We only have 10 games on the schedule for Thursday as 10 teams have the day off, including the Marlins and Phillies who were impacted by the COVID-19 scare earlier this week. The league responded with some schedule tweaks that impacted Thursday’s slate. This is just another reminder that you need to keep a close eye on your lineup and pay attention right up until the first pitch to ensure there are no late scratches that could impact your DFS selections. With that said there are a few solid pitching matchups on the slate and plenty sneaky value on the offensive side. We’ll cover it all below. Let’s get into it.

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Pitcher

• While Dinelson Lamet’s price tag can’t really be considered a “value” his matchup against the Giants is very appetizing. San Francisco is averaging a lowly 3.3 runs per game and ranks in the bottom third of the league with six home runs. Home runs have long been a bugaboo for Lamet, who posted a 19.7% HR/FB rate in 2019. So this matchup would appear to minimize his greatest weakness in the friend confines of Oracle Park. He also looked great in his first start of the year against the D-Backs, striking out eight over five innings en route to a win. He’s in line for another high strikeout performance against SF.
• Dylan Bundy dominated a tough Athletics lineup in his Angels debut. He went 6.2 innings while striking out seven, with no walks, and only allowed one run to secure the win. Now he gets a home matchup with the league’s youngest team, the Seattle Mariners. The inexperienced M’s haven’t shown a lot of discipline at the plate as they’ve hit just .235  as a ball club through their first five games.
• Brady Singer is the cheapest pitcher on my list and also has the most risk. So why is he here? Because he’s facing the Detroit Tigers and is coming off an impressive debut against Cleveland, a much tougher lineup than Detroit. Singer fanned seven Indians and only walked two while giving up two runs over five innings in a no-decision. He does have shaky command but possesses a high strikeout upside. He’s likely to be on a pitch count and that’s where his risk comes in. If he can establish control early he could pitch long enough to grab a win, maybe even a quality start. There’s no reward without a little risk as they say.

Catcher/First Base

• Carlos Santana is off to a stellar start this year and has a history of success against Twins ace Jose Berrios going 6-for-17 with six walks and a home run (.353 BA/.522 OBP). Berrios was crushed in the season-opener at the White Sox when he gave up five runs and seven hits over four innings. Most of the 1B priced above him on Thursday are either off to slow starts or facing difficult matchups, which makes Santana one of the safer bets out there.
• A similar argument could be made for Joey Votto, who has also gotten off to a surprisingly fantastic start in 2020. He’s had decent career success against Cubs starter Yu Darvish, going 6-for-22 (.273) with a home run, a double, and a .360 OBP. This play is more about Darvish, who was all over the place in his first start of the year against the Brewers. He gave up three runs while throwing 73 pitches to get through four innings. A patient hitter like Votto can have success if Darvish proves to be shaky again.

Second Base

• There’s so much to like about David Fletcher’s matchup that $3,000 feels like a steal. As of Wednesday afternoon, he’s leading the league in both batting average (.560), on-base percentage (.609), and hits (10) but he’s also 8-for-22 against Mariners pitcher Marco Gonzales in his career. While he offers little to no power he’s getting on base at an insane clip and should give you a great return on investment.
• Hanser Alberto has crushed left-handed pitching over his career (.352/.367/.462) and is facing lefty J.A. Happ who is making his first start of the year. It’s hard to predict how sharp or potentially rusty Happ will be but Alberto’s numbers head-to-head certainly sweeten the deal. He’s 6-for-13 with one home run and a whopping 1.308 OPS against the left-hander.
• Chris Taylor rounds out our 2B value plays and has a great individual/team matchup on the docket. It took D-Backs starter Robbie Ray 97 pitches to get through just 3.2 innings in his last start against Padres. He now has to try and bounce back against the Dodgers at home, where he has a career 4.63 ERA. Ray’s command issues coupled with Taylor’s .345 career average (10-for-29) in head-to-head matchups make for a very intriguing play.

Third Base

• While Machado had gotten off to a sluggish start this season he appears to have found his groove in San Francisco, crushing a 2-run homer off Johnny Cueto on Wednesday. At the time of this writing, the Giants still haven’t named a starter for Thursday’s game but there’s little variance in Machado’s lefty/righty splits so this feels like a safe matchup. His ‘get right’ Bay Area tour should continue.
• Gio Urshela is 2-for-4 against John Means in his career, which is fine but that’s not the reason I like this matchup. Means is coming off the injured list (arm fatigue) and will be making his first start against the Yankees, yikes. While he was a bright spot for the horrible 2019 Orioles he couldn’t be facing a tougher opponent for his 2020 debut. He’s likely to be a bit rusty and has a 7.62 ERA in five appearances (two starts) against the Yanks. Urshela hasn’t been killing it but this feels as good of a spot as any for him to get it going.
• Maikel Franco got off to a quiet start this year but came alive in Detroit on Monday when he crushed two homers and drove in four runs. He has some familiarity with Tigers starter Ivan Nova; he’s faced him 14 times and has four hits, including a home run, off him. Franco could easily go 0-for-4, hence the high risk but he’s a cheap option at 3B that will allow you to spend big elsewhere.

