It's slim pickin's for Thursday's slate of games with five games in the day and six at night. The afternoon has some risky pitcher picks, but the evening has some safer bets for daily fantasy baseball contests.
In the day, Carlos Carrasco and Chris Archer are the two best options. Carrasco is coming off eight shutout innings with 10 Ks against against the Rays, and Archer has a strong history this year against the Blue Jays with three quality starts in his three starts. Also, Patrick Corbin has posted two quality starts and 18 strikeouts in his past two games, and the Astros have been sputtering a bit as a team. Corbin could generate some interest. Lester could dominate, but he's given up eight earned runs in 11.2 innings against the Reds this year.
The evening slate offers more stability in pitching with the dominating Aaron Nola in pitcher-friendly AT&T Park against the offensively challenged Giants. Luis Severino suffered the worst outing of his great season last time out. Playing the Mets, he should rebound. If you want to stack your hitters, salary relief picks include Reynaldo Lopez and Jhoulys Chacin.
MORE DFS: Thursday's Lineup | Lineup Builder
Daily Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Pitchers
| Rank | Pitcher | Team | Opp |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Nola, RHP | PHI | @SF |
| 2 | Luis Severino, RHP | NYY | @NYM |
| 3 | Carlos Carrasco, RHP (G1) | CLE | @MIN |
| 4 | Chris Archer, RHP | TB | @TOR |
| 5 | Jon Lester, LHP | CHC | vs CIN |
| 6 | Jose Berrios, RHP (G2) | MIN | vs CLE |
| 7 | Jhoulys Chacin, RHP | SD | vs WSH |
| 8 | Reynaldo Lopez, RHP | CWS | @TEX |
| 9 | Adam Wainwright, RHP | STL | @PIT |
| 10 | Mike Fiers, RHP | HOU | vs ARI |
| 11 | Jeff Samardzija, RHP | SF | vs PHI |
| 12 | Patrick Corbin, LHP | ARI | at HOU |
| 13 | Tyson Ross, RHP | TEX | vs CWS |
| 14 | Jameson Taillon, RHP | PIT | vs STL |
| 15 | Chris Rowley, RHP | TOR | vs TB |
| 16 | Scott Feldman, RHP | CIN | @CHC |
| 17 | Jeff Hoffman, RHP | COL | vs ATL |
| 18 | Edwin Jackson, RHP | WSH | @SD |
| 19 | Steven Matz, LHP | NYM | vs NYY |
| 20 | Kyle Gibson, RHP (G2) | MIN | vs. CLE |
| 21 | Lucas Sims, RHP | ATL | @COL |
| 22 | Ryan Merritt, LHP (G2) | CLE | at MIN |
Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks: Thursday, August 17
This section is brought to you courtesy of Fantasy Alarm's Daily Fantasy Baseball Playbook. Along with the DFS Playbook, Fantasy Alarm's team of award-winning (and major DFS contest-winning) writers provide all the tools and analysis you need to dominate your DFS contests -- stats, Hitting and Pitching Coaches, Optimal Lineups, Lineup Builder, Ownership Forecaster, and much more. Go pro with Fantasy Alarm and take advantage of all the tools and full analysis.
For tonight, we have only five games on the main slate. On smaller slates, it's best to stick more with GPPs or the pick 'ems on DK. It's crazy to believe the worst team in baseball has the highest-priced pitcher on FD tonight in Aaron Nola. The biggest concern tonight is if the five games turn into only four. The weather looks iffy in Pittsburn currently and is worth monitoring throughout the day. If playing the pick' ems tonight, tier two is horrible pitching-wise, but the hitting tiers leave it wide-open for stacking a few teams. Good luck! -- Ben Scherr
Yahoo! DailyMORE: GO PRO with Fantasy Alarm