FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball (DFS) picks for Friday, July 31: salary relief hitters. Neil Walker, Yasiel Puig, Stephen Vogt, more

Reminder: Always double check the lineup card before rosters lock to make sure that a player you've chosen to roster is playing that day, and check the weather to make sure your players won't get rained out of their game.

Salary relief plays to fit expensive pitching into lineup

The theme of this article is salary relief hitting to fit expensive pitching into a fantasy owner's lineup. Choosing low cost but productive hitters is very important for building a strong overall lineup when playing expensive pitching. Clayton Kershaw is priced at $13,300 today, so if a fantasy owner wants to use him, they will need some good low priced choices. Here are some for a fantasy owner to consider:

Catcher: Stephen Vogt ($2,200) vs Danny Salazar

Vogt is hitting RHP to a 146 wRC+ and .225 ISO this year and is priced at the FD minimum. Salazar is prone to getting wacked, and probably has something to do with why his ERA is .75 runs higher than his xFIP. Via baseballsavant.com:

1B- Anthony Rizzo ($3,100) vs Taylor Jungmann

Taylor Jungmann looks to be a good pitcher, but Rizzo is one of the elite hitters in baseball and is priced very low because of a July slump. The park effects in MIL favor hitters, and Rizzo is hitting RHP to a 142 wRC+ and .255 ISO for the year. He also hit a mammoth HR last night, a good sign for breaking out of his slump.

2B- Neil Walker ($3,100) vs Michael Lorenzen

Lorenzen has massive platoon splits: he has an ugly 7.27 FIP/.454 wOBA combo vs lefties, and Walker is hitting RHP to a solid 119 wRC+ and .163 ISO. Walker also gets a huge park upgrade in Cincinnati, where it's much easier for LHB to hit a home run.

3B- Matt Carpenter ($2,700) vs Kyle Kendrick

Kyle Kendrick is one of the least effective pitchers in baseball (even away from Coors) and despite a massive slump, Carpenter is still hitting RHP to a 139 wRC+/.181 ISO on the year. He will bat either 1 or 2 in the order and will be in great position to rack up fantasy points against Kendrick.

SS- Jhonny Peralta ($2,600) vs Kyle Kendrick

Peralta is another Cardinal who has had price drops because of slumping, but he's still hit RHP to a 121 wRC+ on the year. He doesn't hit RHP for power nearly as well as LHP (.143 ISO vs .248 ISO), but Kyle Kendrick can help fix that today.

OF- Yasiel Puig ($3,100) vs Hector Santiago

Puig has hit LHP to an elite 161 wRC+/.282 ISO this year with it at a 146 wRC+/.181 ISO for his career. Santiago has an excellent ERA, but his peripherals aren't nearly as strong and he's only generated about league average opp. exit velocity numbers (88.7 mph). He does have a history of outperforming his peripherals, but I'm not sure how real it is this season.

The average price total for each player above is $2,800, and a fantasy owner should expect their chances of production to exceed that price.

Follow me on Twitter at @TimFinn521, I usually tweet out more good options as lineups are released.