 Early lock time for today in daily fantasy baseball at the main slate locking out 105 p.m. Eastern for today on fan duel But still nine games across this main slate. So a pretty juicy one despite it being an earlier offering We're gonna break down which players to target within that nine game slates my top pitchers Offenses to stack and much more to get you ready for Thursday's day game action. Welcome on into the solo shop That's right here on the fan duel podcast network and number fire calm My name is Jim Sonness. I am a senior writer and analyst for a number fire here to break down this nine a game main slate With locks up for 105 p.m. Eastern for today weather notes on this late There are a couple spots with some rain and thunderstorms in the forecast first one is in Kansas City for the Royals and the Orioles Looks like pretty scattered storms So they should be able to play but it is something to consider for sure similar story of course field For the Rockies and the Brewers again, I think they should be able to play But you'll have to check back on the timeline of that weather later on so be wary of Kansas City and Coors I do still like options in both those games. We'll talk about those later on but Make sure you are checking the weather later on today We'll dig into the pitching preview some stacks and more in just one second But first a reminder to make sure you're subscribed to the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed wherever you get your Podcast we were here every weekday breaking down the MLB DFS slates to UFC with Austin swimming for select slates as well PGA via myself and branding a doula back next Tuesday Make sure you're subscribed there also if you want to watch a video version of the show check us out over on the Fanduil YouTube page the biggest horse race of the year is here And there's no better time to get in on the action on fanduil racing because right now all customers can get a no-sweat Derby bet up to $20 that means to get up to $20 back if your win bet doesn't win the fanduil racing app is super easy to use safe And secure and when you win you get paid fast So don't miss out the derby is coming up this Saturday Just visit racing and dot fanduil dot com for your chance to get a no-sweat derby bet up to $20 on fanduil racing That's racing and dot fanduil dot com age and residency restrictions apply offer valid on first derby win wager refund issued in non with trouble racing site credit that expires on June 12 2023 Restrictions apply see terms at racing dot fanduil dot com gambling problem call 1-800 gambler pitching preview for this Thursday main slate Justin Verlander fresh off the aisle comes in with a salary of $11,500 Pablo Lopez is a 10-7 with George Kirby a 10,000 flat Zac Eflin 97 Grayson Rodriguez 94 we have Haces Lazardo at 92 followed by Vince Velasquez and water Rodriguez Jack Flaherty Lucas Geolito and Griffin canning as the others at $8,000 were hired So a lot of names in that list Verlander coming out the aisle keep that in mind as a downgrade for him And then some weather spots potentially for some of the other guys specifically racing Rodriguez But we're still gonna talk about him later on first though top picture the day is Pablo Lopez 0.00 ERA so far this year, and I think that's masking how filthy he has been I want to take advantage and rank Lopez first here He is based in the White Sox, which is a good matchup for a righty They have an 89 a WRC plus versus righties where they won 37 iso They don't strike out a ton, but they also don't walk much either Even with the results for Lopez being just fine the peripherals are nasty He's up to six starts with his slider this year He has a 3.17 skill interactive. Yeah, Ray strike out right 31% Swinging strike rate at 14.8% all of those numbers are career best marks for Lopez by a wide margin This pitch is working for him Lopez has had six plus strikeouts and all six starts thus far So you may wonder why the results are not as great if the peripherals are so glowing the past two starts For Lopez against bad offenses also have driven up his ERA So I did want to dig into those past two starts and see if it was a concern The velocity is lower than it was to open the year which might be an issue But even in those two starts Lopez still has 13 strikeouts compared to three walks So he could just be in a rut But some of the underlying data says he's just been unlucky as well That's why I'll put Lopez at the top of my list for today It could bite me because maybe this is a bigger thing than I'm giving any credit for but I think I've seen enough in those two starts to still be okay with him and Be willing to ride with Lopez despite a couple rocky starts for today Facing off of the White Sox mention Grayson Rodriguez And we talked about this movie this week where I don't get to talk about prospects in a positive way super often We were on Tanner by B earlier this week, but let's run it back and go to Grayson Rodriguez today Assuming the weather will allow us to check back on the weather because if there is a long rain delay He could get yank that it's always a concern Rodriguez facing the Royals big part of the the reason I like him for tonight or for today Because the Royals offense just hideous right now 67 WRC plus against righties in a 128 iso their plate discipline numbers are pathetic Frankly 25% strikeout rate with a 6% walk rate Giving that to any pitcher is great giving into Rodriguez makes him the number two option for tonight and For Rodriguez the rate stats are really good so far across five starts. He has a 3.51 skill interactive. You're right He has a 32% strikeout rate and he's getting ground balls. So the rate stats very good across the board I'm just not sure how deep he'll get into this game That's not talking about what they're talking about long length for him He has not finished six innings yet and if you want to get a quality star bonus on Fandle, which you should because it's four points That's an extra out plus a strikeout You want to get there and you can't