Hey everybody!
If you’re unfamiliar with this series, each week Ben Palmer highlights hitting matchups you should take advantage of in your fantasy baseball league and ones that you should try to avoid based on the pitching matchups those hitters are slated to face that week. This week, I’m pinch-hitting while he’s otherwise occupied; I’ll also try to highlight a catcher or two to stream (if there are catchers worth streaming) because that position can be a real pain.
If you’d like to learn more about when it becomes less risky to stream hitters (and pitchers) and when certain team stats start to stabilize during the year, check out this article.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the hitters you should start and avoid for Week 17 (7/20-7/26) of the fantasy baseball season.
Notes: All pitching matchups mentioned here are based on projections as of this post’s publication. It is entirely possible that the actual matchups could change for any number of reasons. Keep in mind, this article is geared toward middle-of-the-road players, meaning you should be starting top-of-the-line bats regardless of the matchup. Always start your studs.
START
Nationals hitters – The Nationals play six games this week. They start with three in Colorado, then host the Diamondbacks for three at home. Colorado is scheduled to start Kyle Freeland, Michael Lorenzen, and Gabriel Hughes. The Rockies are edging out the A’s for worst ERA in the majors by 0.04 and have the second-worst xFIP as well. Lorenzen and Freeland both have an xFIP between 4.00 and 5.00 and ERAs over 6.00. Hughes has had 14.1 innings of success across three appearances, including two at home. His minor league ratios are poor, but he’s spiked from a 19.9% K rate in 2025 to a 29.6% K rate this season. There’s not enough there for me to be concerned about the Nats facing him, especially in Colorado, but I’m at least a little curious about him.
The second series has the Diamondbacks sending Eduardo Rodriguez, Mitch Bratt, and Kohl Drake to the bump. That makes four lefties in six games for the Nats. Washington leads baseball with a 120 wRC+ vs lefties. You could get some extra mileage out of Andrés Chaparro in deep leagues. The short-side platoon bat has a career 110 wRC+ vs lefties.
CATCHER TO STREAM: Keibert Ruiz has had a solid year, with his .275 average carrying him to a spot just outside the top 10 catchers despite modest run production and homers. He’s hitting .307/.325/.507 vs lefties, though, putting him firmly in the top catchers for the upcoming week. He’s only rostered in 9% of Yahoo leagues.
White Sox hitters – The White Sox play six games this week. They start with three games in Texas vs the Rangers, before returning to Chicago to host the Astros. In daily leagues, you probably want to skip the first of their matchups, as the Rangers are scheduled to start Jacob deGrom. After DeGrom, though, the White Sox should face Kumar Rocker and Cal Quantrill. Quantrill has always had poor K rates, but this year it’s fallen to 14.4%, the second-worst rate of his career. Rocker has mostly been either good or terrible in his starts, with little in between, but it’s all added up to an 11.8% K-BB rate and poor ratios.
In the second half of the week, the White Sox should get Peter Lambert, Spencer Arrighetti, and Hunter Brown. Lambert has had good results in the majors, but they’re resting on a .235 BABIP and an 83.3% strand rate. After a sparkling start to the season, Arrighetti has demonstrated that walking 12-13% of batters is unsustainable, giving up 6+ runs in three of his past four starts. Brown has been mortal this season, with Nick citing poor fastball performance in his most recent edition of The List. We’ve seen a decline in Brown’s fastball velo pretty consistently since the start of 2025.
CATCHER TO STREAM: It could be Kyle Teel time in deeper leagues this week. All six starters the White Sox face are righties. Teel usually hits sixth in the White Sox lineup against righties and has a career .818 OPS with the platoon advantage.
Tigers hitters – Detroit has a full slate of 7 games this week. The Tigers start with three in Chicago against the Cubs, then host the Royals for a four-game set. Ben Brown, Shota Imanaga, and Matthew Boyd have been the Cubs’ best starters this year. Brown is currently on the IL, and the Tigers should dodge Imanaga and Boyd. Instead, they should get a fresh-off-the-IL Jameson Taillon, David Peterson, and Colin Rea. Taillon and Rea have xFIPs around 4.70 and results to match. Peterson has had worse results this season despite slightly better peripherals, but you like the matchup anyway.
