With baseball, football, basketball and hockey all taking place this evening, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed as a sports fan. That’s where I come in to help. Instead of having you sort through FanGraphs pages with a fine-tooth comb to prep for tonight’s six-game featured MLB slate, allow me to do the work for you.
Here are my top offenses to stack on Thursday.
Set your DraftKings lineups here: MLB $100K Relay Throw [$25K to 1st]
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
We really don’t have to make this too complex on a slate this small. In one corner, we have the Dodgers, who so far this season have compiled baseball’s second-highest ISO (.216) and its fourth-highest wRC+ (117). In the other corner, we have Kyle Freeland ($6,400), who has been a completely different pitcher when having to toe the rubber at Coors Field in 2020. Now, that’s an understandable issue — few pitchers thrive in the altitude — but the difference in the left-hander’s splits are staggering. While opponents have slashed just .212/.295/.329 in the 24.0 innings Freeland’s tossed on the road, those numbers jump to .303/.340/.447 with a microscopic 11.3% strikeout rate in the 32.0 innings he’s thrown at home. On top of all that, the Rockies’ bullpen currently owns a 6.72 ERA, which is the second-worst mark in MLB.
Players to Consider
Mookie Betts ($6,000)
Corey Seager ($5,300)
Justin Turner ($5,000)
Will Smith ($4,600)
A.J. Pollock ($4,200)
Curious about when major leagues and events will return? Check out our DraftKings Sports Calendar for the latest updates.
2. New York Yankees
Editor’s Note: Blue Jays RP Julian Merryweather will open tonight’s game vs. the Yankees in front of SP Chase Anderson.
Sticking with the established theme of simplicity, the Yankees are almost back to full health when it comes to their positional players, and the team has celebrated that good news by scoring 33 runs in the first two games of their series with the Blue Jays. I wouldn’t expect things to be all that different on Thursday, either. Chase Anderson ($7,500) has been struggling immensely in 2020, as evidenced by a 5.28 FIP and the fact that he’s surrendered a whopping 2.05 home runs per nine. It’s also not as if Anderson can blame a spell of bad luck for his woes. While a .346 BABIP is somewhat unstable, the veteran’s .371 wOBA and .520 slugging percentage are right in line with his expected marks. In short, he’s just pitching poorly, and he might be asked to eat some innings with Toronto’s bullpen already taxed and a doubleheader on the horizon for Friday.
Players to Consider
DJ LeMahieu ($5,400)
Luke Voit ($4,900)
Gio Urshela ($4,400)
Giancarlo Stanton ($4,300)
Aaron Hicks ($3,600)
3. Houston Astros
There’s a chance that we find out before tonight’s game that Jordan Lyles ($6,600) will be working behind an opener, but don’t let that detract you from stacking Houston’s bats with the explicit purpose of crushing the veteran right-hander. As we saw in Lyles’ most recent outing last Friday, he’ll still face as many as 33 opponent hitters in a game he entered in the second inning. Why Chris Woodward would subject himself to such a thing is a great question, but, for our purposes, it’s fantastic news. For the season, among the 82 pitchers who have thrown at least 40.0 innings, Lyles’ 7.80 ERA is easily the worst mark. In that same grouping, the 29-year-old also possesses the lowest K/BB ration (1.35) and the lowest swinging strike rate (6.1%), so there is literally nothing Lyles has done with any level of success so far in 2020. You can’t get enough Astros into your lineups.
Players to Consider
Alex Bregman ($5,100)
George Springer ($4,600)
Kyle Tucker ($4,400)
Jose Altuve ($3,600)
Michael Brantley ($3,500)
4. St. Louis Cardinals
Steven Brault ($5,900) isn’t exactly the archetype of pitcher that I’m looking to stack against on a frequent basis — high walk rate (13.9%) with a low HR/9 (0.68) doesn’t quite translate to fantasy gold — but it’s crucial to note that the Cardinals are far better equipped to hit left-handed pitching than right-handed pitching in 2020. In fact, St. Louis comes into this matchup with the sixth-best ISO (.206) and wRC+ (121) within the split of all major league teams. Make sure to take specific interest in Paul Goldschmidt ($4,600) who currently possesses an eye-popping .559 expected wOBA against southpaws - the second-highest figure among the 319 players with at least 20 plate appearances versus LHPs this season.
Players to Consider
Paul Goldschmidt ($4,600)
Tommy Edman ($4,200)
Paul DeJong ($3,900)
Yadier Molina ($3,300)
Harrison Bader ($2,400)
Set your DraftKings lineups here: MLB $100K Relay Throw [$25K to 1st]
Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is theglt13) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.