FanDuel Price: $7,600
Honestly, from an ownership perspective, this is a tricky slate to nail down on the pitching side.
There's no must-play option, but between Zack Greinke, Garrett Richards, and Walker Buehler, we have some intriguing names at the top of the list, and none are that expensive on a night with we want to pay for Coors Field and other strong hitting spots. We also can't forget J.A. Happ, who's seen a spike in strikeouts this year, and even guys like Mike Foltynewicz and Miles Mikolas, who have low implied team totals against weak offenses.
With that in mind, it's difficult to say whether or not Caleb Smith (3.44 SIERA) will be higher or lower on the ownership scale at his low price point, but he's definitely a guy to throw into the mix. It might surprise you to know that of tonight's offerings, he actually has the highest strikeout rate of everyone at 33.8%, and his strong 12.4% swinging-strike rate suggests this isn't a fluke. Although he also has a poor 12.0% walk rate, he's only issued two walks over his last three starts for a far better 3.1% clip in that span.
He gets a tough matchup against a Atlanta Braves, but they're only getting a 3.78 implied team total, which isn't all that different than that 3.74 mark the Washington Nationals are getting against Greinke. Smith is still a relatively unknown commodity at the major league level, but he may very well have as much strikeout upside as anyone tonight, and he's one of the cheapest viable options on the board.