This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Like Wednesday, Thursday's DFS action starts with an early slate at 1:05 p.m. EDT featuring the Yankees taking on the Rays and the Phillies taking on the Blue Jays. The main slate starts at 7:05 p.m. EDT and features only eight games. Tonight's slate includes one of the highest salaries for a pitcher that's ever been on FanDuel.
Pitchers
Shane Bieber, CLE at PIT ($12,000): How do you get to a salary this high? Just start off the season averaging 59 fantasy points per game. Using Bieber leaves an average of $2,875 per player for the rest of the lineup, so it's reasonable to still roster him, especially in cash games. Pittsburgh is a good matchup as the Pirates have the lowest wOBA (.246) and the 10th-highest strikeout rate (24.7 percent) against right-handed pitching.
Dinelson Lamet, SD vs. TEX ($9,400): Tonight is a good night to spend up on pitching with no legitimate options in the lower salary range. Lamet is averaging just under 40 fantasy points per game this season and has been solid at home. In his short career, he has limited opposing batters to a .287 wOBA at home and the Rangers present a great matchup. Texas has the fourth-worst wOBA against right-handed pitching this season with a .287 mark.
Top Targets
Mike Trout, LAA at SF ($4,500): Trout is one of the top bats tonight given his matchup, even though the game is in San Francisco. Trout has a career .425 wOBA against right-handed pitching and faces Kevin Gausman. Trout also has a good history against Gausman from the right-hander's Baltimore days, going 7-for-17 with three home runs (1.405 OPS).
Best Values
Marcus Semien, OAK vs. ARI ($2,900): Semien is always in play against a southpaw and tonight he'll get a good matchup against Alex Young. Semien had a .388 wOBA against lefties last season and that number ballooned to .449 at home. Young has pitched well since last season, but his FIP in each of the last two years suggests he's been pretty lucky, so this is a good matchup for Semien.
Rafael Devers, BOS at BAL ($2,800): Devers appears to be heating up at the plate and has scored at least 12.2 fantasy points in four of his last seven games. He has a career .356 wOBA against right-handed pitching and it's a good matchup tonight. Asher Wojciechowski has been very homer-prone throughout his young career and has allowed five already this season in only 18.2 innings.
Stacks To Consider
As vs. Alex Young: Semien, Ramon Laureano ($3,100), Stephen Piscotty ($2,700), Khris Davis ($2,400)
All of these players have had good success against left-handed pitching in the past and this reads as a game in which Young should get lit up. Piscotty has a career .368 against lefties and hopefully Oakland hits him towards the top lineup. Davis is the wild card here; he hasn't been starting lately, but should suit up with the matchup against a lefty. His .350 wOBA against left-handed pitching makes him an interesting play and Laureano had just been a hot hitter prior to his recent four-game suspension.
Red Sox at Asher Wojciechowski: Devers, Mitch Moreland ($3,300), Alex Verdugo ($2,700), Xander Bogaerts ($3,400)
As previously stated, Wojciechowski is a great matchup given his tendency to allow home runs. Moreland has a career .338 wOBA against right-handed pitching and Verdugo has a .412 mark in this shortened season. As for Bogaerts? Well, he'll probably be hitting in a good RBI spot and had a .395 wOBA against right-handed pitching last season.
