There are only four Major League Baseball games on Thursday's afternoon schedule. Short schedules are ideal for stacking your DraftKings lineup with position players from one team.
This time around, the Chicago Cubs are the team to lean on—hard.
Bleed Cubbie Blue—At Least for Day
The Cubs are among the hottest teams in the majors. They have scored 38 runs in the last seven games.
Chicago will be facing the Milwaukee Brewers and rookie pitcher Tyler Cravy at Wrigley Field. Cravy has struggled in his last two starts. He's allowed 10 earned runs over that time while pitching just 10 innings. Cravy has just seven strikeouts and three walks with two home runs in that time as well. Perhaps worst of all for Cravy, opponents are hitting .303 against him.
The Cubs come in with multiple players swinging the bat well. Kris Bryant ($4,700) is on a nine-game hitting streak. He homered Wednesday night and is hitting .280 at home, with 13 of his 16 home runs coming at Wrigley.
Anthony Rizzo ($5,300) has cooled off a bit from the tear he was on a couple of weeks ago, but he's still a problem for Cravy. Rizzo is hitting .351 in his last 11 games.
Jorge Soler ($3,700) is also swinging the bat well. He had his 10-game hitting streak snapped Wednesday, but he has raised his batting average by seven points since July 30.
We threw in Miguel Montero ($2,800) (walk-off home run Wednesday) Addison Russell ($3,200) (hit safely in 19 of his last 25 games) and Chris Coghlan ($3,200) as low-cost options who are also in line to put up numbers against Cravy.
One More Cub for the Road
Jon Lester ($10,800) had a rough start to the season, but few pitchers have been more consistent over the last month. In his last 10 starts, Lester has allowed more than two runs just once. In that time, he has averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game and just 1.4 walks.
In his only previous start against the Brewers, Lester went seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits. Lester isn't the only Cubs pitcher the Brewers have struggled against.
In the last six games against Chicago, the Brewers scored just 13 runs. Milwaukee lost all those games.
Lester should get the run support to feel comfortable on the mound. With a strong performance from the pitcher and the lineup, the Cubs should cruise to a win Thursday.
Jose Bautista is a Must-Have
He's not a Cub, but you have to draft Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista ($5,600) on Thursday. He's on an eight-game hitting streak after going 2-for-4 on Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics. Bautista has homered four times during the streak.
To add to Bautista's draft appeal, he has hammered the A's scheduled starter for the day. Sonny Gray is undoubtedly one of the game's best young pitchers, but Bautista is hitting .500 against Gray in 10 at-bats.
One of his five hits was a home run. The Blue Jays are red-hot. Toronto is the only team in the majors hotter than the Cubs right now, having won 10 in a row. Bautista is more than pulling his weight of late.
One More Jay
Mark Buehrle ($7,600) hasn't been great this season or even in his last three starts, but he'll almost always give you innings.
Only four of Buehrle's starts this season have been shorter than six innings. In his only start against the A's this season, Buehrle pitched seven innings, allowing one run and no walks but just three strikeouts.
The performance was good for just 19 fantasy points, but that should be all you need if the Cubs hitters, Lester and Bautista do their jobs.
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