There are several high-end OF options with nice matchups Thursday

Welcome to the Thursday night slate of games on FanDuel. There are six games tonight, which is a small group to play with, but I like the roster I’ve built. There aren’t any weather concerns with the night games, but it’s always good to keep yourself updated by following @KevinRothWX on Twitter for up-to-the-minute weather information.

I’ll be entering tonight’s lineup in the $1 MLB Bunt GPP game which allows for a single entry and a $1 50/50 game. Many of my “other notables” will come from our DFS Cheat Sheet here at Fantasy Pros. Check it out if you’re looking for some value play suggestions.

Enter FanDuel’s MLB Rally to win cash

Pitcher

• Joe Ross – WSH vs. SD – $8,100

Gerrit Cole is the obvious choice tonight and in cash games he’s a great pick. The Pirates are favored with a -200 line against the Marlins. Joe Ross is $1,900 cheaper than Cole and allows me to add a few more elite hitters to my tournament lineup. At home this year, Ross has a 2.27 ERA over 31.2 innings and a 30/1 K/BB rate. He faces the Padres who as a team have a .297 wOBA and a 86 wRC+ on the road this season. The Nationals are favored tonight with a -153 line.

Other notables

• Gerrit Cole – PIT @ MIA – $10,000
• Carlos Martinez – STL @ ARI – $10,200
• Drew Smyly – TAM vs. MIN – $7,400
• Jon Niese – NYM @ PHI – $7,900

Catcher

• Geovany Soto – CWS vs. SEA – $2,400

I’m hoping White Sox manager Robin Ventura starts Soto tonight against lefty Roenis Elias of the Mariners. This season, Soto is mashing lefties at home with a .467 ISO, .554 wOBA and a 265 wRC+.

Other notables

• Travis d’Arnaud – NYM @ PHI – $3,500

First Base

• Michael Cuddyer – NYM @ PHI – $2,800

Cuddyer faces the right-handed Aaron Harang who has allowed a .296/.327/.455 batting line to right-handed hitters at home this season. On the road, Cuddyer has a .152 ISO against right-handed pitching. In a very small sample, Cuddyer has fared well against Harang in 13 career plate appearances with a .308/.308/.538 batting line. The zero walks is alarming, but he only has one strikeout in those 13 plate appearances. I expect Cuddyer to put the ball in play tonight against Harang, as he has a .312 BABIP on the road against right-handed pitching this season. BvP is a horribly unpopular method to use when making DFS picks so I try to stay away from it, but I’ll lean on Cuddyer’s BABIP in relation to his past plate appearances against Harang.

Other notables

• Jose Abreu – CWS vs. SEA – $4,200
• Paul Goldschmidt – ARI vs. STL – $4,600

Second Base

• Anthony Rendon – WAS vs. SD – $3,500

Rendon has performed well in his last five games, hitting safely in four of them with two multi-hit performances including two home runs and a double. He’s scored six runs and driven in six as well over that span. He faces the right-handed Andrew Cashner who has a 4.54 ERA on the road this season. Cashner has given up 11 of his 16 home runs allowed this season on the road.

Other notables

• Logan Forsythe – TAM vs. MIN – $3,300
  Forsythe faces the horribly inconsistent left-handed Tommy Milone at home tonight, and he’s done well against lefties in Tampa this season. Right-handed hitters away from Minnesota have a .319/.371/.547 batting line with a .392 wOBA against Milone. Forsythe likes hitting lefties at home as he has a .410 wOBA and 170 wRC+ against them this season. I’m skipping Forsythe so my lineup isn’t too Rays heavy, but I think he’s a fine choice tonight. He’s also ranked as the top second baseman today on our cheat sheet.
• Brian Dozier – MIN @ TAM – $3,300
• Kelly Johnson – NYM @ PHI – $2,400
• Daniel Murphy – NYM @ PHI – $4,200
• Cesar Hernandez – PHI vs. NYM – $2,800

Third Base

• Evan Longoria – TAM vs. MIN – $2,500

Longoria, like Forsythe, handles left-handed pitching very well at home this season. He owns a .380/.448./660 batting line against southpaws at Tropicana Field along with a .463 wOBA and a 206 wRC+.

Other notables

• Matt Carpenter – STL @ ARI – $3,500
• Trevor Plouffe – MIN @ TAM – $2,900
• Miguel Sano – MIN @ TAM – $4,600

Shortstop

• Asdrubal Cabrera – TAM vs. MIN – $3,500

Here’s another Ray that hits lefties pretty well at home. This season, Cabrera has a .455 wOBA and a 201 wRC+ against left-handed pitching at Tropicana Field. His .308 home ISO against southpaws isn’t that bad either.

Other notables

• Jhonny Peralta – STL @ ARI – $2,500
• Jung-Ho Kang – PIT @ MIA – $3,600
• Ian Desmond – WAS vs. SD – $3,400

Outfield

• Nelson Cruz – SEA @ CWS – $5,000
• Bryce Harper – WAS vs. SD – $4,900
• Brandon Moss – STL @ ARI – $2,200

Cruz is the most expensive outfielder tonight at $5,000 and rightfully so, as the MLB home run leader will face lefty Carlos Rodon in Chicago. This season on the road, Cruz is mashing lefties with a .358/.434/.687 batting line along with a .466 wOBA and a .209 wRC+.

Harper is the second high-end outfielder filling out my lineup tonight. He has a robust .333/.482/.689 batting line against right-handed pitching at home, along with a .480 wOBA and a 211 wRC+. He’s hit safely in eight of his last 10 games with four multi-hit performances including a home run and five doubles.

Moss has not been performing well at all, accumulating just three hits in his last 10 games. The bright side is that his price is very low, and he faces Rubby De La Rosa who has trouble against left-handed hitting in Arizona. This season, lefties have a .284/.351/.536 batting line with a .377 wOBA against De La Rosa at Chase Field in Phoenix. I think St. Louis loads up on lefty hitters and Moss has a decent chance to hit a ball out of the park in a great hitter’s environment. Moss has a .274 ISO against right-handed pitching on the road this season.

Other notables

• Yoenis Cespedes – NYM @ PHI – $4,300
• Curtis Granderson – NYM @ PHI – $3,300
• Andrew McCutchen – PIT @ MIA – $4,900
• Franklin Gutierrez – SEA @ CWS – $3,300
• David Peralta – ARI vs. STL – $3,500
• Jason Heyward – STL @ ARI – $3,800
• Starling Marte – PIT @ MIA – $3,800
• Denard Span – WAS vs. SD – $3,100
• Clint Robinson – WAS vs. SD – $2,200

My Lineup

• P: Joe Ross – WSH vs. SD – $8,100
• C: Geovany Soto – CWS vs. SEA – $2,400
• 1B: Michael Cuddyer – NYM @ PHI – $2,800
• 2B: Anthony Rendon – WAS vs. SD – $3,500
• 3B: Evan Longoria – TAM vs. MIN – $2,500
• SS: Asdrubal Cabrera – TAM vs. MIN – $3,500
• OF: Nelson Cruz – SEA @ CWS – $5,000
• OF: Bryce Harper – WAS vs. SD – $4,900
• OF: Brandon Moss – STL @ ARI – $2,200

Remaining salary: $100

Note: This article is posted in the early afternoon before lineups are announced. If any of these players aren’t playing, I’ll be offering suggested changes to this particular lineup on Twitter.

JP Gale is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from JP, check out his archive and follow him @gojpg.