It is a pretty atypical Thursday night, with 11 games on the schedule to choose from. There are a number of good pitchers on the mound, with favorable matchups, while offensively, look for a high number of runs in the Yankees-Rangers, Tigers-Orioles and Royals-Blue Jays games.
Below are my lineup choices for tonight’s games. As always, make sure to check weather reports and lineups before contests lock.
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Pitcher
- Chris Sale CHW $11,800
Despite the Boston Red Sox having a mediocre offense, Sale is still the best play tonight. Sale has proven that he is one of the best pitchers in the AL, no matter what team he is facing. He has a 2.85 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and a ridiculous 11.57 K/9. Opponents are only batting .219 against him. He should be the top pitcher in DFS tonight.
Other Notables
- Jake Arrieta CHC $10,400
- Carlos Martinez STL $10,100
- Jimmy Nelson MIL $7,400
Catcher
- Kyle Schwarber CHC $3,100
Schwarber has struggled a bit over his last seven games, hitting just .167. However he has managed to get on base over that time, generating six walks. Since being called up from the minor leagues earlier this month, Schwarber is batting .353 with two HR, five RBI and six R. He has a favorable matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight.
Other Notables
- Russell Martin TOR $3,400
- Victor Martinez DET $3,200
- Brian McCann NYY $3,000
First Base
- Eric Hosmer KC $3,500
Hosmer has been on fire lately. He is batting .522/.560/.957 over his last seven games, with two HR, six RBi and five R. He is a .339 hitter against righties, versus a .278 hitter against lefties and faces RHP Marco Estrada and the Toronto Blue Jays tonight. Hopefully Hosmer can keep the hot-hitting going another night.
Other Notables
- Edwin Encarnacion TOR $4,500
- Chris Davis BAL $4,100
- Freddie Freeman $3,500
- Mike Napoli $2,300
Second Base
- Jimmy Paredes BAL $2,600
Although Paredes is a switch-hitter, he is much better as a LHB (.296/.326/.474) than he is a RHB (.244/.292/.311). He faces Detroit RHP Alfredo Simon (4.46 ERA) tonight, which should favor Paredes, despite his struggles in the month of July, batting just .194. At this price point though, Paredes still presents good value.
Other Notables
- Brian Dozier MIN $3,600
- Kolten Wong STL $3,200
- Ben Zobrist KC $3,100
Third Base
- Mike Moustakas KC $2,500
More than any other player, I believe Moustakas is the best value player in DFS. He was an All-Star this year and still has a very good stat line, .290/.350/.431 with 10 HR and 39 RBI. Moustakas is a better hitter against RHP (.312/.373/.471) and like his teammate Hosmer he has a favorable matchup tonight.
Other Notables
- Josh Donaldson TOR $4,600
- Alex Rodriguez NYY $4,500
- Chase Headley $3,000
Shortstop
- Francisco Lindor CLE $2,700
Francisco Lindor continues to be an impressive rookie for the Cleveland Indians. He is batting .310/.323/.552, with two HR and eight RBI over his last seven games. Although his average is not as high hitting against RHP as it is against LHP, his power numbers are more favorable. He has four HR and 14 RBI against RHP, versus just one HR and five RBI against LHP. He and the Indians face RHP Chris Bassitt and the Oakland A’s tonight.
Other Notables
- Troy Tulowitzki TOR $3,500
- Jung-Ho Kang PIT $3,100
- Didi Gregorius NYY $2,800
Outfield
- Torii Hunter MIN $3,100
- Adam Jones BAL $3,000
- Josh Hamilton TEX $2,700
Hunter has had a nice season for the Minnesota Twins batting .254 with 16 HR and 54 RBI. He presents good value tonight at this price point and can definitely get you positive scoring.
Although Jones is batting .271 against RHP versus .342 against LHP, he does have 11 HR and 32 RBI against righties, versus four HR and 13 RBI against lefties. He faces RHP Alfredo Simon tonight, so he should be good for a positive score.
Hamilton rounds this lineup out nicely. He faces Michael Pineda and the New York Yankees tonight. Pineda can be up and down at times and has struggled his last two starts, so this should favor Hamilton tonight. He has had three hits already in the series against the Yankees and will look to add to that total tonight.
Other Notables
- Jose Bautista TOR $4,200
- Starling Marte PIT $3,700
- J.D. Martinez DET $3,800
- Yoenis Cespedes DET $3,700
AJ Stone is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from AJ, check out his archive and follow him @ajstone18.