Bat
You need to fill out your various positions, and Nico Hoerner ($3,800) is a second baseman who has been not in the postseason. He's hit .391 and slugged .565, and this season he hit .297. Hoerner also stole 29 bases for good measure. Freddy Peralta may be up to start again, and Hoerner isn't as good against righties. However, it is also easier to steal on righties, and the Brewers have gone to the bullpen so much the starter might not mean as much.
Stack to Consider
Brewers at Cubs (Matthew Boyd): Jackson Chourio ($5,100), William Contreras ($4,400), Andrew Vaughn ($3,900)
Boyd ended the regular season homer prone, and his start in Game 1 of this series was a disaster. And yet, he is projected to start Game 4 as well. It's likely he won't be relied on to go all that deep into the game, but nevertheless I have three righties for this stack. They also happen to be playing well in this postseason.
Chourio had his second 20/20 season in as many years of his MLB career, and this time he did it in 131 games. He's slugged 1.000 through three playoff games, and this year he had a .973 OPS versus lefties. Contreras is a catcher, and he had 45 extra-base hits and tallied 76 RBI and 89 runs scored. He's hit .417 in this series. Vaughn is here to play against lefties. He had a hit in each of the first two games of this series, and he had an .859 OPS versus southpaws this season.
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