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As for today's lineups -- those can be found here. The information below is to help you understand why particular players are being picked, because we don't want you going into the things completely blind. We want to help you. Keep in mind, however, that things often change up until the games start, so make sure you're refreshing the optimal lineups as close to the start of games as possible.
Top Pitchers
High-Cost Pitcher
Gerrit Cole – Gerrit Cole's been a beast this year. His strikeout per nine rate is up to 9.95 (9.00 last year) and his FIP is down to 2.28 (3.23 last year) all while seeing a higher BABIP (.322 this season, .311 last year). Today he'll face the Marlins, a team that, against right-handed pitching, ranks 18th in K rate, 26th in wOBA, and 26th in wRC+. Add in the fact that the game will be at PNC Park, a pitcher's park, against a fairly inexperienced pitcher, and you've got yourself the perfect storm for a big game from Cole.
Alternative Option: Carlos Carrasco
Cost-Effective Pitcher
Noah Syndergaard – The cheaper options for the day slate aren't great, but Syndergaard isn't a bad look. In his three starts this year, he's gone 5.1, 6.0 and 6.0 innings, striking out 6, 5, and 5 batters while allowing 3, 1 and 3 runs. Not bad. Today he faces off against a bad pitcher (more on him later) at home against a team that has the worst wOBA in the Majors against right-handed pitching. Syndergaard, logically, should have a decent floor today.
Alternative Option: Mike Fiers
High-Cost Hitters
Michael Brantley - Brantley gets the platoon advantage against Colby Lewis today in Cleveland, which means he should be a strong play. Over his career, he's got a .343 wOBA and .140 ISO against right-handed pitching, while over the course of Lewis' career, lefties are hitting to a .359 wOBA. Lewis is off to a stronger-than-normal start to the season, but with a BABIP lower than his career average, a home run rate that is sure to regress and a high/over under, things could go downhill for him today.
Todd Frazier - For those of you who faded Josh Donaldson for Todd Frazier yesterday, you may want to look away. Because you probably hate Todd Frazier. But today, it's hard to. The Reds get Rockies' right Kyle Kendrick, who's one of the worst starting pitchers hurling during the early slate. Kendrick has over a 6.00 FIP this year, up from his not-so-great 4.52 career average. He does naturally throw to righties better than he does lefties, but Frazier's been strong regardless of the platoon advantage this season, and pretty much throughout his career.
Alternative Options: Starling Marte, Joey Votto
Cost-Effective Hitters
Lucas Duda - I tend to target Duda against right-handed pitchers, and that's only exaggerated when he's facing a right-handed hurler with a career 5.56 FIP. The Mets are at home against the Phillies and Sean O'Sullivan today, in a game that Vegas thinks won't be incredible high scoring (in context of today's games). O'Sullivan just isn't very good though -- he has a 5.34 FIP this season (again, that's lower than his career 5.56 number), and over his career, he's surrendered 1.56 home runs per nine innings. To add onto that, O'Sullivan's allowed lefties to hit to a .370 wOBA against him over his time in the bigs. That's a good thing for Duda, who sees pretty big splits when facing right-handed pitching.
David Murphy - I already touched on the fact that Cleveland is facing Colby Lewis, and Murphy's another Indian bat who could take advantage. He's hitting cleanup today, which is logical considering his big splits against right-handed pitching -- over his career, he has a .349 wOBA versus righties, up 61 points from where he's at against left-handed pitching. He has the same type of split in terms of ISO, too. Murphy's just $2,400 on FanDuel and $3,100 on DraftKings today, making him a great, cheap option for folks looking for salary cap relief.
Alternative Options: Jordy Mercer, Skip Schumaker