 It seems like every Thursday throughout this year Major League Baseball Eastern, but the early only slate is actually bigger It is a five game slate. So, you know what that means It is time for a split slate podcast for today here on the solo shot We'll go through the main slate first. We'll jump ahead after that to the early only slate So that if you're listening after 12 35 p.m. Eastern, you can still Listen to the first part of the podcast there But if you are looking right now for the early only slate discussion before 12 35 p.m. Eastern Check out the episode description wherever you get your podcast and jump there right now And then dive on in the rest of the slate welcome on into the solo shot That's right here on the fan dual podcast network and number fire dot com My name is jim sonnis. I am a senior writer and analyst for number fire dot com here to break down both the early only And the main slate over at fan dual dot com the early only again at 12 35 p.m. Eastern the main at 7 10 p.m. Eastern so again if you want to jump ahead check out the description There will be a timestamp there letting you know where to go If you want to get that main or that early only slate discussion We'll dive in the main slate here in just one second But first a quick reminder to make sure you are subscribed to the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed wherever you get Your podcast because we have nascar and usc coming up tomorrow and they'll be every weekday Pga of course with the pga championship is now locked But every week we do the pga podcast still you're on the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed So go search for The number fire daily fantasy podcast feed wherever you get your podcast hit subscribe If you like what you hear leave us a rating and review as well The nba playoffs are heating up and you can make every game feel like game seven on vandal sports book an Official partner of the nba throughout the playoffs all customers can place a no sweat same game parlay each week You'll get up to 20 dollars and free bets if you don't win Fandal has so many ways to play and best of all when you do win You'll get paid faster than a fast break either way You'll get up to 20 dollars and free bets if your same game parlay during the playoffs does not win Fandal sports book an official partner of the nba Must be 21 plus in select states refund issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in seven days after receipt max free bet 20 dollars per week restrictions apply C terms at sportsbook.fandual.com gambling problem call 1 800 gambler who's a fandual.com slash rg In arizona call 100 next step or text next step defy 33 42 in connecticut 1888 789 7777 written cc pg.org slash chat in indiana 109 with it in louisiana 1877 770 stop in new york 18778 hope and why in tennessee call the red line at 1889 and 789 In west virginia 1 800 gambler.net or in wyoming 1805 222 4700 let's take in now to this three game main slate once again lock is at 710 p.m. Eastern the only weather notes for this main slate is that it is colder in boston for the maritas and red socks I would downgrade batters there for that one the pitching preview for this main is slightly as zack gallant checking in At $10,600 from revoltez is $9,700 and george curvy the only other guy above 8,000 He is $8,500 It is pretty obvious to say. I love zack gallant in this spot And it's not just a product of tonight's slate being a shorter one I just think that he is genuinely a fantastic play for dfs gallant is facing the cubs, which is a good matchup for a Righty their active roster has a 27 strikeout rate against righties in 2022 Which is the highest mark on this main slate gallant is also just on an absolute heater to start the year He has made six starts. He has a 2.89 skill interactive era with a 27 strikeout rate And a 31 percent hard hit rate allowed. That's kept his era down at 1.05, which is Basically sigh young level stuff and it's not just the results His his expected era at baseball savant is under two So gallant when you dig in is not getting a ton of whiffs, but that's never really been his game He's a guy who gets a lot of called strikes I think that he will keep up the great stuff He has shown to open the year might not stick at quite this level But he also doesn't need to because I mean even to regress that gallant is going to be very good I've got a projected for 6.9 strikeouts for tonight Nobody else on this main slate is even at higher at five or higher So I think that for this slate you plug in zack gallant and you figure out the rest from there You plug him in you log out figure out the rest in terms of stacking He is definitively the top guy for tonight Now number two in the strikeout projections Is actually frommer valdez and I find that thrilling because I love valdez as a pitcher a real world Major league baseball pitcher But I don't often get to use him in dfs because of the low strikeout rate But I get to using tonight and I'm very on board with doing that in my non gallant line I'm just you as they may be Valdez has some just like sicko level numbers this year his skill interactive era is 3.27 But a 34 hard hit rate and my favorite one he has let up a fly ball 7 percent of the time seven as in seven Seven one single digit seven percent fly ball rate, which is wild He hasn't gotten a lot of strikeouts and those are huge for dfs because they get your points We want points, you know, it's pretty easy helps boost both your floor and your ceiling But I've got valdez projected for hundred pitches which gets him a decent strikeout number just via length and I know the rest of what he does will be good valdez is facing the rangers 22 strikeout rate against leptis not great, but not bad either So i'm very okay with how this slate wound up breaking. I know it's a three game slate But I think this is actually pretty good. I'm still gonna favor gallant by a wide margin But I will take advantage and dabble in valdez when I don't go there I think these two are just rock star level plays and i'm very on board with using both