Shortstop

• Nick Ahmed’s intrigue is all about his history against Dodgers starter Ross Stripling. Ahmed has the highest batting average of any Diamondback against Stripling going 7-for-13 (.538) with two home runs and six RBI in his career. He’s gotten off to a brutal start, much like Mondesi (mentioned below), but the career numbers are hard to ignore.
• I know Mondesi has been nothing to write home about in 2020, a .120 OBP is just brutal. There’s always the risk of an 0’fer with a contact hitter like Mondesi but his career marks against Nova (4-for-8 with a home run) aren’t bad and you have the feeling he’s going to swipe his first bag any day now. Start at your own risk but the payoff could be big if he’s able to get on base.
• It’s hard to recommend anyone against Indians ace Shane Bieber, especially coming off his 14 strikeout domination of the Royals, but Jorge Polanco has five base-hits in 15 at-bats against him. The Twins will prove to be a tougher test than the Royals were and Polanco should have at least four chances to reach base hitting near the top of the order.

Outfield

• Merrifield has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball by starting the season off with a six-game hitting streak. He’s been putting on a show in the series against the Tigers with two home runs, six RBI, and six runs scored over the first three games. He’s more than capable of putting on an encore performance against Ivan Nova, whom he has a .600 career batting average against (6-for-10).
• Eddie Rosario is facing Shane Bieber, who is fresh off a sensational Opening Day performance against Kansas City. On paper, it is a difficult matchup but the Twins have quite a few players with career success against Bieber, including Rosario who has three dingers, a .353 batting average (6-for-17), and is slugging .882 against him.
• A.J. Pollock is working on a three-game hitting streak and is 3-for-7 in his career against his former teammate, Robbie Ray, with a home run and four RBI. He’s been hitting towards the bottom of the lineup, which isn’t great, but it could give him some RBI opportunities.
• Justin Upton is only 4-for-18 in his career against Marco Gonzales but two of those hits were long balls and he’s driven in five runs and also walked twice against the Mariners ace. Upton is about as streaky as they come and the fact he homered in Wednesday’s game gives him an added level of confidence. His cheap price tag is worth the upside if he can stay on this heater and keep raking.
• Tim Lopes has never faced Dylan Bundy so we have no history to draw on there. However, he has been getting regular at-bats for the M’s and is currently working on a four-game hitting streak. He’s 7-for-15 in that span with a home run, three doubles, and a stolen base. At his extremely affordable price, he’s worth a dart throw to round out your OF.

5 Studs Worth Their Salary

• Mike Trout, LAA ($4,500): Career dominance against M’s starter Marco Gonzales: 12-for-28 (.429/.515/.750) with two home runs and five walks.
• Starling Marte, ARI ($3,700): He’s riding a five-game hitting streak and still looking for his home run, any day now.
• DJ LeMahieu ($3,300): He’s 2-for-6 with a homer against John Means and his .339/.400/.458 triple slash at Camden Yards jumps off the page.
• Justin Turner, LAD ($3,500): Turner has a lot of experience against Robbie Ray and the Dodgers feel primed to tee off on the lefty. Over 38 at-bats Turner has a .289/.400/.500 triple slash with two home runs and four walks versus Ray.
• Kyle Lewis, SEA ($3,100): Lewis has a six-game hitting streak and is hitting clean-up for the free-swinging Mariners that have nothing to lose and you don’t have much to lose by inserting him into your lineup at his price tag, either.

5 Notable Players to Fade

• Jose Berrios, MIN ($9000): Berrios didn’t look great in his first start when he only struck out one of the 19 batters he faced. A home start against the Indians is not a recipe for a bounce back.
• Pete Alonso, NYM ($3,900): While Alonso is showing signs of life after his sluggish start he is the most expensive 1B on the slate. There’s just better value at the position and you can spend the saved money elsewhere.
• Jorge Soler, KAN ($3,700): Soler has a career .182/.182/.182 slash against Ivan Nova in 11 at-bats. It’s tempting to start him considering it’s Detroit but save your money and dig a little deeper.
• Corey Seager, LOS ($3,200): I don’t like the lefty/lefty matchup against Robbie Ray, who Seager was struggled against in his career by going just 5-for-32 (.156 BA) with 16 strikeouts.
• Shohei Ohtani, LAA ($3,000): Ohtani has never gotten a hit off Marco Gonzales (0-for-7) and while he’s not that expensive there are plenty of other solid OF options to choose from on the slate.

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Jon Mathisen is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jon, check out his archive and follow him @eazymath.