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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.
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Pitching
There are a few interesting salary relief options today that stand out if a fantasy owner wants to load up on hitting. Salary relief pitching is risky, because if it wasn't, their prices wouldn't be so low. But that's the trade off a fantasy owner has to balance in order to fit stronger hitters into a salary cap.
The first is Juan Nicasio ($6,800) in Pittsburgh against a weak Reds team. The Reds are striking out 22% of the time vs RHP, bottom third, and have a vile team wRC+ vs RHP of 66, third worst in baseball. Part of this is because their best hitter, Joey Votto, is scuffling, which won't last much longer. But the Reds still appear to be one of the worst teams in the NL over the long run, and they'll be playing in a much better pitcher environment in PNC Park than in Great American Ballpark. Dan Straily pitches for Cincinnati, a below average pitcher. Nicasio has had control problems, but he has an above average 25% strikeout rate and has gotten a lot of attention as one of Pittsburgh's latest reclamation pitching projects.
Pitching prospects making their debuts usually have fairly low prices on FanDuel. Michael Fulmer fits that description: he makes his MLB debut for Detroit against the Twins, and is priced at $6,300. The Twins are another team that strikes out at an above average level vs RHP: their 23.3% K% is 7th highest in baseball. Fulmer has a 25% K% in the minor leagues since the start of last year and features a good fastball with a sharp slider, and possesses some strikeout upside. Phil Hughes opposes Fulmer.
Corey Kluber ($11,000) is a safer choice than Nicasio and Fulmer, and he's probably the guy I'm going to play. He faces a weak hitting Phillies team in a National League park. The Phillies have a below average K% of 22% vs RHP and a bottom third wRC+ of 83, and their offense is largely punchless aside from Maikel Franco. Kluber's peripherals are much better than his actual ERA, with strikeout rate, walk rate and swinging strike rates all above average. His 4.6 ERA will help keep his ownership rate down until it catches up with his other peripherals.
Hitting
A game I'll be targeting is out in Arizona. The Rockies face the Diamondbacks in Chase Field, which is an excellent hitting park, largely because of the altitude. Tyler Chatwood pitches for the Rockies, a below average pitcher. The guy who stands out as the best value on the Diamondbacks is David Peralta ($3,400), who has a 144 wRC+ and .224 ISO vs RHP since the start of 2015 and bats cleanup against righties.
Follow on twitter at @TimFinn521