This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Baseball series.
Thursday's night slate features five games and with four of them having over/unders of 8.5 runs or more. That means there should be plenty of value with bats and only a few places to go for pitching. With Lucas Sims getting his first start of the season for the Braves, expect that over/under to jump throughout the day going against an unpredictable Matt Harvey.
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PITCHER
Jameson Taillon, PIT at PHI ($43): Taillon fell off a bit with only two strikeouts in his last start, but he still made it six innings and didn't allow a run. He's been dominant in three outings with only two earned runs and nine hits allowed in 20.1 innings. The odds are in his favor to at least reach five strikeouts after 16 in his first two games. The Phillies have a .297 wOBA against righties, but their 26.9 K percentage is the reason to roll with Taillon.
Chase Anderson, MIL vs. MIA ($41): I don't think the other two high-end pitchers are worth the price, so Anderson gets the call as the biggest favorite of the day. He isn't a big strikeout guy but has hit six innings in three of his four starts and was solid against the Mets last outing with five Ks and 26.5 fantasy points. According to the numbers, the Marlins will be his easiest matchup thus far, as they sport a .271 wOBA and 25.0 K percentage against righties.
CATCHER
Jett Bandy, MIL vs. MIA ($9): Bandy may be a regular backup, but this is the perfect spot for him and he's almost free. He has a career .349 wOBA against southpaws and Dillon Peters has been all over in his three starts. While Peters has two quality starts, he was also knocked around for nine runs in the other one. In his limited experience he has a .341 wOBA allowed against righties and that's good enough for Bandy.
FIRST BASE
Paul Goldschmidt, ARI vs. SF ($22): This is a good spot to spend some money, as Goldschmidt is raking lefties early with three of his four homers coming against them in 24 plate appearances. Last season's .407 wOBA and .280 ISO are more than capable considering how he has looked. As for Ty Blach, he has nine strikeouts and nine walks in his first four starts to go with a career 5.06 xFIP against righties.
SECOND BASE
Ryan Flaherty, ATL vs NYM ($9): Flaherty has been a nice surprise this season with a .406 wOBA against righties (54 plate appearances), and his lack of power is why he's cheap even after Wednesday's homer. Career numbers suggest he'll slow down, but this is more of a play against Matt Harvey. The righty hurler has continued his struggles from a season ago and has allowed 17 hits and eight runs in his last two starts. Coming off a campaign in which he had a 6.26 xFIP against lefties is reason enough to grab cheaper bats against him. If you have the money, Ozzie Albies ($22) is always available.
THIRD BASE
Todd Frazier, NYM at ATL ($17): Going with power makes sense against a guy who was recalled only a few days ago. It helps that Frazier has all 11 of his RBIs against righties this season and had a respectable .324 wOBA against them even in a down 2017. Lucas Sims has limited experience in the majors and wasn't good against either side of the plate last season, giving up seven of his nine homers to righty bats to go with a 4.32 xFIP (140 batters faced).
SHORTSTOP
Amed Rosario, NYM at ATL ($8): This is mostly a gamble because the options at shortstop are lacking in the night slate. Rosario is another bat to use against Sims with the thought being Sims will struggle in his first appearance of the season. Sims gave up a .349 wOBA to righties last season and started this year in the minors after getting rocked in the spring with 18 H, 15 ER, 4 HR and 10 BB in only 13.1 innings.
OUTFIELD
A.J. Pollock, ARI vs. SF ($22): If you have money, it makes sense to go all-in against Blach, although having both Goldschmidt and Pollock will cost a bit with the cheaper Chris Owings ($13) harder to recommend. As for Pollock, he's had a solid start already with 11 extra-base hits, and his .248 ISO from last season will work well against Blach. The lefty has given up all 18 of his career homers to righty bats.
Lorenzo Cain, MIL vs. MIA ($16): Cain is the second bat I'm using against Peters and he still comes at a solid price due to recent struggles. This is a good spot to return to form after Cain posted a .349 wOBA and .200 ISO against southpaws last season. Peters is still extremely hard to trust even after some solid outings and has a subpar career 4.55 xFIP against righties.
Jackie Bradley Jr., BOS at LAA ($8): Bradley is my cheap outfielder play going against an unreliable righty in Nick Tropeano. Bradley still looks unable to repeat his great 2016 season, but at least most of his power comes against righties with a career .184 ISO. That could be useful against Tropeano, who has rough career numbers against lefty bats with a 4.94 xFIP. And while he didn't give up a run to the Royals in his last start, the Red Sox present a much different challenge.
