Garion Thorne gives his top studs and value plays for tonight’s four-game featured fantasy baseball slate on DraftKings.

I guess a Thursday night MLB DFS slate with only four games is better than the zero games we got last Thursday, right? Right?!?

There’s no way around it. It’s a teeny tiny schedule in the baseball world this evening, but that doesn’t make the $50,000 first place prize that DraftKings is offering in its main contest any less real. Let’s dive into the numbers and come out with some targets for your lineups.

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $175K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]

PITCHER

Value

Luis Severino, Athletics at Houston Astros, $6,000 – I don’t want to make this as simple as the fact that Severino is $1,000 cheaper than any other arm on this slate, but he is, and he probably shouldn’t be. The right-hander has looked good in each of his past two starts and, in general, Severino’s been at his best away from Sutter Health Park in 2025, as he sports a 3.10 ERA when throwing on the road. It can not be overstated how much he hates Sacramento. On top of that, it’s getting harder and harder to fear this Astros lineup. It inexplicably continues to produce, yet with Isaac Paredes (hamstring) now joining the likes of Yordan Alvarez (hand) and Jeremy Pena (rib) on the IL, I have my doubts about the offensive upside of Houston’s bats. At least enough doubt to take a chance on Severino, anyway.

INFIELD

Stud

Nick Kurtz, Athletics at Houston Astros, $4,900 – Kurtz continuing to be priced under $5,000 is an absolute sham, yet it’s a situation where I will continue to reap the benefits. Consider that since hitting his first-career MLB home run back on May 13, Kurtz not only leads the American League in wRC+ (184), but he also leads all qualified players in baseball with a .415 ISO. The rookie’s bat has incredible DFS upside. On Thursday, Kurtz will draw an opposite-hand matchup with Jason Alexander ($7,800), who owns a career 5.92 ERA and has allowed 1.56 long balls per nine. Alexander’s been solid in Triple-A in 2025? I don’t care. Kurtz is the best pick on this whole slate.

Value

Logan O’Hoppe, Los Angeles Angels vs. Seattle Mariners, $3,500 – I like all of the Angels’ bats in this matchup with Logan Evans ($7,000), yet O’Hoppe stands out at his modest price point. It doesn’t hurt that the backstop has been red-hot at the dish, either, slashing .333/.421/.485 with 11 hits and a pair of stolen bases in his last 10 games. Still, the story of this tilt is Evans, who has been painfully bad when pitching away from T-Mobile Park in 2025. Evans has surrendered 2.03 opponent home runs per nine away from Seattle, which has translated into a .410 opponent wOBA and a 5.06 ERA. That’s not ideal.

OUTFIELD

Stud

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels vs. Seattle Mariners, $5,000 – Like I said, I like all the bats in the Angels’ lineup tonight. Trout’s real-life stats have not lined up with his expected numbers so far in 2025, which is a shame, as the one-day Hall of Fame outfielder sits in the 94th percentile of expected wOBA (.393) and the 92nd percentile of barrel rate (15.8%). Really, the only major flaw in Trout’s profile this season has been a 28.0% strikeout rate, yet that red flag is dulled on Thursday with the presence of Evans, who sports an 11th percentile whiff rate (19.5%). Trout has a 98th percentile expected wOBA on batted ball events (.515). When he makes contact, he still looks like an MVP caliber asset. He’ll be making some contact this evening.

Value

Alec Burleson, St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres, $3,800 – Burleson continues to just absolutely destroy right-handed pitching with little to no fanfare. In 273 plate appearances within the split in 2025, Burleson is slashing .310/.365/.498 with a .371 wOBA and a 142 wRC+. Doesn’t really seem like a DFS asset that should be priced this far below $4,000, does he? The RHP in question on Thursday is Yu Darvish ($7,500), making just his fourth start since being activated off the IL. Across his first 13.1 innings of the season, Darvish has struggled to a 6.08 ERA with a putrid 1.14 K/BB ratio. Needless to say, the 38-year-old doesn’t seem quite right.