Ryan Humphries | @N1TRO on LineStar | @NitroDFS on Twitter

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Thursday is typically the day where game scheduling can be a bit unique and today is no different. On DraftKings, the main slate consists of five games and includes the Angels at Yankees match-up which will begin at 6:35 pm ET. FanDuel has opted to slim down to only the four games that start up at the typical 7:05 pm ET time slot. In an effort to be a bit more ‘all-inclusive’ I will try to mostly stick to the four mutually shared games. These small slates can feel a bit odd… almost claustrophobic even. But, as always, someone has to win the money today so it may as well be you! No weather issues whatsoever today so let’s slide right into this one.

Match-ups with implied totals and moneylines:

Stay up to date on all weather conditions and confirmed lineups as soon as they are released over in LineStar chat & on the Daily Dashboard!

Pitchers to Consider

Mike Clevinger | DK: $11.4k, FD: $11.8k | RHP | vs. DET

Despite the fact that Jack Flaherty (DK: $11k, FD: $10.9k) has been pitching out of his mind since the All Star break, it is quite obvious that Clevinger is the much safer play this evening. Clevinger has not only been the best pitcher on this slate throughout the year but he’ll draw the easiest match-up while pitching at home -- leading to Cleveland boasting a monstrous -400 moneyline. In two starts versus the Tigers this year (14 IP), Clevinger has surrendered just one run (0.64 ERA) while striking out 43.1% of Detroit hitters. Cleveland sits a half game back from the Rays for the second AL wild card bid so expect Clevinger to not be limited in any way and receive his typical ~110 pitch workload while comfortably pitching through seven or eight innings. He’s the chalk play for sure but it’ll be hard not to bite.

Mike Montgomery | DK: $4k, FD: $6k | LHP | @ MIN

This is primarily a DraftKings SP2 play and even though Montgomery is priced at $4,000, it’s still ugly, but that is sort of the nature of pitchers on a small slate -- especially when two teams are shrinking the player pool even further by rolling with an ‘opener + long reliever’ approach. So, FanDuel players can mostly ignore this and just stick to one of the more reliable/skilled options up top. Montgomery doesn’t have a ton going for him here, aside from holding the bare minimum pitcher salary (on DK) and he is also fairly likely to receive five innings of work barring a meltdown. He was a usable value arm for most of his starts in August but is now coming off of two poor starts against Miami and Houston. Even though Montgomery has only a 17.2% kRate this season perhaps there’s room for him to snag five or six punch outs since the Twins have been swinging a bit wild lately. They have posted a 24.9% kRate versus LHPs in the last month -- the 7th highest strikeout rate in that time. Also, they managed to score just one run on three hits last night against the White Sox in what was essentially a bullpen game. I know it sounds like I’m trying to polish a turd here but for $4,000 I think Monty has a decent chance of returning value. Pairing him with Clevinger, Flaherty, or Hendricks on DK will still give you plenty of coin left to spend on some premium bats.

Team Stacks to Target

Keep in mind, there’s no rule saying you *have* to roll out four and five man stacks. Sometimes mixing and matching two and three man stacks with some one-off hitters is the better route to take in order to give yourself more exposure to different offenses.

Cleveland Indians vs. Daniel Norris (LHP)/Drew VerHagan (RHP), DET

Norris has consistently pitched exactly three innings in his last seven starts since taking on the opener role and we can expect VerHagan to get three, maybe four, frames of his own. In Norris’ last 21 innings as Detroit’s opener, he has allowed just a .197 AVG but is giving up 2.1 HR/9 and has posted a 5.11 xFIP. He’s also been pretty fortunate in that time with an unsustainable .200 BABIP. He is certainly capable of getting blown up early. Meanwhile, VerHagan allows a fairly generous .352 wOBA to both sides of the plate and has struggled a bit more on the road where he has thrown 11.1% walks with a 1.63 WHIP. Both guys could run into their fair share of problems here and, as I mentioned above, this is an Indians team fighting for a postseason berth so they won’t simply be going through the motions out there. Yasiel Puig, Oscar Mercado, and Francisco Lindor are likely your best bets. If Jordan Luplow makes the lineup, I’ll have some interest there as well.

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Gabriel Ynoa (RHP), BAL

This game has the highest total of the day at 10.5 runs so a complete game stack could be in order here. Considering the Blue Jays have hung 25 runs on the board in their last three games, you have to like their chances against Gabriel Ynoa and the O’s bullpen. Ynoa hasn’t really shown much of anything in his 100.1 innings pitched this season. He’s throwing just 13.9% strikeouts, surrendering 2.24 HR/9, posting a 5.74 ERA (5.35 xFIP), and has a 1.74 WHIP with runners in scoring position. Reese McGuire, Randal Grichuk, and Cavan Biggio have been the hottest Toronto hitters lately. If Richard Urena finds his way into the lineup, he’d be a decent punt option.

One-Off Hitters

Here I’ll highlight players at [roughly] different price points (high, mid, low) that could be used as a ‘one-off’ piece in lineups -- or perhaps part of a two man mini-stack.

SS Adalberto Mondesi | DK: $5.1k, FD: $3.7k | vs. Kyle Gibson (RHP), MIN

Kyle Gibson has not had his best stuff lately. Over his last seven starts (32 IP), he has recorded a 7.59 ERA while allowing a .350 AVG with a 1.97 WHIP. He’s also striking out just 17.4% of batters in that span. Mondesi is a bit of a “boom/bust” guy to roster but he’s sporting some nice BvP history against Gibson. In 13 plate appearances, Mondesi is hitting .583 against KG with three XBH (one homer) and a 1.142 wOBA+ISO. For added upside, Mondesi profiles as one of the best base stealers in baseball and has snagged 10 in his last 20 games. He doesn’t need to rock a home run out of the park to pay off these salaries if he can simply get on board a couple times and do his thing grabbing some free bases.

OF Austin Hays (RHB) | DK: $3.5k, FD: $2.3k | vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto is opening with RHP Wilmer Font on the mound while LHP Anthony Kay will serve as the bulk reliever. Neither guy is worth shying away from. Hays is a cheap O’s bat who should find himself back in the order after going 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles yesterday. Hays was called up only a couple weeks ago, so it’s a small sample size, but his batting average is now up to .330 across 27 at bats. If you’re in need of a hitter who won’t break the bank, Hays should land in the middle of the Baltimore order in this potentially high-scoring match-up and is far from the worst punt option tonight.

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