Thursday is usually getaway day in MLB, as most teams begin weekend series on Friday. There are only nine games, four of them in Early and All-Day contests at DraftKings, closing at 12:10 Eastern. Noah Syndergaard $11100 tries to extend the Mets’ dominance of the Rockies after shutouts by Matt Harvey and Jacob DeGrom. “Thor” should get enough run support from his mates against Eddie Butler $4300.
In other matinee action, expect Jon Lester $10800 to outpitch Tyler Cravy $7000. Oakland tries to avoid the sweep with Sonny Gray $12200 while crafty old Mark Buerhle $7600 goes for Toronto’s eleventh straight victory. The worst early pitching matchup has Chi Chi Gonzalez $4900 filling in for Cole Hamels (groin) against Ervin Santana $6000. Once again, Texas and Minnesota hitters are good value, though only the Twins took advantage last night.
There are Turbo contests (1:10; 2 games) plus Late (8:10; 3 games) and Later (10:10; 2 games) play, but our focus in the Short List is on the 5-game slate that begins at 7:10.
Francisco Liriano $11000 duels with Lance Lynn $10300 in a big NL Central battle that could go either way. Stephen Strasburg $10900 vs. Ryan Vogelsong $5000 is more of a mismatch. Trevor Bauer $9800 seems overpriced and Nathan Eovaldi $7700 a relative bargain in a matchup of hard-throwing righthanders.
Matt Latos $7200 and Keyvius Sampson $4500 are both affordable in a Dodger Stadium tilt that could be low-scoring. The Reds rookie lasted 5 IP and 79 pitches in his first big-league start after an inning out of the bullpen two nights earlier. Then he held the Diamondbacks to one run in 6 IP. Garrett Richards $9400 is favored over Jeremy Guthrie $4600 despite a 4.84 road ERA. Consider hitters in that one.
Brian McCann $3600 homered last night, the lone run for the slumping Yankees. He gets the nod at C over Francisco Cervelli $3100.
If McCann and his teammates get to Bauer, Mark Teixeira $4600 might be a big contributor. Eric Hosmer $4300 is a better price and 1B/3B Ryan Zimmerman $3700 is swinging it well (1.313 OPS last 10.)
2B/OF Ben Zobrist $3800 is the highest-salaried healthy option at second. Others in a small player pool have tough matchups, so saving money with Neil Walker $3200 or 2B/3B Anthony Rendon $3100 is another way to go.
When a great player has a long slump, his salary drops. 1B/3B Todd Frazier $4100 snapped out of it in a big way on Tuesday and can be used often until he becomes expensive again. Zimmerman or 3B/SS Jung Ho Kang $3400 are slightly cheaper alternatives.
At short, Francisco Lindor $3600 is back in the groove, Ian Desmond $3500 hit two homers on Monday, and Didi Gregorius $2900 is looking more comfortable at the plate.
Using Sampson as SP #2 is a risk/reward play that lets you load up on bats. Mike Trout $5500 and Kole Calhoun $4100 have a great matchup, Michael Brantley $4900 has 11 hits in four games and though Bryce Harper $5200 went 0-for-4 with 2 K last night against Clayton Kershaw, he did return after missing just one game with a sore knee and might drop one into McCovey Cove tonight. Those of us who spend more on pitching can save at the other OF spots with Jay Bruce $3600 and Gregory Polanco $3300. Even cheaper, David Murphy $2500 hasn’t started the last three games vs. LHP but will be hitting fifth behind Trout and Calhoun.
| Pos | Premium | Bargain |
| SP1 | Stephen Strasburg $10900 | Keyvius Sampson $4500 |
| SP2 | Francisco Liriano $11000 | Nathan Eovaldi $7700 |
| C | Brian McCann $3600 | Francisco Cervelli $3100 |
| 1B | Mark Teixeira $4600 | Eric Hosmer $4300 |
| 2B | Ben Zobrist $3800 | Anthony Rendon $3100 |
| 3B | Todd Frazier $4100 | Jung Ho Kang $3400 |
| SS | Ian Desmond $3500 | Didi Gregorius $2900 |
| OF1 | Bryce Harper $5200 | David Murphy $2500 |
| OF2 | Mike Trout $5500 | Jay Bruce $3600 |
| OF3 | Michael Brantley $4900 | Gregory Polanco $3300 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season and we’re turning our attention to baseball for the summer. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.