Thursday's main slate comes in at just five games, but we actually have a rather deep pitching pool, leaving the stacks cupboard a little more bare than usual.

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Let's check out the top options on today's main slate.

Pitching Breakdown

Gerrit Cole ($11,600) has scored 50 or more FanDuel points in three of five starts, and he's a top option despite the slate-high salary. While he's gotten a little lucky with a .224 BABIP and no home runs allowed, his 3.54 SIERA, 29.3% strikeout rate, and 8.1% walk rate aren't too far off what we've come to expect.

The Rangers' active roster has been tough on right-handers this season, but if we expand out to include 2022, they have a 96 wRC+ and 24.0% strikeout rate in the split. Their implied team total is the second-lowest on the board (3.36), and Cole is projected for the highest point total in numberFire's model.

On the other hand, although Shane McClanahan ($11,300) hasn't hit 50 FanDuel points in any of his five starts, he's been remarkably consistent, scoring 40 or more in all of them. The left-hander has been a tad wild compared to what we've come to expect (10.5% walk rate), but the punchouts have been there (32.5% strikeout rate), and he's still getting a fair number of grounders (47.7% ground-ball rate).

McClanahan has a tougher matchup against the righty-heavy White Sox, but that shouldn't hinder his upside, as he has a 31.6% strikeout rate versus right-handed batters going back to last season. Chicago also has a slate-low 3.21 implied team total. McClanahan is an easy alternative to Cole.

Dylan Cease ($9,900) has to tangle with a pesky Rays team for the second straight start, but his salary comes at a nice discount compared to the previous two. Really, his 2023 numbers aren't that far off from McClanahan, as he's sporting a 3.93 SIERA, 28.6% strikeout rate, and 10.9% walk rate. However, in Cease's case, those free passes are more likely to stick given his 10.6% career walk rate.

It's no secret that Tampa Bay has been one of the hottest teams to begin the year, and a repeat matchup certainly doesn't benefit Cease, either. That said, the Rays were closer to a neutral matchup against righties in 2022, so their bats might be playing a bit over their heads, and their 3.79 implied team total is a fairly low one. Cease also has one of the best workloads available to us; he went a season-high 113 pitches two starts ago.

We don't necessarily need to stick with this trio at pitcher because we can also make a case for all of Kyle Gibson ($10,200), Tyler Mahle ($8,800), Andrew Heaney ($8,500), and Joey Lucchesi ($8,300). Pitcher is just that deep tonight.

Gibson is over-salaried when you can roster Cole, McClanahan, or Cease in roughly the same neighborhood. Still, his matchup is easily the best against the Tigers, keeping him in the running as a contrarian tournament play. Gibson scored 59 FanDuel points against Detroit in his last start, and while it might be tough to repeat that a second time, this Tigers active roster has been the worst team versus righties from 2022-23, owning a 77 wRC+ and 25.5% strikeout rate.

Mahle has produced a 25.3% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate, and he gets an easy draw versus the Royals at an appealing salary. Kansas City has the night's third-lowest implied team total (3.47).

Lucchesi is in a similar situation against the Nationals (3.47 implied team total), whose active roster has the worst wRC+ (91) versus southpaws going back to the start of last season. He put up a 26.1% strikeout rate in 2021 and went off for 58 FanDuel points in his 2023 debut.

If you're going to skip someone from this group, it's probably the left-handed Heaney against a predominantly right-handed Yankees lineup. He hasn't been able to match the strides he made in 2022, but he flashed his ceiling a few starts back against the Royals with 10 strikeouts and 51 FanDuel points. Given all our options, though, he's probably only worth sprinkling in if you're making a boatload of lineups.

Hitting Breakdown

All of that pitching naturally limits our stacking matchups on a five-game slate, and just four teams have implied team totals above four runs: the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, and Baltimore Orioles.

The Mets get Trevor Williams, who comes in with a 3.38 ERA that hides a lackluster 4.87 SIERA and 15.1% strikeout rate. He's struggled against left-handed batters this season, and that was the case in 2022, as well, when he recorded an 8.8% strikeout rate while coughing up 1.62 home runs per 9 innings. The right-handed Pete Alonso ($4,200) should headline Mets stacks regardless, but the pristine matchup for lefties bumps up what could be as many as six left-handed batters in the lineup.

The Twins can take advantage of their spot versus 39-year-old Zack Greinke. The veteran right-hander no longer gets many punchouts (16.5% strikeout rate), and his low ground-ball rate (39.1%) has contributed to him giving up 1.65 home runs per 9 innings so far this year. This stack is also silly inexpensive, as we can roster every player at $3,400 and below, with guys like Byron Buxton ($2,900), Carlos Correa ($2,800), Trevor Larnach ($2,800), and Max Kepler ($2,600) having especially enticing salaries. Joey Gallo ($3,400) is off to a fast start this season, boasting a ridiculous .548 ISO while leading the team in barrels.

The previously mentioned Yankees don't necessarily have a slam-dunk matchup against Andrew Heaney, but we've seen the lefty struggle with home runs throughout his career, and he's struggling with his control this year (11.1% walk rate). Even in what was his best career campaign in 2022, Heaney gave up 2.04 home runs per 9 innings to right-handed batters. Aaron Judge ($3,800) and Gleyber Torres ($2,900) are our best bets to cash in with round-trippers, but as noted earlier, we should see plenty of Yankees righties tonight.

Finally, the Orioles are facing Joey Wentz, a left-hander who's produced a 5.39 SIERA, 18.9% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate, and 28.8% ground-ball rate through four starts in 2023. Adley Rutschman ($3,600), Ryan Mountcastle ($3,500), Anthony Santander ($2,700), and Ramon Urias ($2,800) will all have the platoon advantage against the southpaw. Ryan McKenna ($2,100) is intriguing if he ends up batting leadoff as some sites are projecting with Austin Hays expected out.