Ji-Man Choi joining Rays' bench Thursday

Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi is not in the starting lineup for Thursday's series opener against right-hander Cal Quantrill and the Cleveland Indians.

What It Means:

Choi started the previous three contests. Yandy Diaz will replace Choi on first base and bat sixth.

numberFire’s models project Diaz for 8.0 FanDuel points and he has a $2,800 salary on Thursday. Per our MLB Heat Map, the Rays have the fourth-highest implied total (4.9 runs) out of the 16 teams playing on tonight's main slate. Quantrill has the second-worst strikeout rate (16.6 percent) among Thursday's listed starters.