The good news is that Thursday's slate has a number of strong starting pitchers to pitch from including Luis Severino, Aaron Nola, Jeff Samardzija, and Jon Lester. However, it makes up for the abundance of pitching by lacking desirable options in the mid-tier of player pricing. Given that, tonight is a night where I'll be looking to string together a few mini stacks against some of the more vulnerable pitching matchups.

In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy baseball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 8/17/17. The lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to hit me up on Twitter @DanMarcus3.

DFS Starting Pitchers to Consider

Luis Severino, NYY @ NYM (DK - $12,500, FD - $9,400)

Severino hit a bump in the road in his last outing, but it’s difficult to hold that against him. He continues to rack up strikeouts while also doing a good job limiting home runs and walks. The Mets haven’t been an easy matchup against right-handers as they do a good job limiting strikeouts and have posted a 101 wRC+ on the season. However, with key bats like Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda, and Neil Walker, their strikeout rate has risen to 24.4% over the past 30 days, a rate which only the White Sox, Rays, Diamondbacks, and White Sox have surpassed. That said, Severino has a nice combination of skill and matchup for Thursday’s slate.

Jeff Samardzija, SFG vs PHI (DK - $9,300, FD - $8,900)

The Phillies have been a surprising offense of late thanks to the boost from Nick Williams, Rhys Hoskins, and Odubel Herrera as they have a 101 wRC+ in the past 30 days and have a moderate 21.6% strikeout rate. However, Herrera may still be out of the lineup with a hamstring injury which would help thin out their lineup even more. The other pitchers on the slate are either uninspiring or priced too highly to consider, so Samardzija becomes a default choice.   8

DFS Infielders to Consider

Gary Sanchez - C, NYY @ NYM (DK - $5,400, FD - $4,100)

Many of Steven Matz’s peripheral numbers have actually been better against right-handed hitters than left. However, there is no debate when chasing home runs, as he has allowed 2.01 HR/9 to right-handed hitters. Sanchez doesn’t carry significant splits by handedness but he has been on a tear since the All-Star break, slugging .587 and hitting eight home runs in 104 at-bats. He’s in a prime position to improve those numbers Thursday, making it worth paying up for him at catcher.

Josh Bell - 1B, PIT vs STL (DK - $4,500, FD - $3,300)

Adam Wainwright is a vulnerable pitcher. He survived a start in Atlanta with zero runs allowed, however, he walked three and struck out zero batters in five innings. Runs are there to be had against him and he is most vulnerable against lefties. That’s where Josh Bell enters the picture as he has a solid .489 slugging percentage against righties on the season and has an .867 slugging percentage over the past week.

Daniel Murphy - 2B, WAS @ SDP (DK - $5,300, FD - $3,300)

Murphy is nearly a must-play on FanDuel. While that isn’t the case on DK due to his cost, he should still be in strong consideration. Though Jhoulys Chacin is known mostly for his home/road splits, his splits versus lefties is worth noting as well. He has a 5.17 xFIP against lefties on the season and allows 1.54 HR/9 to them. Given that, it’s a good day to play Murphy, especially on FanDuel where his price is startlingly low.

Jake Lamb - 3B, ARI @ HOU (DK - $4,400, FD - $3,600)

Mike Fiers is back to his well-known form of allowing a home run to every other batter he faces, as he has allowed six home runs in 16.1 innings pitched in August. Thus, in this case it’s time to throw splits out and just pick the hitters most likely to go deep. Lamb is always among the leaders in that category.

Tim Anderson - SS, CHW @ TEX (DK - $3,700, FD - $3,400)

The player pool at shortstop is putrid on Thursday’s slate so playing a hot hand in a solid matchup is the best way to go. Unlike most cases, Anderson’s value is on DK Thursday, so it’s certainly worth trying to ride his recent five home run in 10 game tear.

DFS Outfielders to Consider

Jose Pirela - OF, SDP vs WAS (DK - $3,000, FD - $2,900)

It’s not often that the Padres are highlighted as a team to closely comb over for DFS or season-long fantasy but a matchup against Edwin Jackson is always worth considering. Pirela quietly has a .545 slugging percentage since the All-Star Break, which is aided by four August home runs. His price hasn’t caught up to his hot streak yet, so he is a nice salary relief play on Thursday.

Adam Lind - OF, WAS @ SDP (DK - $3,500, FD - $2,400)

Chacin’s struggles against lefties have already been highlighted which puts Adam Lind in a great spot on Thursday as another potential source of salary relief. Check the lineups on this one to be sure Lind is starting, but if he is he is a great place to turn on Thursday.

Adam Frazier - OF, PIT vs STL (DK - $3,700, FD - $2,800)

Frazier is a cost-effective option on a slate that is lacking obvious plays in the mid-tiers. Wainwright is vulnerable, especially against lefties, which makes Frazier a reasonable player to turn to in an effort to save some cap space.

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