This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Thursdays are typically a little slow, and this one is no different. Despite there being only six games, there are four pitchers listed with a salary of over $9,000. Let's see if any of them are worthy of taking that hit to your salary cap.
Pitching
Chris Bassitt, OAK vs. LAA ($9,800): Bassitt is slated (as I write this Wednesday night) to match up against Shohei Ohtani, but I'm not shying away. Bassitt has been a beast this season with fantasy performances of over 40 fantasy points in six of his last seven starts. There'll be no Mike Trout in the lineup and Bassitt will have home field advantage.
Carlos Martinez, STL at ARI ($7,100): Martinez appears to be regaining his fantasy form, scoring 41 and 43 fantasy points in his last four starts. His strikeout rate hasn't been great but he's been able to pitch himself out of jams and keep the damage to a minimum. He's at a nice salary in Arizona, and that makes him a solid GPP play.
Top Plays
Trey Mancini, BAL at CWS ($4,200): At this point Mancini is basically guaranteed to score points given he's done so in 13 straight games. The matchup against Dylan Cease (3.18 ERA) isn't perfect, but Cease's 1.30 WHIP doesn't match that ERA and there's regression on the horizon.
Jose Abreu, CHW vs. BAL ($3,900): Abreu and others in the White Sox lineup crush left-handed pitching, and Bruce Zimmermann is not the second coming of Randy Johnson. Abreu has a career .390 wOBA against southpaws and that number elevates to .400 when he's also at home. Here's the guy to build your cash game lineups around.
Value Bats
Khris Davis, TEX at SEA ($2,000): It's tough to know how much gas is left in the tank for Davis, but he has scores of 9.2, 12.2 and 9.2 fantasy points in three of his last four games. He's got a primo matchup against Chris Flexen (5.09 ERA) and is capable of a multi-home run game. This is a nice spot to punt in your lineup and load up at the other positions.
Mike Tauchman SF at LAD ($2,300): The Dodgers have yet to name a pitcher (at this time) so it's not like Tauchman will face Clayton Kershaw, and this may turn into a bullpen game. He should be in the middle of the lineup and therefore in a good RBI spot.
Stacks To Consider
Athletics vs. Ohtani: Mark Canha ($3,900), Matt Olson ($3,700), Ramon Laureano ($3,300), Matt Chapman ($2,900)
I know it seems unnecessarily risky going against Ohtani, but in a small slate of games the A's will likely be the least used lineup in cash and GPPs. Every pitcher gets lit up once in a while, and it's not out of the realm of possibilities that Oakland gets going once Ohtani is out of the game. This is the contrarian stack of the night and it could pay off big time.
Mariners vs. Kolby Allard: Kyle Seager ($2,800), Mitch Haniger ($3,400), Kyle Lewis ($2,900), Jarred Kelenic ($2,600)
Allard should only be good for about four innings, and while his 3.14 ERA is nice, he's done it as a reliever. I like this stack because it's not going to waste cap space and you can mix and match starting pitchers with this lineup. Given the year he's had, Haniger is in play across the board against a lefty (career .354 wOBA) and he's had 15.7 or more fantasy points in six of his last 12 games.
