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Welcome to today's daily fantasy post! Remember that you can find our posts on the brand-spanking new DFS home page, as well as the fantasy page. Bookmark those sites now!
Let's get to Thursday's interesting facts, using DraftKings prices. We'll cover both the day (seven games) and night (five games) schedules.
Five Things to Watch:
1. Buster Posey didn't play Tuesday or Wednesday because of a bruised foot, and he might be held out today as well.
2. Yo, BvPers: Matt Carpenter ($4,900) is 15-for-33 with three homers vs. Wily Peralta ... Bryce Harper ($5,100) is 11-for-25 with four homers against Julio Teheran ... Freddie Freeman ($4,600) is 12-for-31 vs. Stephen Strasburg, who might start today after getting scratched Wednesday due to an illness.
3. The Indians have whiffed in 28.3 percent of their plate appearances so far, second-most in the majors behind the Twins. Chris Archer ($11,400), who misses plenty of bats, gets today's start at home against the Tribe.
4. As expected, the Giants-Rockies game has the highest projected run total with 11; Orioles-Rangers is next with 8.5. The biggest favorites are Jaime Garcia ($9.700) and the Cardinals at -176 over the terrible Brewers.
5. On the night slate, Jason Hammel ($7,900) and the Cubs are a -169 favorite over the Reds. I'm not sure I buy that one, as the Reds have hit the ball OK so far, and start Raisel Iglesias.
Yesterday's recap: "Must Start of the day" Paul Goldschmidt didn't help us with a hitless outing, but D.J.'s pitching duo of Carlos Carrasco and John Lackey combined for 56.6 DK points.
Must-Start of the day: Bryce Harper, WAS - See "Five Things" BvP note above. Harper is going to hit a homer today.
Deal of the day: Kike Hernandez, LAD - Hernandez ($3,000) batted leadoff on Tuesday against Patrick Corbin, and figures to be in the same slot tonight to face fellow southpaw Robbie Ray. Hernandez fits at OF, too.
Avoid of the day: Carlos Gonzalez is 6-for-47 with 17 strikeouts against Matt Cain. Weird, huh?
Stack of the day: Giants or Rockies would be soooooo boring. This afternoon, grab some Cardinals - starting with Carpenter - against the horrible Wily Peralta. The Cards' two through five hitters on Tuesday were Hazelbaker-Holliday-Piscotty-Grichuk, and you'll want to see where Kolten Wong bats as well.
For the positional picks, we'll include both day and night selections.
Starting Pitchers:
Chris Archer, TB: See "Five Things" note above.
Vince Velasquez, PHI: DFS guru Michael Rathburn (@FantasyRath) noted on Twitter this morning that the Padres' run totals in non-Coors Field games have been 0-0-0-3-0-1. Philly's live-armed rookie starter whiffed nine Mets in six innings on Saturday, and carries the friendly price of $7,300.
Doug Fister, HOU: The Astros are a slight favorite, and Fister didn't pitch badly in his first outing against the Brewers. Maybe this is a reach against the Royals, but Fister is the lowest-priced starter ($5,700) in the night games, and the expensive pitchers don't look attractive.
Catchers:
Jonathan Lucroy, MIL: Lucroy is strangely cheaper ($3,200) than many of the other afternoon backstops, and bats fourth for the Brew Crew.
Miguel Montero, CHC: Montero ($3,000) has 61 DK points over his last five games.
First Basemen:
Prince Fielder, TEX: This is a hunch. Fielder ($4,700) has to snap out of his slump at some point, right? If Chris Tillman does anything well, giving up home runs is it.
Chris Carter, MIL: All or nothing, baby! Carter is $3,100. In tournaments, the payoff could be big.
Second Basemen:
Daniel Murphy, WAS: Murphy has been red-hot to start the season, and is priced ($3,900) among the bottom half of second basemen this afternoon. Julio Teheran isn't bad, but he isn't John Smoltz, either.
Kike Hernandez, LAD: See "Deal of the Day" note above.
Third Basemen:
Matt Carpenter, STL: See "Five Things" BvP note above.
Manny Machado, BAL: I don't care if Machado ($3,800) is facing Cole Hamels. He costs $400 more than Jake Lamb, for crying out loud.
Shortstops:
Trevor Story, COL: Who are we to argue with baseball's brightest star? Seriously, Story ($4,900) faces Matt Cain, who got a late start in spring training and can't break a pane of glass with a fastball these days. The moderately speedy Story hasn't even stolen a base yet, but that's hard to do when you hit a home run every time up.
Jean Segura, ARI: Ross Stripling's near no-hitter last Friday was a nice story, but he was basically the Dodgers' ninth starter when spring training began, and his ceiling seems to be fourth starter. Segura ($3,700) is averaging 12.8 DK points per game.
Outfielders:
Bryce Harper, WAS: "Must Start of the day."
Mark Trumbo, BAL: Cole Hamels is a really good lefty, but Trumbo is cheap ($3,400) and has spent his career mashing LHPs (.353 wOBA, 48 HR in 762 AB). Playing hitters against ace starters isn't normally a good idea, but for this price ...