In the second series, the Royals should start Stephen Kolek, Noah Cameron, Michael Wacha, and Luinder Avila. Avila’s poor control has led to 5.00+ ERA and walk rates. Kolek, Cameron, and Wacha are mostly soft-tossers who manage contact. Cameron has shown some better strikeout numbers in his last two starts, but he’s very inconsistent. Spencer Torkelson has mashed fastballs and missed everything offspeed this year, so I’d be hesitant starting him against the Royals junkballers, but you wouldn’t expect them to be the pitchers who can exploit his high strikeout rates.
AVOID
Athletics hitters – Let’s start with the recommendation I’m least confident in. The A’s have six games on the road this week. They start with three in Arizona, then spend the second half of the week visiting the Twins. Arizona is scheduled to start Mitch Bratt, Merrill Kelly, and Kohl Drake. The Twins should have Zebby Matthews, Joe Ryan, and Connor Prielipp going against the A’s. On the merits of the opposing starters, you’d be happy with at least 4, maybe 5, of these matchups, so if you don’t have a persuasive alternative on your bench, go for it.
I’m just not interested in most A’s hitters outside of Sacramento. Among the nine A’s with 100+ plate appearances on the road, three have a wRC+ of 100 or better: Carlos Cortes, Nick Kurtz, and Shea Langeliers. None of the rest of the hitters are above an 85 wRC+ on the road. This is a particularly bad week for Tyler Soderstrom. Soderstrom has big platoon splits, with an .860 OPS vs righties and a .706 OPS vs lefties, and the A’s face three lefties this week. On the road, though, Soderstrom has a still-solid .810 OPS vs righties and a .313 OPS vs lefties. That’s a 6-for-48 line with one extra base hit. The whole team has an 118 wRC+ at home and an 80 wRC+ on the road. Would you be excited to start a team of Nathan Churches with good matchups? There are league sizes where I’d say yes, but not most of them.
Phillies hitters – The Phillies have six games this week. They start with three against the Dodgers in Philadelphia, then visit New York for three against the Yankees. The Dodgers will send Eric Lauer, Justin Wrobleski, and Shohei Ohtani to the mound in the first series. Ohtani is doing his usual unicorn thing, with a 1.79 ERA and a 20.3% K-BB rate that is somehow the second-worst of his career. Wrobleski has also had outstanding results. The peripherals don’t back them up, but he has had outstanding control. Lauer has, inexplicably, been great with the Dodgers despite some ugly peripherals, including a 12.9% K rate. The Phillies offense has been even worse vs lefties this year, though, posting just a .224/.301/.369 line against southpaws.
In the second series, the Phillies should face Ryan Weathers, Cam Schlittler, and Will Warren. Nick has Warren and Weathers just outside the top 50 on The List; Schlittler is an ace. Weathers has the advantage of throwing lefty. Other than Kyle Schwarber and the injured Adolis García, the only Philly with an above-average wRC+ vs lefties is Bryson Stott. Warren has had more mixed results. The strikeouts have gone missing in some starts, and Warren is vulnerable to short outings with bad lines when he can’t get whiffs. In daily leagues, it’s reasonable to start your Justin Crawfords against Warren if you don’t have other convincing options.
Mets hitters – The Mets have six games this week, beginning with three in Milwaukee. The second half of the week sees the Mets hosting the Dodgers for a three-game series. The Brewers should send Brandon Sproat, Jacob Misiorowski, and Logan Henderson to the mound. Miz is probably the best pitcher in baseball. Henderson has had limited opportunities this year due to injury and recently came off the IL. His first start back was very good, and his peripherals have been excellent all season. Sproat is the pitcher to target in daily leagues, although his strong June might suggest you’ve already missed the opportunity.
The Dodgers will start Emmet Sheehan, Roki Sasaki, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the second series. Sheehan has allowed a 4.81 ERA despite a 19.1% K-BB rate, mostly thanks to a 1.64 HR/9. The stuff and peripherals suggest Sheehan should improve in the second half, though. Yamamoto is a stud. Despite an ugly 6-run start against Arizona his last time out, Yamamoto’s ratios are fantastic, and his peripherals indicate that they’re deserved. Sasaki, like Sproat, is a pitcher you could target in daily leagues. The two young starters have some similarities – they both have much better stuff than their top-line stats would lead you to believe. Sasaki is coming off a strong start where he held the Yankees to 1 unearned run in 5.2 innings.
Feature image by Michael Packard (@artbymikep on Twitter) / Photo by Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire
