Thursdays are travel days for many MLB teams, and it'll lead to short slates all year. While we have six games in total, only three of them make up the main slate beginning at 7 p.m. EDT. All of these six teams are hovering around .500 outside of the White Sox, and it should make for a fun slate. With that in mind, let's take a look at the two pitchers we want to use!
Try our FanDuel MLB Lineup Optimizer to discover more expert recommendations, customize the player pool, set exposure percentage and mass-enter DFS lineups.
Pitching
Seth Lugo, KC vs. CWS ($9,300)
Lugo has always been a solid pitcher, and it's nice to see him fully healthy. The righty dealt with numerous ailments last season but had a 3.00 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in his first season with KC. Those numbers are in line with his 3.24 ERA and 1.13 WHIP between 2018 and 2024, so it's clear Lugo has become an undervalued pitcher behind his 1.59 ERA and 0.97 WHIP this year. Our favorite part about this is that he gets a home matchup with Chicago, who sat bottom-five in runs scored, OBP, wOBA and xwOBA last season. He's faced them five times over the last two years and has a 1.24 ERA in those matchups while averaging 37 FD points per game. We also don't mind that he's a -190 favorite!
Randy Vasquez, SD vs. COL ($8,900)
Vasquez showed some flashes of breaking out at the end of last season, and it feels like we're fully there after a hot start this year. The righty closed last season with a 3.68 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over his final 21 starts and has a 0.75 ERA and 1.00 WHIP through two starts this season. Those are some amazing statistics from an affordable player, but he couldn't have a better matchup. The Rockies have been the lowest-scoring team on the road over the last five years, and their lineup is as bad as ever. Vasquez recorded three quality starts against them last season, while scoring at least 31 FanDuel points in all of those. Not to mention, he enters this matchup as a -210 favorite!
Top Targets
Luis Robert, NYM ($3,900) vs. Eduardo Rodriguez
Robert has always showcased All-Star stuff in his time with the White Sox, but he looks revived as a Met. The speedster is fourth among all regulars on this slate with 12 FanDuel points per game. Most importantly, he has the platoon advantage against Rodriguez, providing a .369 OBP and .842 OPS against lefties last year and a 1.333 OPS in limited at-bats against them this season. E-Rod has gotten off to a solid start, but we're not worried about a southpaw who had a 5.02 ERA and 1.53 WHIP over the last two years. Francisco Alvarez ($3,000) and Bo Bichette ($2,800) both hit from the right side as well, if you want to stack Mets.
Bobby Witt, KC ($3,500) vs. Anthony Kay
Witt has been a top-five player in fantasy over the last five years, and it's hard to believe he ranks eighth in salary on a three-game slate. That alone makes him an amazing value, but we love the situation as well. Witt has the platoon advantage against Kay, collecting a .369 OBP and .867 OPS against lefties over the last three years. He's also got at least 12 FD points in six of his last eight outings, while facing a pitcher who has a 5.44 career ERA and 1.58 WHIP. Maikel Garcia ($3,300) and Salvador Perez ($2,800) both have the platoon advantage against Kay as well.
Bargain Bats
Jackson Merrill, SD ($3,100) vs. TBD
We'll discuss San Diego as our favorite stack later on, but Merrill is our favorite play of the group. He's projected to hit in his usual three-hole and is finally starting to get hot. The outfielder is averaging 15 FanDuel points per game over his last four fixtures. That's no surprise since he's rocked righties throughout his career, registering a .293 AVG and .859 OPS against them, although Colorado has yet to announce their starting pitcher for the contest. We also love his splits against the Rockies, as he's collected a .366 AVG and 1.045 OPS in 20 games against them during his career.
Hunter Goodman, COL ($2,600) vs. Vasquez
While we did mention Vasquez as a pitcher we like, you'll have to make some contrarian picks and use a bat against him with only three games on this card. We'll bet on Goodman as the bat to get to him because he's been the Rockies' best hitter since last season. He's projected to bat third and dropped a season-high 40 FanDuel points Wednesday. That's no surprise since he has a .275 AVG and .826 OPS since the start of last year.
Stacks to Consider
San Diego Padres vs. Colorado Rockies (TBD): Fernando Tatis ($3,200), Manny Machado ($3,100), Merrill ($3,100), Xander Bogaerts ($2,600)
We would use parts of any lineup against the Rockies even on a 15-game slate, but San Diego is almost a must-stack against them here since we only have three games to work with. What's really bizarre is the pricing, because all of these Padre stud bats are way too cheap. The Rockies ranked dead last in ERA and WHIP last season, so the identity of their starter almost doesn't matter, although Antonio Senzatela could be following an opener. The Rockies righty has had a 6.64 ERA and 1.84 WHIP over the last two seasons while posting a 6.35 ERA and 2.03 WHIP in three starts against the Padres. Even if it's not Senzatela, these sluggers are too cheap against this putrid pitching staff.
Tatis has been an excellent DFS option during his career, and it's hard to believe he's just $3,200 against the Rockies. He's averaged over 30 homers and 25 steals per 140 games played since 2019. Machado is a perennial All-Star, amassing a .388 OBP and 1.024 OPS in 12 games against Colorado last year. We already discussed Merrill, while Bogaerts is averaging 12 FD points per game across his last four fixtures and should have plenty of RBI opportunities hitting behind these guys.
