We’ve got a unique Thursday of baseball today with the smallest slate of games I have ever covered! With only 4 games across the entire league today and one of them happening this afternoon, we have a 3-game main slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel starting at 7:05 PM EST. For today’s slate, we have the Miami Marlins facing the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants against the San Diego Padres, and a clash of top offenses to end the night with the Atlanta Braves taking on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Today’s slate has one ace on it with Spencer Strider, and beyond that, every starter comes with some decent risk. On the offensive side, we will also be extra limited because if you are avoiding your pitchers, you will only have 4 (5 on FanDuel) offenses to choose from. It's a different slate than normal, but there are still some good value plays to help build a winning MLB DFS Lineup, so let’s dive into some of my favorite value options of the day! 

 

MLB DFS Value Pitchers

Braxton Garrett, Miami Marlins (DraftKings: $8,200 / FanDuel: $8,700) 

Braxton Garrett has not been pitching great lately. He does have quality starts in 4 of his last 6 outings while going 5 innings with 3 or fewer earned runs in his other two, but through those 6 starts, despite the 2.91 ERA, he only has 24 strikeouts through 34 innings. Hopefully, he can get some of the strikeouts back today against the Washington Nationals (though he only struck out 3 against them in his last outing), but either way, he should be in line for a win, and he has way less blowup potential today of all the pitchers outside of Spencer Strider. 

MLB DFS Value Hitters

Gary Sanchez, C San Diego Padres (DraftKings: $3,800 / FanDuel: $2,600) 

Gary Sanchez continues to provide power for the San Diego Padres at catcher. He may only be hitting .214, but with a career .224 batting average, that is about what you expect; it has come with 18 homers through 69 games which is pretty great as that pace would be 42 homers through 162 games (though obviously, Gary Sanchez would never log 162 games played in a season), with him getting a homer roughly every 3 or 4 games he is a pretty decent bet at catcher to get some value, especially in a matchup like today where he is facing Sean Manaea. 

Carter Kieboom, 3B Washington Nationals (DraftKings: $3,100 / FanDuel: $2,900) 

While Carter Kieboom has an 80-grade name, it hasn’t translated into major-league talent as fast as the Washington Nationals had hoped. After struggling with injuries over the past two years and spending most of his time in the minors, he finally gets another shot in the big leagues. In what feels like his last chance to prove himself, Carter Kieboom is delivering so far with 3 homers in his first 6 games. He has quickly provided value to the Nationals lineup and can do the same for our lineups with him hitting well and coming in at a very low price. 

Joc Pederson, OF San Francisco Giants (DraftKings: $4,000 / FanDuel: $2,600) 

Joc Pederson has slashed .438/.526/.813 over the last week, and most surprisingly, that has been with only one homer, which is usually how he does his damage. He has served as a pinch hitter over his last 3 games, but against the righty Pedro Avila, he should be getting the start today, and I like his chances to have a big game in San Diego today in this matchup.

 

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