in here But gallant to me is a runaway favorite. I think the top stack here has to be the astros They're facing glenn auto and auto I think is a better picture than his 6.38 e r a and I would expect that to come down But there are legitimate reasons that number is so high Specifically auto is walking a lot of guys right now He's also letting too much hard contact and that's different than the issues He had in the small sample last year six starts last year four in the majors so far this year Because last year's walker is seven percent with a 37 percent heart rate, which means He could get better But we've seen glimpses of these issues from him in the past specifically back in the minors So it's not a huge surprise to see some of those those flaws Crop back up here once again. It's led to a 7.73 expected e r a which is actually higher than his real mark right now Now auto has faced some tough teams But houston is one of the tough teams he faced two runs allowed in four and a third innings Which is not terrible, but they got a 130 w rc plus against righties a 200 iso And both those numbers are far and away the top marks on this main slate It's just a bad situation for auto So I will rank the astros first by a significant margin here And I think that it's it's just pretty obvious why we should want to do so In the small sample auto has really struggled against lefties So we're i'm always high on your don alvarez and cow thucker that I'll be higher on them here That's no change, but we talked to michael brantley earlier on the week how i'm changing my view of him and he's kept up um I guess what I would say is Slowly turning up the knob on his upside I think that it's less appealing with offense getting higher throughout the throughout the league But do still think that brantley is an option to 3000 and the guy I will use within my astro stack Our second stack feels gross, but I do think it's correct That is the arizona diamond backs and it's in part by default because the mariners too many lefties for me to stack Against rich hill. I do like george kirby's talent a lot against the red sox The red sox will be next in this list. So they're third for me, but arizona I like a bit more they're facing marcus strome, which is why this feels gross because I adore marcus strome But he's coming off the covet i help. He's been on it for 11 days Did not make a rehab start so I have no idea what kind of condition he will be in For the start today or how long ago and there were some struggles for strome before his stint on the i l He was letting up a lot of hard contact The ground ball right was down to 46% And his swinging strike rate was 7.3 I would still expect strome to rebound eventually because it's a very good picture But right now he's not the typical mark of strome Arizona is not like a great team, but they're also pretty fun for stacking honestly I dig him a little bit. They got a 182 iso against righties with a 44 fly ball rates I kind of like them It's weird as that may be so the red sox and the right-handed mariners are options But I'd rate arizona a hair higher in this spot And they do have guys individuals who are fun for stacking alex thomas still batting low in the order But he's been awesome since he got called up dalton var show has been Phenomenal all year season long dynasty leagues where he's a catcher eligible sick love it christian walker david peralta They both have fly ball rates of about 47 percent against righties So those four var show thomas walker peralta all really good plays in my mind We'll see if katelle marté can play he's a bit banged up right now, but If he does play I'd be there. He hasn't been great so far this year potentially due to the injuries But if he does play I could be okay with it The problem is it's a hand injury and hand injuries always scare me about it even when they play so I could consider him, but I like those guys all a bit more That wraps up our main slate discussions Let's dive in now to the early only slate if you are listening to this after 12 35 p.m. Eastern. See you tomorrow Check back in there. It is a four or a five game slate for this early only slate Lock is a 12 35 p.m. Eastern for that one and the weather is all good Let's dive in to the pitching preview for the early only slate Chris bassa checks in at $10,400 with you darvish 91 Bruce Zimmerman up to $8,900 deservedly so in jordan montgomery rounds at the top group. He is $8,100 and to me On this early only slate. It is very clear that chris bassett is the top guy in the slate I'd expect montgomery to get a lot of buzz due to the matchup. I like basset a lot more to me personally Bassett checks every box Specifically he checks a strikeout box. He has a 27% strikeout rates so far this year That is the highest on the slate by five and a half percentage points in each guy's most relevant sample And bassett is stretched out. He's gone a hundred plus pitches each of his past two starts That's helped him flash a good amount of upside We've seen bassett get six plus strikeouts and all but one start He has hit eight in three out of seven and the cardinals have been getting better against righties They're wrc pluses up to 107 and they still have just a 19 strikeout rate So it's not a perfect spot by any means. That's why he checks almost every box match up not quite there But to me bassett clearly the top guy I've gotten projected for 6.2 strikeouts. Nobody else here is higher than 5.4 So to me bassett will be the top guy on the early only slate Number two, I'm going to go you darvish. I think that you could push back and say jordan montgomery But montgomery hasn't gone more than 90 pitches yet this year Kind of a lower strikeout guy. The matchup is very good, but I have my concerns. I have concerns about darvish too But I don't put them second anyway The first concern is the matchup because affiliates are a very good team. They have a 110 wrc plus against righties The second concern for darvish is strikeouts. His strikeout rate is 20 for the full season It does go up a hair to 21 percent in his past five starts with this lot