Zach Thompson gives his top studs and value plays for today’s fantasy baseball slate on DraftKings, which starts at 7:35 p.m. ET.

Major League Baseball has several afternoon and early evening games this Wednesday, but there are still a solid eight games on the main DFS fantasy baseball slate, which gets underway at 7:35 p.m. ET. It’s a compressed schedule with all the first pitches scheduled for within about an hour of the contest lock. With 16 teams in the player pool, there are several strong plays from a variety of price points, so let’s dive in and take a look at my top MLB DFS picks from Wednesday’s slate.

The slate could be a tricky one from a weather perspective since potential rain is in the forecast for Tampa Bay, Chicago, Kansas City, and St. Louis. Chicago could be the spot in the most trouble, but overall, the chances of postponement are minimal, although an untimely delay could mess up starting pitchers in any of those locations. Be sure to check the updated forecast and starting lineups for any updates before game time and adjust accordingly.

Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB $150K Bat Flip [$25K to 1st]!

PITCHERS

Stud

Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves, $8,500: Be sure to double-check the forecast in Chicago before locking in Horton, but if the weather is not going to interrupt his outing, he could end up being a great option to build around. The 24-year-old righty has been very solid since his promotion, going 9-4 with a 2.92 ERA and 3.80 FIP and picking up 81 strikeouts in 98 2/3 innings. While those strikeout numbers are a little low for a stud starting pitcher, he does come at a mid-range salary, and he has been effective enough lately to still offer strong upside.

In his last eight outings, Horton has allowed a total of just four runs, posting an outstanding ERA of 0.86 to go with a 2.94 FIP and 38 strikeouts in 42 innings. He has given up zero or one run in all but one of those starts, and that was his last outing, which came at Coors Field. Since he’ll be out of elevation for this home matchup against the Braves, he should be able to get back to his dominant level. Before that game at Coors, he had over 27 fantasy points in three of four starts and over 18 fantasy points in five of his last six.

The Braves do have some solid bats in their lineup, but they have struggled on the road all year with a .238 road batting average that ranks in the bottom 10 in the majors. They scored nine runs in the first two games of this series, but the Cubs are going for the sweep when they give the ball to Horton on Wednesday. He’s my top pitching option in my MLB DFS Picks if the weather cooperates

Value

Ryan Bergert, Kansas City Royals vs. Los Angeles Angels, $7,500: Bergert has been a very nice pickup for the Royals since he joined the team at the MLB trade deadline, and he has a good matchup at home against the Angels on Wednesday. The Angels still have the highest K% in the majors this year and are hitting .229 as a team. Over the last 30 days, the have an MLB-leading 28.5% K% and are hitting only .213.

Bergert was a little snake-bitten and didn’t get a win in his first four starts with the Royals, even though he allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of those outings. He finally got his first win in blue against the White Sox in his last outing by going six strong innings with just one run allowed. In his five starts since the trade, he’s 1-1 with a 2.54 ERA and 4.05 FIP. Like Horton, he’s not a strikeout master, but he does have 25 punchouts in 28 1/3 innings with the Royals, which is enough to give him a good ceiling if he limits damage as he has lately.

INFIELD

Stud

Rafael Devers, San Francisco Giants at Colorado Rockies, $5,700: Devers sparked a first-inning brawl with his two-run blast off Kyle Freeland on Tuesday night but was not one of the ejections. In fact, he moved to third base for the first time this season after Matt Chapman was ejected and finished the night 1-for-5 with 16 fantasy points. While the drama gets the attention, don’t overlook how hot Devers has been over the last week.

In his last eight games, Devers is 14-for-32 (.438) with two doubles five homers, 12 runs scored, and 13 RBI. He has averaged 17.6 fantasy points over that span and should be in a good spot again at Coors Field on Wednesday against German Marquez ($5,000), who has posted a 6.14 ERA and 4.87 FIP in his 21 starts this season, while lefties have a .395 wOBA against him overall and a .437 wOBA against him at Coors Field.

Stud

Colson Montgomery, Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins, $4,200: Montgomery is a strong option at shortstop with a mid-range salary but good upside against Zebby Matthews ($8,200) and the Twins. Montgomery has hit safely in eight of his last nine games while going 11-for-40 (.275) with six homers in those nine contests and an average of 13.7 fantasy points per game.

He has four homers in five games this year against the Twins, and Matthews has allowed nine homers in his 12 starts this year with a 5.06 ERA overall and a .369 wOBA against lefties like Montgomery.

Value

Royce Lewis, Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago White Sox, $3,000: On the other side of that AL Central matchup, Lewis has been heating up for the Twins. While their lineup was wiped out by multiple trades at the deadline, Lewis has started to find a good rhythm the last few weeks and seems to be getting close to realizing all the potential he flashed before multiple injuries.

In his last 12 games, he’s hitting .261 with four homers, 11 RBI and a pair of stolen bases for 9.7 fantasy points per game. He’s still extremely affordable since he was hitting only .224 with six homers and a .284 wOBA in his previous 70 games before his recent surge. At just $3,000, though, he brings lots of potential upside as his Twins take on Yoendrys Gomes ($6,700) on Wednesday.

OUTFIELD

Stud

Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners at Tampa Bay Rays, $5,300: The Mariners dropped the first two games of their series in Tampa and are just 1-4 on their current road trip, leaving them just 1.5 games ahead of the Rangers in the Wild Card race. Rodriguez has been doing his part, with double-digit fantasy points in five of his last seven contests. He has hit safely in eight of his last nine, going 12-for-35 (.343) with a pair of homers and a stolen base.

Rodriguez has been a strong contributor, hitting over .300 with 15 homers in his last 45 games since just before the All-Star break. He continues his pattern of starting slow and coming on strong in the second half, and the Mariners will need him to continue his surge as they try to lock up a spot in the postseason.

Stud

Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros vs. New York Yankees, $4,500: Alvarez is still available at a discount after he missed so much time with a hand injury earlier this season. The big lefty is hitting only .229 with ofur homers and a .304 wOBA on the season, but he’s healthy and seems close to finding a rhythm.

He returned from his almost three-month absence last week and has picked up five hits in his last three games against the Angels. He sat on Tuesday since the Astros are carefully ramping him back up, but he should be back in the lineup on Wednesday against Will Warren ($8,000). Lefties like Yordan have hit 11 of his 16 homers allowed this year and have a .351 wOBA against him, compared to just a .278 wOBA for righties. Alvarez may not be back to full strength just yet, but getting him at this salary brings a ton of upside as the Astros try to bounce back from Tuesday’s rough 7-1 defeat.

Value

Drew Gilbert, San Francisco Giants at Colorado Rockies, $3,200: Let’s go back to Coors Field to close out our MLB DFS picks for this Wednesday. Gilbert is a very affordable way to get some exposure to the Giants at Coors, and the 24-year-old rookie has shown some solid potential since joining the Giants just under a month ago.

Gilbert had multiple hits in each of his last three starts, posting 16, 26, and 29 fantasy points. He hit his second homer of the season on Monday before being left out of the lineup on Tuesday against the lefty Freeland. With the righty Marquez on the bump this Wednesday, Gilbert should be back in the batting order. Before his call-up, ht hit .262 with 14 homers, six stolen bases, and a .375 wOBA in 93 games in the minors, so there definitely is some power potential in the prospect, who joined the Giants as part of the trade that sent Tyler Rogers to the Mets. He’s not an elite prospect, but he does bring good upside at this value salary if he’s back in the lineup at Coors Field this Wednesday.