get that without going six innings and Rodriguez has done this this these good rate stats against pretty pathetic offenses So even in good matchups, he hasn't gone six yet He does get a good match began today, but it is a concern. That's why I have Lopez above Rodriguez for tonight I do like Rodriguez plenty again He's number two for me a hair above George Kirby, which might be a mistake But Kirby also has not been going super super deep in games. I have him projected for 90 pitches for today So strikeout projections for Rodriguez 7.35. I have Kirby at 6.11. That's enough where even with the length concerns I'm okay giving Rodriguez the edge of the number two spot So for me, it's Lopez one Rodriguez two and then I'll go George Kirby number three I think the value play is a coin flip here between Lucas G. Alito and Jack Flaherty. Both these guys are fine Both have strikeout projections right at six. I'm gonna go Flaherty His win odds are a bit higher that can work as a tiebreaker here And I think the more recent changes for Flaherty at bed pretty good He's facing the angels today, they are not as lethal of an offense against righties as they are against lefties Which makes sense, you know outside of Shohei Otani. They are a pretty righty heavy lineup WRC plus to them against righties is one or two with a 23% strikeout rate Flaherty has had some big issues this year primarily. He's been walking too many guys He's a 15% walk rate overall Seven which came in his first start now after that first start He decided to throw more cutters and he did still walk six guys his next time out But the past four stars have been much better No more than three walks in that four-star sample along with plenty of strikeouts Flaherty in that four-star sample six plus strikeouts three of the past four He had nine and one and that game was on the road. He is at home here The walks definitely could kill him, which is why I'm not, you know Champing at the bit to get him in there But I think he has a path a pretty obvious path to a good game I don't want to take that here for 85 So if you like Lucas G. Alina would not talk you off of him Think he definitely does make sense, but I'm gonna give the edge to Flaherty I think he's just the better option between the two guys four to night So pitchers I like here or for today. I should say I like Lopez one Rodriguez two George Kirby three and then top value. It's going to be Jack Flaherty by a hair over Lucas G. Alina Let's dig into the stacks here I know you're probably sick of me talking about the Brewers and having them flop at Coorsfield, but If the weather allows us to I think we should go back there one more time Maybe we should pray for thunderstorms to keep us off of them, but I do think it's a good spot So despite what's happened the first two games. I'm going back there once again Brewers are facing Connor Siebold I think again, that's probably a fine matchup Siebold transitioning from the bullpen into the rotation And he doesn't profile like a guy we need to fear as a starter This year in the bullpen Siebold has a 9.4 percent swing in strike rate Didn't get many ground balls and now he's gonna be asked to go deeper in games Which makes your stuff less potent across the board We did see Siebold in the rotation last year He made five starts and he led up a 49 percent fly ball rate His strikeout rate was just 19 percent which led to an 11.29 e-array and a 4.63 skill interactive e-array I don't think it'll be quite that bad But our data in the big leagues on Siebold says we can stack against him at Coorsfield So despite what has happened so far with the Brewers I think we should go back there one more time for tonight And they have a much better against righties than lefties this year with a 104 WRC plus 155 ISO and a lot of walks so broadly It's a good thing that Siebold is righty And I think part of the reason they've been good against righties that some of their right-handed batters have hit well against righties Brian Anderson didn't play last night Doesn't seem like that's an injury related thing if he's back in there is overall numbers versus righties here pretty good He has a 203 ISO His barrel rate overall is 14 percent, which I didn't really expect out of Brian Anderson this year Even without it being a lefty I think Anderson worth it with the salary at 63 again checked that he's playing so he did not play last night despite it being a lefty But if Anderson is in there, I think he makes a lot of sense They're probably not gonna have William Contreras today that does downgrade them because he is a very good hitter but Again do something the Brewers worth it for today the Cubs facing Patrick Corbin And I think we know what to do there where the Cubs are a great option for stacking For today and you do kind of feel bad for Corbin because it's not like he's asking to get rocked And I do respect that he's going out there. He's still trying. He's still working deep in games It's just not working out right now This year Corbin is using more sinkers And that's likely a good thing based on his batted ball issues and it has increased his ground ball right to 47% It just hasn't that at all his era is 5.74 his expected era is even higher at 6.92 And the reason that those numbers are pretty poor is because he has a 14% strikeout right paired with a 44% hard hit rate He's facing really tough teams in this time in his defense But the Cubs are despite last night a tough team as well. They have a 132 WRC plus against lefties across a small sample That will not stay that high But given the number of good righties in this lineup I would not be shocked that they do want it being a plus team against lefties as the sample expands to So I think we just keep on stacking against Corbin until he gives us a reason not to the one downside with the Cubs is that We know everyone will go here people adore stacking against Patrick Corbin So if you want to stack the Cubs, you got to think a bit try to be a bit different when doing so I think that one way you could do so is using