Dexter Fowler (OF-CHC) - Fowler had a solid game Tuesday in a win over the Cardinals, going 2-for-4 with a double, run, walk, RBI, and his 12th stolen base. With eight home runs, Fowler has provided some level of fantasy value this year, though his .234/.312/.380 slash leaves a bit to be desired. With a 22% K%, he's not your ideal leadoff man, but he's walking close to 10% of the time and his BABIP is 60 points under his .343 career mark, so the BA should trend up as the season wears on. If Fowler can hit enough to remain at the top of the lineup, he'll have plenty of value hitting in front of Rizzo, Bryant, and Soler. Fowler's $3,600 Draft Kings price tag is reasonable, but I probably wouldn't use him against Michael Wacha on Wednesday. Instead, look to leverage his .340 BA versus LHP when the Cubs face a southpaw.
Tommy Pham (OF-STL) - Yes, we wrote about Pham three days ago, but after seeing him lead off yet again on Tuesday, he's worth at least another paragraph. Pham went 1-for-3 with a walk and was unfortunately picked off first, but it's possible he'll get a real chance to stick as a regular. He's off to a .222/.263/.500 start, but in the four games at leadoff, Pham improves to .267/.313/.600 with a stolen base. Matt Holliday is due back shortly and Jason Heyward will surely be the regular right fielder, but Pham's competition for at-bats consists of Peter Bourjos, Randal Grichuk, and later this month, Jon Jay, so Pham has a window to establish himself. At 26, he's a bit old to be breaking into the big leagues, but Pham has shown some ability in Triple-A in recent years, batting .338/.402/.625 in 92 PA's this year and .324/.395/.491 in 390 PA's a year ago. He's stolen as many as 20 bases in a season and has shown double-digit power. Take a flier in deeper formats.
Anthony Rizzo (1B-CHC) - Again batting second, Rizzo was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and his 16th homer of the year in a Cubs' win over the Cardinals on Tuesday. The big game raised Rizzo's slash to .295/.408/.550 in yet another strong season from the All-Star first baseman. He's been slightly less effective as a #2 hitter than in the three hole where Rizzo is batting .300/.428/.560 this year. Ideally Starlin Castro would hit there, but his OBP is just .286 and Addison Russell, while he has upside, is probably best served continuing to hit at the bottom of the order. Rizzo's Draft Kings pricetag is justifiably high at $4,600, but I'd probably save a few bucks and go with a lesser option like an Adrian Gonzalez ($4,000 vs. Adam Morgan on Wednesday).
Chris Denorfia (OF-CHC) - Denorfia got the start against the lefty Tyler Lyons in Game 1 of Tuesday's doubleheader, and as usual, he took advantage, going 2-for-4 with three RBI. It sure helps to hit behind the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Jorge Soler (at least when they aren't hitting home runs). Denorfia for the year is batting a cool .330/.364/.420. He's historically been a guy best used against LHP, but this year, Denorfia came into Tuesday's action batting .333/.354/.427 versus RHP, a 52-point improvement over his OPS versus southpaws. In theory, Chris Coghlan will see most of the at-bats versus RHP, so limit your usage of Denorfia to LHP in daily formats, but we'll have to see how this shakes out now that Soler is back healthy.
Rafael Soriano (RP-CHC) - It's probably time to get Soriano on your fantasy radars, particularly in NL-only leagues. Soriano signed with the Cubs last month and made his first Double-A appearance Monday. It went pretty well, as though he did allow a hit, he also struck out the side. Soriano didn't exactly end 2014 on a high note, posting a 6.48 ERA and 1.60 WHIP over the second half with the Nationals, but he topped out at 92 mph with his fastball Monday and if healthy, he has something left in the tank. Hector Rondon should keep his job once Soriano is activated, and the Cubs also have Pedro Strop and Jason Motte, but if Soriano is throwing as well as he did in the first half of last year, the Cubs could see about using him in the closer role at some point in the second half.
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