There’s only 10 teams taking the field for tonight’s five-game MLB featured slate on DraftKings.
In this space, I’ll pick out the three that you should be stacking in your lineups. Sound good? Cool.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $150K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]
1. Cleveland Guardians
3B Jose Ramirez ($5,600)
OF Steven Kwan ($5,100)
1B Carlos Santana ($4,400)
OF Nolan Jones ($3,200)
It’s not often that the Guardians are the most appealing lineup on a slate, but that’s how little faith I have in Tomoyuki Sugano ($6,000). The 35-year-old rookie comes into tonight’s start with an xERA of 5.83, a figure which is nearly two full runs higher than his actual ERA (3.86). The reason for this is pretty simple: Sugano just doesn’t miss bats. Through 15.0 innings of work, the Japanese import ranks in the lowest percentile in strikeout rate (8.1%) and just the fifth percentile in whiff rate (15.6%). At some point, all that contact is going to come back to haunt Baltimore’s RHP.
Kwan has been Cleveland’s best hitter of right-handed pitching so far in 2025, slashing .357/.438/.571 with a 198 wRC+ in his 48 plate appearances within the split. In terms of value, I’d keep an eye on Nolan Jones. The outfielder is getting farther and farther away from a breakout campaign in 2023, yet despite his early season struggles, he’s a cheap left-handed bat with some pop. Jones’ biggest flaw is his career 30.7% strikeout rate, but that shouldn’t matter in a matchup with Sugano.
2. St. Louis Cardinals
OF Lars Nootbar ($4,600)
3B Nolan Arenado ($4,400)
2B/SS Brendan Donovan ($4,100)
2B Nolan Gorman ($3,700)
1B Willson Contreras ($3,600)
If you squint, Griffin Canning ($7,400) has been a perfectly fine depth starter so far this season, yet the underlying metrics tell a much more underwhelming story. Canning sports a 5.23 xERA over his first three starts of 2025 thanks primarily to an ugly 12.3% walk rate. Now, walks don’t equate out to massive FPTS totals in DFS, but they do lead to big innings — especially when we’re talking about someone like Canning, who surrendered the second-most home runs in baseball in 2024 (31). I think the Cardinals will be able to do some serious damage on Thursday.
The other nice aspect of a St. Louis stack is price. Only three Cardinals bats have a salary above $4,000 on this slate, which creates a ton of roster flexibility. Still, if money isn’t a huge factor, Nootbar is the main guy you want in a lineup. Not only does the outfielder hit leadoff for St. Louis, but Nootbar is healthy and is slashing .295/.436/.477 with a 161 wRC+ off of right-handed pitching. In fact, the Cardinals as a whole have registered a 121 wRC+ off RHPs in 2025.
3. Texas Rangers
SS Corey Seager ($4,800)
OF Adolis Garcia ($4,500)
3B Josh Jung ($3,800)
OF Joc Pederson ($3,300)
OF Dustin Harris ($2,500)
After surviving his first two outings of the season, Jack Kochanowicz ($6,300) finally regressed in his last start against the Astros, surrendering seven hits and six earned runs in 4.2 innings of work. For the season, Kochanowicz how owns a 5.74 ERA and a 5.50 FIP, which makes sense given his complete inability to generate swings and misses. Like the aforementioned Sugano, Kochanowicz possesses a microscopic strikeout rate (13.6%) and swinging strike rate (7.0%). You can cross your fingers and BABIP your way to success on occasion, but more often than not, you’re going to struggle allowing as much contact as the RHP does.
Specific to LHBs, Kochanowicz has given up 3.24 home runs per nine within the split in 2025. That means a tantalizing matchup for Seager, Pederson and Harris on Thursday. Josh Smith (thumb) would’ve been another lefty to throw at Kochanowicz, but he’ll miss his third straight game, which is unfortunate, as the utility man is having an amazing start to the season. In 44 plate appearances, Smith is hitting .342 with a 171 wRC+. Owners can instead pivot to Harris as a value option. The 25-year-old is batting sixth tonight and he has a pair of extra-base hits in his last two starts — including his second-career MLB long ball.
