This article is part of our DraftKings MLB series.
Thursday night is breezy for MLB fans. Only five games are on the slate starting at 6:40 p.m. ET. Only a handful of fan bases will be heading to the ballpark, but whoever you root for, you can play MLB DFS from the comfort of your own home. Here are my lineup recommendations.
Pitching
Nick Lodolo, CIN at PIT ($8,000): Lodolo would probably welcome a trade. He has a 6.09 ERA at home, but a 3.05 ERA on the road. Last year, his home ERA was up to 8.46, but he had a 2.25 road ERA. Well, this game is in Pittsburgh, and the Pirates are also in the bottom 10 in runs scored for good measure.
Jake Bloss, TOR vs. LAA ($7,700): I didn't like the pitching options all that much Thursday, especially with Dylan Cease looking a bit off after his derailed start against the Pirates a couple of weeks ago. Thus, I went matchup with my recommendation. Bloss, who came over from Houston in the Yusei Kikuchi trade, will be making his Blue Jays debut. Admittedly, his three outings with the Astros did not go well. However, the Angels are in the bottom six in runs scored, and both Mike Trout and Luis Rengifo are out of the lineup. I'll take a shot on Bloss being able to string together a quality start and pick up a win in the process. He's not a bad pitcher. The Angels do have a bad offense.
Top Target
Jake Cronenworth ($4,500) has had the starkest splits of his career two times over this season. Fortunately, those splits are highly encouraging here. He has a .807 OPS versus righties and a .836 OPS at home. In his first season with the Mets, righty Luis Severino has a 4.85 ERA in away starts.
Bargain Bat
Ever since his magical 2021 campaign, Cedric Mullins ($3,900) has gotten worse by the season. That said, he's still able to deliver counting stats, which is paramount to DFS players. He has 13 homers and 23 stolen bases in 116 games. Mullins, a southpaw, has a .758 OPS versus righties, but also a .787 OPS at home. Though Spencer Arrighetti can rack up strikeouts, he still has a 5.20 ERA, including a 6.09 ERA on the road.
Stack to Consider
Blue Jays vs. Angels (Griffin Canning): Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($5,500), Daulton Varsho ($4,000), Alejandro Kirk ($3,400)
Something has gone awry with Canning's pitching in 2024. His strikeout rate has plummeted down to 6.50 per nine innings. Canning's walks and home runs have only ticked up a smidge, but the overall portrait is one of a pitcher with a 5.27 FIP. He has a 5.77 ERA on the road, where he's allowed a whopping 1.9 homers per nine as well. Lefties have hit .282 against Canning this year, so I wanted at least one southpaw, but I am fine with the fact I landed on two righties. Right-handed hitters have averaged .268 against Canning over the last two years.
This should be Guerrero's first season with 30 doubles and 30 homers since 2022, and also his first season hitting .300 since 2021. Guerrero has posted a 1.145 OPS over the last three weeks as he looks to be the silver lining in a trying Toronto campaign. Lefty Varsho has 15 homers, 10 stolen bases and seven triples. He's never going to get on base a ton, driving down his OPS, but he's slugged .449 at home this year. Kirk can be your lineup's catcher. He has a .730 OPS over the last three weeks. Since 2022, he has a .734 OPS against righties. For the catcher position, that suffices in a favorable matchup.
