Hello, folks! Long time listener, first time caller…er, writer…MarmosDad is here to share some DFS picks ahead of a full slate of games for Thursday! Come on in and grab a seat! There’s plenty of room up front. I’ll share a lot of different names that you can put together for your FanDuel or Draft Kings lineups.
Is a big chalk pitcher your usual play? Got that one covered. Lower priced bargain arm paired with a big bat? Yep, I’ve got that for you too! Are you a big fan of Los Angeles Angels outfielders that look like they came from a Johnny Damon themed Halloween party? Well, believe it or not, you’re in luck. MarmosDad has plenty of different names to mix and match to help win you some cash today.
We start this Thursday with a couple of games that’ll begin early in the afternoon, as Milwaukee heads to PNC Park in Pittsburgh at 12:35 PM ET, and then swing on through 13 games to our finale of Arizona/St. Louis set to begin at 7:45 PM ET. There are some beauties in here today, so let’s get right to it! (prices in DK format).
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Justin Verlander, SP: $10,100. Two QS out of three starts so far this year? 1.89 ERA? 0.737 WHIP? Averaging 84 pitches per start? I thought the lockout was supposed to have made teams more leery about letting their pitchers throw a lot of pitches and see a lot of innings. At 39 years old, Verlander is looking like he had a spring training warmup of his own before the lockout even ended (insert your own Kate Upton joke here). Of course, it’s early, but for today’s DFS games we don’t need to know how he’ll be doing in June. Look for JV to continue his early success against Martin Perez and the Rangers today. If you want the best, and most expensive, starter to anchor your roster this is your big SP.
Trevor Rogers, SP: $6,100. Full disclosure, I had planned to play Alek Manoah and his Blue Jays here, but when the matchup switched from Wacha to Whitlock, I bailed on that game. Either of those pitchers could throw a gem today and I wouldn’t be surprised. Rogers seems like the right matchup to take advantage of here as a second SP. A surface viewing of his numbers aren’t much better than his opponent, (Patrick Corbin), but if you look a bit deeper, his 2 starts on the road were actually fairly good. He went 5 innings in his last start, nearly threw 100 pitches (95), and gave up 0 ER. I’ll put my money on another good outing for Rogers at Corbin and Washington, one of the weaker offenses in baseball.
Roberto Perez, C: $3,000. Perez, who is the 2nd ranked catcher on the Razzball 7-day player rater, faces off against Milwaukee today. This pick is strictly a low priced catcher that you can plug in so that you can move to higher priced plays elsewhere in your lineup. Perez may not be as flashy as some of the other catcher options, but he’s playing nearly every day for the Pirates and was hitting 7th last night. He has enough power to be a decent bet for a low cost today.
Jesus Aguilar, 1B: $3,600. Players are usually tempted to go with the big guys here and I wouldn’t blame you. Vladimir Guerrero or Matt Olson are good plays if you’re looking for a big bat to anchor your daily roster, but if you decide to go for a big bat elsewhere and save some dollars here, check Jesus Aguilar at $3,600 to fill a corner spot today. This is less about Aguilar’s start to the season (which has, admittedly, not been great), but more about facing Patrick Corbin. Corbin gave up 7 earned runs without getting out of the second inning in his last start. He’s also given up hard hits to right handed hitters at a 36.1% clip. If there’s any time for Aguilar to feast on some LHP, and turn things around, it should be today.
Ozzie Albies, 2B: $5,200. This one is pretty straightforward. If you’re playing some values in other spots (see my OF plays), you can afford to spend some of your cash on a big bat here. What’s that? Albies has an OPS of 1.093 vs LHP? And the Braves face Drew Smyly (LHP) today at home? Let’s go!
Alex Bregman, 3B: $5,100. Heading into spring training, Bregman seemed like a player that caused some division in the fantasy community. Some scoffed and said he would never again approach his career year of 2019 (41/112/5/.296), while others hoped that health and determination would help him to get back to the top of the 3B mountain. I’ll take Bregman, his 158 wRC+, and a favorable matchup against Martin Perez today.
Jeremy Pena, SS: $4,800. I had a few names here that I looked into more closely, and instead of going with JP Crawford, (who homered last night), I’m taking Jeremy Pena at $4,800 in my DK lineups this afternoon. Pena, the 4th rated SS on Hittertron for today, is making it much easier for Astros fans to look ahead to the future instead of the past as he keeps hammering out timely hits like the walkoff home run against the Blue Jays on Sunday. Today, look for him to continue to build on what could end up being a solid rookie year.
Andrew Vaughn, OF: $4,300. Vaughn finally getting some much needed playing time has been the one silver lining for fans who have been lost in the South Side sorrows with the Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez injury news. As long as there are no more Leury Garcias available, Tony LaRussa seems to have accepted it’s in the White Sox’s best interest to run Vaughn out in his lineup on a regular basis. Yesterday, Vaughn showed why he’s been such a hot commodity lately as he had two hits out of the 2-hole — one of which was a three-run nuke to blow the game open in the 7th inning. I’ll ride the beginning of that hot streak, thank you!
Brandon Marsh, OF: $3,800. You don’t need Dr. Peter Venkman or Ray Stantz to tell you how hot the Marsh(mallow) man has been over the last few weeks. Despite missing a couple of games due to a stomach bug, and the ‘ever-maddening’…Maddoning…of the Angels lineup, Brandon Marsh has certainly been living up to the hype that saw him as a top prospect over the last few years. With facial hair beauty that nearly rivals our Fantasy Master Lothario’s lip foliage, Captain Caveman leads the Halos in RBIs and has a triple slash line of .308/.398/.538 since early April. Throw in a chance for steals to boost his PPG, and at $3,800, Marsh is definitely a bargain power/speed play that I’ll be slotting into my lineups today against Cal Quantrill. Ghosts, Guardians, and Angels? Someone get the proton packs, because I’m ready to lock the Marsh man in today.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
As of early this morning, there’s a 25% chance of rain in St. Louis for the D-Backs/Cards game. Otherwise, everything is looking clear and good!
Doing Lines In Vegas
For straight-out wins, I like the favorite Houston over Texas (-171), and Miami over Washington (-158). I’d play the UNDER (8) in Toronto and Boston with those two starters.
