We begin the final two weeks of the regular season with a short seven-game slate to work with. Keep in mind the player pool is drastically reduced tonight, so you’ll need to differentiate yourself if you’re playing in tournaments. Let’s take a look at some top plays for FanDuel.

Weather Situations to Monitor:

• Athletics @ Tigers

Win cash playing in FanDuel’s MLB Squeeze

Pitchers

Clayton Kershaw (LAD): $12,100 @ PHI
The projected gap between Kershaw and the rest of the field is gigantic, so I look for his ownership levels to be high tonight. In cash games, the conversation begins and ends here, as he faces an offense who is subpar against lefties. While the Phillies strike out right around league average, the expected run prevention is so strong that I wouldn’t let the matchup dissuade me at all. The Phillies currently have an implied total of just 2.44 runs, while Kershaw is a -335 favorite on the road. Start your cash game roster construction here tonight.

Patrick Corbin (ARI): $9,500 @ SD
Corbin is the next logical choice after Clayton Kershaw in the rankings, and I think he makes for a viable pivot in tournaments. The Padres strike out above league average against left-handed pitching, and while they’ve overachieved over the last two weeks (sixth in wRC+), I don’t expect that to last. This is a good park for Corbin to pitch in, and he possesses just enough strikeout upside to give him a boost in terms of expected output.

Jameson Taillon (PIT): $6,500 vs. MIL
Taillon and the Pirates will look to play spoiler against their divisional rivals, as the Brewers look to maintain pace in the playoff chase. There are some concerns that Taillon may be running out of gas as the season draws to a close, but with his last start being skipped, I’m hoping he bounces back tonight. The Brewers are a strikeout-prone team, as they continue to whiff at a high rate against right-handed hitters over the last month (26%), which gives Taillon a nice boost in tournament play. All told, he’s a risky proposition, but there’s plenty of upside at this price.

Athletics Stack @ Tigers vs. Buck Farmer
Matt Olson (1B): $4,300
Khris Davis (OF): $4,200 (check status)
Matt Joyce (OF): $4,000
Jed Lowrie (2B): $4,000

The Athletics continue to rake against right-handed pitching, and they will have a great chance to further their success tonight against a mediocre pitcher in Buck Farmer. Olson (.431 ISO), Davis (.303 ISO) and Joyce (.262 ISO) all possess great power against right-handed pitching, while Lowrie hasn’t exactly been a slouch (.352 wOBA/.181 ISO). I don’t know how under-owned a stack will go on a short slate, but don’t sleep on the Athletics tonight.

Diamondbacks LHB @ Padres vs. Luis Perdomo
David Peralta (OF): $3,400
Jake Lamb (3B): $2,900

Luis Perdomo has fared a bit better at home (good park) against lefties, but context is important. He’s allowed a .381 wOBA to left-handed hitters on the road this season, but a .331 wOBA at home against lefties isn’t exactly good. There’s nothing wrong with targeting the studs in Paul Goldschmidt and/or J.D. Martinez, but the two lefties above are cheaper and have fared well against right-handed hitters this season. A full-on stack may be more popular, or owners may just gravitate toward to Goldschmidt and Martinez, but Peralta (.351 wOBA vs. RHP) and Lamb (.377 wOBA/.258 ISO vs. RHP) as a mini-stack are viable as well.

Dodgers RHB vs. Nick Pivetta
Justin Turner (3B): $4,000
Yasiel Puig (OF): $3,500
Logan Forsythe (2B): $2,800 (if he plays)

Reverse splits alert! Same-handed hitters have blasted Nick Pivetta this season, to the tune of a .415 wOBA and a whopping 43.1% hard contact rate allowed. He’s dished out 18 home runs to right-handed hitters as well, which is well over two and a half per nine innings (not good). While a full stack will likely be popular (not against it), targeting Pivetta’s ugly splits here is a strong play.

Brian Dozier (2B) : $3,900 @ Yankees vs. Jaime Garcia
Garcia generates ground balls at a high rate, but he’s also proved to be a bit susceptible to right-handed hitters this season (.332 wOBA, 13 HR allowed). Dozier has crushed lefties to the tune of a .433 wOBA and a .305 ISO this season, and with a good hitting environment, he should continue his success tonight.

Hot Hitter
Eric Thames (1B): $3,800 @ Pirates vs. Jameson Taillon
Thames is rolling at the plate right now, as he’s hitting .381 with a .524 ISO over the past two weeks. The strikeout rate is obviously still a concern, but he will hold the platoon advantage over a pitcher who has struggled against lefties. In 98.1 career innings pitched against lefties, Jameson Taillon has allowed a .346 wOBA, and he’s been even worse this season (.377 wOBA). This isn’t a good hitting environment, but we know how streaky Thames can be, so ride the hot bat while you can.

Batter vs. Pitcher
Paul Goldschmidt (ARI): $4,200 @ Padres vs. Luis Perdomo
I picked on Perdomo with lefties earlier, but Goldschmidt is certainly in play as well. He sports a .414 wOBA and a .278 ISO against same-handed pitching, with his brief track record against Perdomo coming in to play as well. In 17 career at-bats, Goldschmidt has eight hits (.471 AVG), while three of those have been home runs.

Adam Sutton is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Adam, follow him @DraftStars_Adam. You can find more of Adam’s work at DraftStars.net.