We don’t like to discuss this too much, but Andy Behrens scores a bonus for every deGrom and Burns endorsement. Dalton Del Don? On the Kershaw and Bumgarner plan. Brandon Funston gets a bump for Pearl Jam and Top Jimmy references, while Brad Evans simply gets paid by word and inflection.

My speed-dial guy is Houston’s lefty ace, who conveniently is pitching on my current Dime Day. Hello again, old friend. We’re signing you to another 24-hour contact.

Check the lineups, cruise the weather, build your team.

Players to Buy 

Dallas Keuchel, SP, vs. BAL (Chen), $9800 on Fan Duel: He’s no longer a cheap pitching option, though you do save $900 versus the Matt Harvey price. I also prefer Keuchel to Jake Arrieta on this card (long-view, I love both pitchers) because Houston doesn’t have any weather concerns for Thursday. Keuchel is the biggest Vegas favorite on the card (-160 or so) and the Orioles are a modest 20th in wOBA against left-handed pitching. What Keuchel gives up in strikeout upside he partially gains back in innings floor, and he's been especially untouchable at home this year. Just push play.

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Chris Carter, OF, vs. BAL (Chen), $3000: His seasonal starts don’t look like much yet, but that obscures a tasty 21-game tear he’s been on (.299/.402/.567). Carter went deep twice Wednesday, and like most power hackers, he often gets the taters in bunches. For a mere 3K, I’ll toss a coin into the fountain. (No, I’m not going to write up the Jose Altuve recommendation. You can get there on your own.)

Wilmer Flores, SS, at ARI (Hellickson), $2400: He’s seeing the ball well at the moment, hitting .333 over the last 21 at-bats, with just three strikeouts. You don’t care about hot-hand theory, you say? That fine, but there are some eggheads who disagree with you. Flores has also been promoted in the lineup recently. Flintstone approved.

Adam LaRoche, 1B, at TEX (Gallardo), $2800: LaRoche hates April more than a college basketball zealot, so it was no surprise when he slashed .191/.286/.353 in his first White Sox month. Since then he has an .849 OPS. I’ve stacked against Yo Gabba Gabba a few times this year, with lukewarm results, but it’s worth noting LaRoche has strong trends in the matchup (11-for-20, two homers, .667 slugging).

Brandon Moss, OF, at KC (Young), $3700: The tag might seem a little pricy for someone lacking star power, but Moss is on a tidy binge (1.071 OPS over 11 games) and he’s up against a fly-ball pitcher. Not everyone wants to buy into batter-versus-pitcher data, but I like seeing that Moss has three homers in 14 career at-bats against Chris Young.

Jose Iglesias, SS, vs. OAK (Hahn), $2200: Jesse Hahn had a bagel parade at Detroit’s expense two starts ago, but he hasn’t been sharp in his road turns this year (5.40 ERA, 1.48 WHIP). We think of Iglesias as a good-glove, no-hit type of player, but he’s quietly working on a .328 average with seven steals. More importantly, he’s slotted second in the Thursday lineup, in front of the big-name Tigers. If you want to punt the position and spend your money elsewhere, Iglesias is a logical option.

Billy Burns, OF, at DET (Greene), $3300: Behrens would have wanted it that way. If it’s not broken, let’s not fix it. Burns has all sorts of crooked DFS numbers over his recent game logs, and it’s pretty easy Hitting Greene this year.  Until the Burns price completely corrects, he’s a fun ticket.

Kyle Seager, 3B, vs. TB (Ramirez), $3400: I’m pretty sure Erasmo Ramirez is Spanish for “take me deep.” It hasn’t shown up this year, but Seager’s career shows a 119-point OPS jump when he’s facing a right-hander.

David Ortiz, 1B, vs. MIN (Milone), $2500: Yeah, this chap again. It’s been a slog of a season, but he does have three career homers against Mayday Milone over just seven at-bats. Milone is actually a reverse-platoon guy, doing slightly worse against lefty bats. I know he’s been terrific in Triple-A this year (0.70 ERA, 3 BB, 47 K), but the cheap Ortiz price is nonetheless tantalizing.

The Regretful Fade 

Joc Pederson, OF, vs. STL (Wacha), $4000: The Dodgers are back in L.A. after a carnival set at Coors Field (29 runs in four games, and a bunch of homers). I worry about a short hangover effect, back at sea level and up against a pitcher you actually have to respect. In particular, Michael Wacha is one of the hardest pitchers to take out of the park (6.7 HR/FB for his career). Pederson’s on a ballistic run and I won’t blame you for any lofty rank you bestow on him in the big picture. In this one specific and limited window, I’ll look elsewhere.

Tomorrow's News Today

The easiest pitcher to run on this year, by far, is Tyson Ross of the Padres (Jon Lester, he of the pickoff yips, is a distant second). With that in mind, get your Redlegs ready for Friday night. Rabbits, run.

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