of usage being up, but That's a lot high Not getting a lot of whiffs either with an 11 swing and strike rate That's why I still prefer bassett by a wide margin But darvish has still been solid. He's got a low walk rate. He's got solid batted ball data He's had good results and plus unlike montgomery his pitch count is very high So darvish and bassett are the only two guys on the slate I projected to throw more than 90 pitches darvish is at eight at 97 So i'm not high on him I'm just higher on him than others on the slate again I would expect montgomery to be more popular But I mean like you look at his k-prop and it's like absurd for today Relative to what he's done so far this year. So I think he'll be popular I just prefer darvish. So I will put him second here It's big rudging and I think that it's pretty he's pretty far behind bassett, but I will go basset one darvish two As far as stacking goes. I am waiting for the white socks to Snap out of their slump. They're wrc plus against right. He's still just 82 But they got high temperatures for today. It's 85 degrees That's 15 degrees higher than any other game And I think that we can stack the white socks here and should stack the white socks here They're facing carlos rnandez who's had a brutal start to the year with really rough results He also has a 5.9. Oh skill interactive. ERA. So tough peripherals more walks and strikeouts The batted ball data is not terrible But it's also not good enough to overcome the bad in the plate discipline data We've seen her nandez let up multiple runs in every start He let up four plus runs in half of those six starts So I think the white socks are clearly the top option here And I will treat them as such on this slate the one guy who hasn't really been slumping is gavin sheets He has a 46 fly ball right against righties with a 21 strikeout rate. Its iso is there too You do have a glut of guys who kind of are all eligible at the same spot for the white socks, which can Sometimes be a bit annoying, but the good thing is that sheets Um, you know, I think that he separates above yasmani grandal among the catcher slash first baseman type guys I wish they give him outfield eligibility, but I do think that sheets to me is worth it for sure Get Jose a brain in there the fly ball right bit low, but hitting the ball hard. So I think that sheets Probably above grandal for me in that like glut of catcher slash first baseman That's the one issue I have a stack in the white socks. They kind of get a bit annoying there But do you think that they are the top stack on this slate? I think the other side of that game is also very stackable. That's the royals against vince philasquez And I'm going to rank them second right ahead of the mets and the yankees and it's because of vilesquez's continued struggles That he has had He's lagging behind even last year in some key categories where the hard hit rate is up to 46 percent The strikeout rate is down to 20 percent He is walking fewer guys, but that also means he's letting him more balls and play and Those have not gone well for him so far We have seen vilesquez have some good starts, but there have also been some blow-ups in there too He let up seven runs and three home runs last time out He let up five runs and two home runs the twins in late april The royals are not great But I can't get behind them on a short slate So I think they're my number two stack though again the yankees and the mets are very close You can definitely go with the guardians against um, tyler malley He does let up some uh, some fly balls for sure, but prefer these other teams over them on this slate We just have to use the guys at the upside when we are using the royals Make sure you are doing so and that's tougher with no salvador pares right now Bobby witt is legit. So no questions there hunter doger is solid whip marifield. I think we'll trend up in the near future He's also swiping some bags and your bed and tendy is fine I'm also in on mj melendez who should catch with pares being out. So we got guys It's just okay to be selective in which ones you use So dig into the numbers on these royals guys decide which people actually do have upside and Operate once you decide who you want to roll with there I realize I forgot dinger picks for the main slate. Just realizing this live. Okay, so dinger picks For the main slate will go your don alvarez for the boring one And i'm gonna go with alec thomas for the fun one over there dinger picks for the early only slate I'll have to go to the white sock. I definitely have to go there. I'm gonna go with Man, this is tougher than I thought it was going to be I'm gonna go with two fun ones. Let's just go with two fun ones here glade for torrez against bruce zerman I think we'll go dps plus 490 for a dinger over a fan dual sportsbook So torrez is fun one. I'll go with gavin sheets, too. Maybe he's not fun. I think he is personally So we'll go with two fun ones for this one gavin sheets glade for torrez home run calls So that you're only early only slate and for the main slate I'm gonna go with I forgot who I went already your don alvarez and alec thomas your home run calls for today professional podcaster everybody Doing things on the fly here for today. That is all that we have here for this thursday split slate podcast Hopefully a bit more coordinated organized tomorrow For a regular slate that'll be on friday So if you want to get a Better organized podcast or actually remember to the dinger picks hit subscribe on the number fire daily fantasy podcast feed Wherever you get your podcast We have mlb every weekday usc nascar pga weekly hit subscribe get those podcasts right as they are posted Wherever you get your podcasts if you've got questions for me I am on twitter at jim sonnis j i m s a m n e s you can also follow the fan dual podcast network At fan dual podcast big. Thank you to everyone for tuning in for today. Good luck to you on both slays for today We'll talk to you once again on friday for another night of mlb dfs This has been the solo shot right here on the fan dual podcast network