Thursday’s main slate features four games starting at 7:05 pm ET. We will be using Bales Model to highlight some of the top options to consider.
Pitchers
The four pitchers projected to score the most fantasy points today are:
Brandon Woodruff (R)
Luis Castillo (R)
Jameson Taillon (R)
Taijuan Walker (R)
The highest priced pitcher today on both DraftKings and FanDuel is Brandon Woodruff from the Milwaukee Brewers. Woodruff has been electric throughout his 2021 campaign as he has allowed only 91 hits, recorded a 2.18 ERA, and tallied 163 strikeouts in 140.1 innings. A minor concern with Woodruff is last start he was struck by a baseball in the right leg and was then removed for precautionary measures. This happened exactly a week ago, but hopefully he has had enough time to physically recover. Although his numbers are outstanding, Woodruff’s record is only 7-6. He has not collected a win since the end of June and will be hoping to add to his win column as he takes on the St Louis Cardinals tonight. Woodruff is the highest rated pitcher on Bales Model today for DraftKings as he tops tonight’s rank with a 10.308 K/9.
Luis Castillo from the Cincinnati Reds is the highest rated pitcher on Bales Model for FanDuel’s main slate. For putting up some solid fantasy numbers, Castillo’s statistics are nothing to write home about. In 137.2 innings, he has collected 138 strikeouts, has a 4.51 ERA, and 6-12 record. The Reds are 9.5 games back in the National League Central division race, and he will lead them against the Miami Marlins, who are projected for the lowest implied runs total on the slate (3.1 runs). The Marlins team value rating of 21 is by far the lowest on the slate.
Jameson Taillon from the New York Yankees is a top-three rated pitcher on Bales Model for both DraftKings and FanDuel. The Yankees are currently on a six-game win streak as they take on the Minnesota Twins tonight. Taillon has been impressive over the last two months as he has not lost a game since 5/31/2021. Since then he has made 13 starts, accrued six wins, and has been bailed out by his team’s bats a few times. Although wind is projected to be double digits blowing out to center field, Taillon’s extremely low salary price on DraftKings makes him a 99% bargain today.
Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker is another New York pitcher worth consideration today. On FanDuel, Walker is projected for the highest points/salary output today (4.2) and low ownership. Facing the Los Angeles Dodgers is no easy task, but he performed very well against them last start. In 6.2 innings, Walker allowed only two hits against, one earned run (on a long ball), and struck out eight. Today, the Dodgers are projected for an implied runs total of 5.4, but this may be a nice spot to play the Mets’ surging righty.
Value
With only eight pitchers to pick from and us already discussing four great options, we are going to keep this category short and sweet. St Louis Cardinals pitcher Jon Lester is worth mentioning. Lester is not going to put up a large sum of fantasy points, however his low price on both DraftKings and FanDuel makes him worthy of consideration. He has plenty of experience in the NL Central pitching against the Milwaukee Brewers. Although his 5.32 ERA is not the most attractive, his experience and the Brewers high strikeout rate spark interest. The Brewers rank seventh in MLB with 1,122 strikeouts in 121 games played.
Hitters
Notable Stack
Today’s top projected points stack comes to you from the -250 New York Yankees:
- DJ LeMahieu (R)
- Anthony Rizzo (L)
- Aaron Judge (R)
- Joey Gallo (L)
The Yankees are projected for the highest implied runs total on the slate today (6.6 runs). We briefly mentioned it already, but the Yankees are on a six-game winning streak. Surprisingly, their bats have been fairly quiet during this stretch. Averaging just over four runs/game in this streak, they will be hoping that their bats wake up as they take on the Minnesota Twins. John Gant will be on the mound for the visiting Twins. Gant came over from the Cardinals at the MLB trade deadline and has been in the bullpen since. Today marks his first start for the Twins, and I wish him the best of luck, as he is going to need it facing this tough Yankees lineup. On FanDuel, this stack will cost you $15k in salary and are projected for a combined 53.7 fantasy points.
Other Hitters
With only a four-game slate it will be difficult to be unique as ownership will be high on most players. One route that seems plausible is rostering players from the Minnesota Twins. The projected wind will help these batters, ownership is not as high compared to other teams, while Bales Model rates a handful of Twins batters highly.
The highest rated floor play on Bales Model for DraftKings tonight is Nick Castellanos from the Reds. Although going hitless in yesterday’s game, Castellanos has an impressive 21 home runs, 64 RBIs, and .313 batting average this year.
Value
Lastly, here is a handful of batters to consider while completing your lineups today that are projected for a high fantasy points/salary:
- Luis Arraez
- Tyler Wade
- Gary Sanchez
- Manny Pina
- Brandon Nimmo
