This article is part of our FanDuel MLB series.
Pitching
Blake Snell, SD at SF ($10,800): Thursday is a bit of an odd day given the main slate starts so early and it only includes five of the eight games. Going with the pitcher at the highest price point isn't exactly a tough sell but let's look at what Snell has done lately. He has back-to-back games with 12 strikeouts and has at least 43 fantasy points in his last four contests. Snell has only one bad outings since May 1 (a nine-point effort against the Red Sox) and has a great matchup against the Giants. San Francisco is in the bottom half of the league with a .319 wOBA against left-handed pitching but has the fifth-worst strikeouts percentage at 25.7 percent. Here's your easy cash game starter for today.
Logan Allen, CLE vs. OAK ($8,400): I like JP Sears in this game as well but Allen gets the slight nudge when you look at the two teams numbers on paper. Oakland is just below league-average with a 22.7 percent strikeout rate against lefties (Cleveland only strikeout out 18.5 percent) and the A's .305 wOBA is sixth-worst (although Cleveland is at .301). After striking out over a batter per inning throughout the minors, Allen has 53 punch outs in 54.2 innings this season. He also has a game of 61 fantasy points showing there is upside with him and the Guardians are a -187 favorite in this game.
Top Targets
Ronald Acuna, ATL at PHI ($4,600): It seems like Acuna makes this spot on a weekly basis but there's been no reason to shy away from him. He has such as solid floor, scoring at least 9.2 fantasy points in his last eight games and also has performances of 40.9, 37.7, 33.9, 27.9, 27.4, 21.5, 18.7 fantasy points this month. At first glance, especially with a small slate, one might think to avoid Aaron Nola. However, he sports a 4.66 ERA this season and Acuna has gone 13-for-36 (.361) with four home runs against him.
Corbin Carroll, ARI at WAS ($4,200): Everyone knows by know the valuable speed/power combo Corbin possesses and what I like best about him though is he's gotten better as the season has gone on. While he's average 13.85 fantasy points per game this season he's averaging 19 fantasy points per game in the month of June. Jake Irvin is a good matchup for Carroll as he's struggled both at Triple-A (5.64 ERA, 1.54 WHIP) and with the Nationals (5.25 ERA, 1.61 WHIP) so far this season.
Bargain Bats
Geraldo Perdomo, ARI at WAS ($2,800): Perdomo isn't a tough guy to fit in your lineup given his low salary cap hit and he's been annoited the new leadoff guy for the Diamondbacks. His qualification at shortstop fills a positional scarcity need there while providing upside. Perdomo has a .396 OBA this season and with some power (five home runs) and speed (9-for-11 on the base paths), he makes for an intriguing fantasy option.
Joey Gallo, MIN vs. BOS ($2,300): I love Gallo as a GPP play almost on a nightly basis because you know what you're going to get from him: either a big game with a home run or a dud with three or no fantasy points. Given the low floor he will probably be an unpopular play tonight but has a decent home matchup against Justin Garza. At 29, Garza isn't considered much of a prospect and he's basically been a career minor leaguer until this point.
Stacks To Consider
Atlanta at Phillies (Nola): Acuna, Austin Riley ($3,100), Marcell Ozuna ($3,000), Eddie Rosario ($3,000)
This stack won't kill your salary cap even with the inclusion of Acuna. Riley and Ozuna have a combined six home runs in 83 at-bats against Nola showing they have a good history (Riley with a .429 batting average against). Matt Olson could easily slot in here but I went with Rosario who has the hot hand with four home runs over the last week (2.483 OPS).
Diamondbacks at Nationals (Irvin): Carroll, Ketel Marte ($3,900), Christian Walker ($3,600), Perdomo
The cases have already been made for Carroll and Perdomo who's salary caps hits sort of even each other out given the discrepancy. Marte quietly is having a nice season batting .291 with 11 home runs, 52 runs and six steals. Walker has been solid in the middle of the lineup with 15 home runs and 49 RBI with a 1.032 OPS over the last three weeks. It's likely a matter of time before Irvin gets bombed and that could be today considering he's a -155 under dog in a game with a 9.5 over/under for runs.
