This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Thursdays can be frustrating at times because most teams are traveling for their weekend series. That's certainly the case today, with only four games making up the main slate. It's also during the day, so, be sure to take your bathroom break from work to get those lineups in! What also makes this slate difficult is that we have all but two good pitchers taking the mound. That'll make the hitting selections extremely difficult, but let's get started by talking about the arms.
Pitching
Bryce Miller, SEA at DET ($9,100)
Miller has quietly had a really consistent season for Seattle, allowing four runs or fewer in 20 of 23 starts. That's led to the best averages of his career, accruing a 3.46 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. He's also thrown at least six scoreless innings in there of his last five starts, generating a 2.12 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in that stretch. That fantastic form should be easy to duplicate against Detroit, with the Tigers ranked 21st in runs scored, 20th in K rate, 28th in OBP and 26th in wOBA. That was on full display when Miller threw 12 scoreless innings against them in their two matchups last year, entering this matchup as a -170 favorite.
Jose Quintana, NYM vs. OAK ($8,800)
It's hard to believe that Quintana has become a fantasy-relevant option once again but here we are. The lefty is having a bounce-back season in NY, collecting a 4.10 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. Quintana's recent form is what really entices us, compiling a 2.76 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 8.9 K/9 rate across his last 10 starts, scoring at least 26 FanDuel points in all but one of those. A home matchup with Oakland only adds to his intrigue, with Quintana posting a 2.70 ERA and 1.14 WHIP at home over the last three years. Not to mention, the A's rank 25th in runs scored, 24th in OBP and 28th in K rate, with NY coming into this matchup as a -190 favorite.
Top Targets
Shohei Ohtani, LAD (vs. Tobias Myers) $4,800
Ohtani is the most expensive batter on the slate, but it's easy to understand why. The NL MVP frontrunner is up to 37 homers and 35 steals, leading all position players with 15.7 FD points per game. To put that in perspective, Christian Yelich is the second-highest-scoring player and isn't even averaging 13 fantasy points per game. We can't overlook Ohtani's recent form, obtaining a .395 OBP and 1.094 OPS across his last 48 outings. In addition, he has a .408 OBP and 1.104 OPS against right-handers! We wouldn't advise stacking against Myers, but Freddie Freeman ($3,700) and Gavin Lux ($2,700) would make for a decent stack with Shohei.
Heliot Ramos, SF (vs. Max Fried) $3,300
San Francisco always seems to find some random guy that goes off every year, and it's Ramos this season. What's made him so dangerous are his stupendous splits, sporting a .479 OBP, .805 SLG and 1.284 OPS against lefties this year. There are only a few players with more dominant splits against southpaws, and we don't mind that he faces a struggling Fried. The Atlanta lefty has a 6.64 ERA and 1.92 WHIP across his last four starts! Tyler Fitzgerald ($3,500) and Matt Chapman ($3,400) also have the platoon advantage against Fried, and these guys are all good options well below $4K.
Bargain Bats
Cal Raleigh, SEA (vs. Kenta Maeda) $3,200
Raleigh is a boom-or-bust type of player, but he leads all catchers with 26 bombs. Many of those have happened recently, with Raleigh registering a .373 OBP, .632 SLG and 1.005 OPS across his last 15 games. He also loves getting out of Safeco Field, generating a .892 OPS on the road this season. That's not the only split that encourages us because Cal also has a .472 SLG and .781 OPS against righties since 2021. The Mariners should be able to maul Maeda as well, and we'll dive into that in the stacks section!
Jesse Winker, NYM (vs. Mitch Spence) $2,800
Winker was a nice acquisition by the Mets at the deadline, batting third or fourth every time they face a right-hander. It's easy to see why NY gave him such a prominent lineup spot, providing a .381 OBP, .466 SLG and .848 OPS against righties throughout his career. He's also up to 11 homers and 14 steals in a bounce-back season, totaling a .425 OBP and .908 OPS at home. A matchup with Spence is the icing on the cake, and we'll talk about that in the next section!
Stacks to Consider
New York Mets vs. (Spence): Francisco Lindor ($3,800), Pete Alonso ($3,200), Brandon Nimmo ($3,100) and Winker ($2,800)
The Mets have been one of the best offenses in the NL for two months now, and they shouldn't have any issues getting to a guy like Spence. The A's starter is simply a stopgap option, establishing a 4.97 career ERA. It's not like he looked much better in the minors, maintaining a 5.61 ERA and 1.39 WHIP at Triple-A.
Lindor got off to a rough start but he's been one of the best shortstops since the opening month of the season. The All-Star snub has 16 homers and 18 steals over his last 73 games, flirting with a .400 OBP and .950 OPS in that span. Alonso is up to 26 homers, connecting on three of those over his last six outings. Nimmo is projected to bat leadoff for NY, amassing a .363 OBP and .804 OPS against righties over the last three years.
Seattle Mariners vs. Detroit Tigers (Kenta Maeda): Randy Arozarena ($3,200), Raleigh ($3,100), Julio Rodriguez ($3,000) and Victor Robles ($2,900)
The Motor City Kitties haven't announced a starter, but it sounds like Maeda will take the mound here. That's a disaster for Detroit, with the veteran tallying a 6.59 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in the worst year of his career. Seattle is far from a scary matchup, but this looks like a different team since they traded for Arozarena and got J-Rod off the IL.
We'll kickstart our stack with Arozarena because he's been going off for two months. The former Tampa stud has a .415 OBP and .928 OPS across his last 56 outings. We already talked about Raleigh as the power of the stack, but J-Rod is the true heart of this lineup. Despite some struggles, he has 71 homers and 80 steals across just 389 career games and is the most talented hitter in this lineup. Robles has been the sneaky addition as the leadoff hitter, accumulating a .287 AVG and .792 OPS across his last 27 games.
