- Jordan Hicks (rostered in 7% of ESPN leagues) has slowly been ramping up since joining the St. Louis Cardinals rotation. In his last start against the San Francisco Giants, he tossed a season-high 4⅓ innings, throwing 68 pitches. The control (5.4 BB/9) has been lacking, but Hicks is averaging 99 mph on his sinker and is getting tons of whiffs (57.7%) with his slider, so it's easy to see the appeal here. The hope is that the flame-throwing righty can go at least five frames in Thursday's outing against a Baltimore Orioles lineup that's been below-average offensively, striking out 24.6% of the time with a bottom-five ISO (.113).
- Josh Winder (21%) has made a strong impression since entering the starting rotation, spinning 12 scoreless innings while fanning 15 and handing out only one free pass. The 25-year-old features a four-pitch mix but relies heavily on his four-seamer and a swing-and-miss slider, which has helped him generate a 12.9% swinging-strike rate (top-10 in the American League). You'll want to be careful using Winder on Thursday against the Houston Astros, but you may want to go ahead and stash him in deeper formats.
- It's been a rough go for Joan Adon, who has been blasted for a 6.99 ERA over six starts. Things won't get any easier for the 23-year-old on Thursday, when he matches up with the New York Mets, the second-best offense (125 wRC+) against right-handed pitching. While the Mets bats make for an intriguing DFS stack, Dominic Smith (2%) is an under-the-radar bat to consider. He's hitting just .204/.290/.259 on the season, but his 50% hard-hit rate may portend better times ahead.
- The New York Yankees have opted to promote Luis Gil for Thursday's matchup versus the Chicago White Sox. There's certainly some optimism surrounding the 23-year-old, who posted a 3.07 ERA and a 11.7 K/9 over six big-league starts in 2021, but it might be best to take a wait-and-see approach here. Despite a 13.2 K/9 rate at Triple-A, he owns a 6.4 walk rate and a bloated 9.53 ERA through five outings. Put the young right-hander on your watch list, but there's little reason to trust him right now.
- JT Brubaker may hold a 5.68 ERA on the year, but that doesn't tell the whole story. The right-hander has a career-best 10.7 K/9, and his 3.45 xERA suggests he's had some misfortune and deserves better. What's most important is that, on Thursday, Brubaker draws a tasty matchup against the Cincinnati Reds, who sport an MLB-worst 77 wRC+ this season. He actually faced the Reds in his last start, too, and he delivered five innings of two-run ball with nine strikeouts. On this shortened slate, Brubaker is a worthy streaming option
What you need to know for Thursday
- Thread starter biggins
- Start date
J LeMahieu and Marwin Gonzalez will serve as the Yankees' middle infielders in the series opener while both Torres and Isiah Kiner-Falefa get the evening off. Torres manned the keystone for each of the past five games, going 4-for-18 with a pair of home runs and six RBI over that stretch
