Our pitcher rankings for Thursday's daily fantasy baseball contests don't feature a lot of "true aces", but considering one of today's options is Edinson Volquez, who threw a 10-K no-hitter his last time out, we should be reminded that any of the top 10 or so guys could dial up a big performance.
Lance McCullers is easily the top choice today, but Jon Lester, Johnny Cueto and Michael Pineda also have strikeout-per-inning upside. Mike Leake and Michael Fulmer have been steady all year, and Gerrit Cole was great before a recent slump. Cole and Fulmer have the best matchups of this bunch, but Cueto might have the most boom-or-bust potential given Milwaukee's tendency to swing and miss. Unfortunately, Cueto is one of eight afternoon starters (along with Leake and Fulmer, among others).
David Price is probably the biggest wild card tonight. He hasn't been particularly sharp in his first two starts, but a good strikeout-to-walk ratio suggests he can dominate at any time. A matchup on the road against the Yankees isn't desirable, but Price could easily exceed value today.
MORE DFS: Thursday's lineup | Lineup Builder
Daily Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Pitchers
| Rank | Pitcher | Team | Opp. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lance McCullers Jr., RHP | HOU | at KC |
| 2 | Jon Lester, RHP | CHC | vs. COL |
| 3 | Johnny Cueto, RHP | SF | at MIL |
| 4 | Michael Pineda, RHP | NYY | vs. BOS |
| 5 | Mike Leake, RHP | STL | at CIN |
| 6 | Gerrit Cole, RHP | PIT | vs. MIA |
| 7 | Michael Fulmer, RHP | DET | vs. LAA |
| 8 | Edinson Volquez, RHP | MIA | at PIT |
| 9 | Jake Odorizzi, RHP | TB | vs. CWS |
| 10 | David Price, LHP | BOS | at NYY |
| 11 | Scott Feldman, RHP | CIN | vs. STL |
| 12 | Derek Holland, LHP | CWS | at TB |
| 13 | JC Ramirez, RHP | LAA | at DET |
| 14 | Ben Lively, RHP | PHI | at ATL |
| 15 | Joe Ross, RHP | WAS | vs. BAL |
| 16 | Jason Hammel, RHP | KC | vs. HOU |
| 17 | R.A. Dickey, RHP | ATL | vs. PHI |
| 18 | Clayton Richard, LHP | SD | at ARI |
| 19 | Tyler Chatwood, RHP | COL | at CHC |
| 20 | Christian Bergman, RHP | SEA | vs. MIN |
| 21 | Patrick Corbin, LHP | ARI | vs. SD |
| 22 | Alec Asher, RHP | BAL | at WAS |
| 23 | Paolo Espino, RHP | MIL | vs. SF |
| 24 | Kyle Gibson, RHP | MIN | at SEA |
Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks: Thursday, June 8
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It's another Thursday around MLB and we have a 12-game, all-day slate to bring you up to speed on. We’ll have four early games and eight in the main slate. We’ll sprinkle in a few early options here on the Playbook for you early birds but focus mainly on that main night slate.
One common theme I noticed when doing the pitchers research this time around is that so many of them are coming off of a rough outing. Even Lance McCullers had his first one of the year against the Rangers last time out. Michael Pineda was hit around by the Blue Jays, and Derek Holland was nothing short of a disaster in Detroit. You’ll see all three of those names in the Playbook. One guy that didn’t have a bad outing last time out is Edinson Volquez.
We are going to choose to fade Jon Lester against the Rockies, as there is more of a prolonged slump going on there. He’s walking too many and hasn’t been getting the ground balls at the pace we’ve become accustomed to seeing. Sure, he could return to form and throw a complete game, but against the Rockies, who have some lefty-mashers in their lineup, we’re betting against it. Same with Gerrit Cole. He’s allowed three homers in his past two outings and there is something wrong there. We’re staying away.
For the second straight day, we aren’t seeing anything in the weather forecasts across the home park cities today. Keep an eye on the Weather Center in case anything changes. -- Nick Berns
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