Below we’ve got a discussion of the starting pitching situation as well as the best teams to use for stacks for Thursday’s 12-game slate on DraftKings. We’ve also got projections derived from Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections, and we have rankings of the top plays at each position.

Pitching Perspective

Here are our projections for today’s starters. You’ll see each starter’s salary, the average number of fantasy points the starter is projected to score per game and how far above or below average his projection is compared to his salary in the value column. As for the colors, they rank as follows from good to bad: purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, burgundy.

You’ve got two options today if you like to spend big on a starter, Max Scherzer ($12,100) and Chris Sale ($11,000). Neither has a great matchup as they’re facing the Cardinals and Royals, neither of which are teams that strikes out all that much. The Royals have also been one of the league’s better offenses so far, and the game is in Chicago, which is one of the more hitter-friendly parks which will see action today. That said, Scherzer is where I’d look if you want to pay up for a pitcher.

I rarely pay up for a starter over 10K and prefer to roster a mid-price option and a cheap starter. But if I do pay for pitching I typically do it in the $7,500-10,000 range. Our model really likes Tyson Ross ($7,600) from that price range today, but the model isn’t factoring in Coors. I do think Ross is an interesting GPP option, but obviously you can’t trust him in cash games. Safer options in that price range are Anibal Sanchez ($8,100) and Michael Wacha ($8,200). Wacha has an excellent mactchup against the Nationals who have the second highest strikeout rate in the league so far and who have been 19 percent worse than league average against right-handed pitching. Sanchez’s matchup with the Yankees is probably just slightly above average.

If you’re looking for salary relief at pitcher, I’d just go almost as cheap as you can go with Jesse Chavez ($4,300). Chavez will face the Angels who are much better aginst left-handed pitching than they are against right-handers like Chavez. Chavez got 21 starts last year and was above average in terms of run prevention and strikeout rate, and his walk rate was very close to average. Those skills are more than good enough at this price point, and the matchup doesn’t scare me off.

Stack Options

There’s a game in Coors today, so we obviously have to start there. As mentioned, I kind of like Tyson Ross as a tournament play, so I’m not all over Rockies. But the Padres have an excellent matchup in that park against Jordan Lyles. Lyles has the lowest projection of any pitcher going today, and he grades out as being tied for the best matchup for right-handed hitters today and the second best matchup for left-handed hitters. If you like the Pads, I’d stack 1-3-4-5 in their lineup, Wil Myers ($4,700, OF), Matt Kemp ($5,900, OF), Justin Upton ($5,200, OF) and Yonder Alonso ($4,300, 1B). I don’t love that requiring all three OF spots, so I might just go 3-4-5.

One of the better matchups for right-handed hitters today belongs to the Cubs against Jeff Locke. Hitting 3-4-5 for the Cubs should be the right-handers in Jorge Soler ($4,500, OF) Kris Bryant ($4,400, 3B) and Starlin Castro ($4,000, SS).

The other potential stack I like is the Orioles in Toronto against Drew Hutchison. It’s a good ballpark for home runs and the long ball has been Hutch’s big issue, so I could see a few O’s going deep. The 3-4-5 in that lineup also makes the most sense: Chris Davis ($4,700, 1B/3B), Adam Jones ($4,800, OF) and Travis Snider ($3,900, OF). Davis and Snider obviously have the platoon advantage and Jones is very much a reverse-splits kind of guy. I also think Jimmy Paredes ($2,000, 3B/OF) makes for an interesting salary relief option to add to that stack if he hits in the two-hole again like he did yesterday.

You can download our hitter projections here. These projections are not matchup adjusted, but each player’s projected wOBA against left and right handed pitching is included to help with matchup decisions. 

Player Rankings

Catcher

1. Yasmani Grandal – $4,000 – Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Jarrod Saltalamacchia – $4,000 – Miami Marlins
3. Russell Martin – $4,300 – Toronto Blue Jays
4. Jonathan Lucroy – $4,200 – Milwaukee Brewers

First Base

1. Freddie Freeman – $4,500 – Atlanta Braves
2. David Ortiz – $4,400 – Boston Red Sox
3. Joey Votto – $4,800 – Cincinnati Reds
4. Yonder Alonso – $4,300 – San Diego Padres

Second Base

1. Howie Kendrick – $4,000 – Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Dustin Pedroia – $3,800 – Boston Red Sox
3. Alberto Callaspo – $2,900 – Atlanta Braves

Third Base

1. Pablo Sandoval – $4,400 – Boston Red Sox
2. Chris Davis – $4,700 – Baltimore Orioles
3. Kris Bryant – $4,400 – Chicago Cubs
4. Jimmy Paredes – $2,000 – Baltimore Orioles

Shortstop

1. Starlin Castro – $4,000 – Chicago Cubs
2. Hanley Ramirez – $4,700 – Boston Red Sox
3. Billy Hamilton – $4,600 – Cincinnati Reds

Outfield

1. Adam Jones – $4,800 – Baltimore Orioles
2. Justin Upton – $5,200 – San Diego Padres
3. Jay Bruce – $4,700 – Cincinnati Reds
4. Jorge Soler – $4,500 – Chicago Cubs
5. Travis Snider – $4,900 – Baltimore Orioles
6. Mike Trout – $5,500 – Los Angeles Angels

Starting Pitcher

1. Max Scherzer – $12,100 – Washington Nationals
2. Michael Wacha – $8,200 – St. Louis Cardinals
3. Anibal Sanchez – $8,100 – Detroit Tigers
4. Jesse Chavez – $4,300 – Oakland Athletics