a guy who is Suboptimally you compare his spot in the batting order to his salary. That's Nelson Velazquez Who is probably gonna bat 8th 7th 8th 9th somewhere in there his salary is $3,000 You you know don't really often use guys that low in the order with a salary that high But against lefties since the start of last year to 59 ISO for Velazquez He did leave in the fifth inning of his most recent start. So there is some pinch hit risk here But he has finished all the other gains. He has started this year So there is risk and it's being different for a reason But I need to find ways to make my rosters different than those who are going with the Cub stacks for today So say it's a Zuki the obvious one I like him a lot of 28 But I want to go Velazquez as well to get myself a differentiated piece within my Cub stacks for tonight We're stick with the Velazquez is here and talk about Vince Velazquez And he is a guy who has beaten my expectations by a pretty wide margin so far this year So cap tip to or cap tip to Vince Velazquez I have unsuccessfully stacked against him several times and is he already three point oh six Tonight or today Velazquez is facing the race. I think that'll be a good test of how legit he is I do think that a lot of what Velazquez has done is probably pretty sticky He's getting strikeouts, you know at a decent clip. His hard hit rate is down to 34%. That's good His previous low since 2018 in that department is thirty nine point eight percent He's been above 40% in three of those five years. It's just not letting up many barrels The ball is still in the air, but it's not as dangerous as it typically has been against Velazquez The big problem though for Velazquez and if we're trying to pitch ourselves on this being sustainable Is that it's coming against pretty poor offenses? He's faced the Nationals face the Rockies they face the White Sox and he faced the Reds twice The one tough matchup for Velazquez was against the Cardinals and he was great in that game with six shutout innings, but Here come the race 146 WRC plus against righties to 46 ISO. They have been absurd so far So it's possible Velazquez has turned a corner We'll just get a more definitive answer today as he faces a very very tough team So I respect what Velazquez has done. Don't think it's entirely fluke But in this specific matchup, I am still on board with stacking against him I do want to favor the lefties here The rays have just three who are locked to be in there, but they're all definitely fine They're one to Franco Brandon Lau and Josh Lowe I am curious that the rays react to the platoon splits here for Velazquez and get in Taylor walls or Luke Rayleigh now Wall salary is not low. It is very high for some reason. I know he's been good so far this year But it's it's up there Rayleigh salary is 31. I think he's a pretty big pinch hit risk Walls is less. So so I check out the lineup for lefties and switch hitters and I give them a bump I'm going to take a leap with most of them Rayleigh is the one exception there It is tough to stack them if you go with Lopez with his salary being where it is I think if they're a bit easier to get to his Rodriguez or with Jack Flaherty So they might not be super doable with our top couple pitchers But they should be at least a consideration for you, especially if we get some lower salaried switch hitters or lefties in the lineup Things to watch forward to today. I typically would be down for Jameson Tyone against the nationals But I don't think he'll go very long in this game He's coming off the il with a groin issue It sounded earlier this week is if he wouldn't make this start He had a 25 pitch bullpen session, but that was his only ramp up So I have Tyone projected for 60 pitches. I think that's more likely to be too high than too low So he's out of consideration for today Just worried about pitch counting. I think that's enough to be lower on him against the nats for today I just made him from our player pool The Rockies are facing Wade Miley of course field and I kind of like Miley He held the angels in check last week and they crushed lefties the Rockies don't So you can justify going here for sure because Wade Miley is not an ace It's of course field. They might not be super popular, but I respect Miley enough to lower the Rockies for today Finally, I will get the Orioles to swing weather permitting here facing Jordan Lyles who has a 5.41 skill interactive eray this year He lets up tons of flawed balls in enough hard contact So he can have really nice starts where he kind of goes off But the Orioles are a tough test So there's enough here for me to use the Orioles at times again assuming We get the all clear on the weather in Kansas City for today Dinger calls for this day game slate the boring one rowdy-tiles. We're out at Coors field basing a righty Kind of just going to go that way. So rowdy-tiles the boring home run call for today The fun one. I will stick with Nelson Velazquez again This one's mostly fun because he's batting lower in the order Which means probably not going to see a ton of popularity for today I think that's enough to make him pretty attractive. So home run calls rowdy-tiles and Nelson Velazquez That is all that we have here for today on this Thursday made slate once again Do not forget that lock is early 105 p.m. Eastern Go get those lineups in before lock and make sure you are all edited up before 105 p.m If you have done dummy lineups in there for right now Do not forget to subscribe to the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed wherever you get your podcast And if you like what you hear give us a thumbs up over on youtube or give us a five start rating over on apple podcast I am on twitter at jim sonnis j i m s a n n e s You can also follow the fan dual podcast network at fan dual podcast want to thank you all for tuning in for today Good luck to you with your mlb dfs lineups. We'll talk to you once again tomorrow to break down friday slate This has been the solo shot right here on the fan dual podcast network