Hey everybody!
If you’re unfamiliar with this series, each week I highlight 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. I also try to highlight a catcher to two to stream 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 let’s take a look at the hitters you should start and avoid for Week 5 (4/27-5/3) 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
New York Mets hitters – The Mets have six games this week, kicking off with three games against the Washington Nationals, who currently own the worst team FIP in all of baseball. In that series, they’ll see Zack Littell, Cade Cavalli, and Miles Mikolas.
After that, the Mets get three games against the Angels, where they’ll see Walbert Ureña, Reid Detmers, and Jack Kochanowicz. I know Urena looked pretty incredible against the Padres earlier in his first start of the year but he also gave up four runs in 3.2 innings in relief against the Royals (the Royals) with five walks on Saturday so I’m not exactly avoiding him right now. As for Detmers and Kochanowicz, neither worry me.
Unfortunately the whole Mets lineup has been hitting like garbage the past couple of weeks (tends to happen when you have a really long losing streak), so there aren’t really any hot hitters to highlight here as guys to grab, but this week should hopefully be a good week for your Mets hitters to get back on track.
Boston Red Sox hitters – The Red Sox have a six-game week this week, starting off with three games against the Blue Jays where they’ll see Patrick Corbin, the return of Trey Yesavage off the IL, and Max Scherzer. Corbin and Scherzer don’t worry me at all, and I’m not all that concerned about Yesavage either given it’s his first start back from injury.
After that, the Red Sox get three games against the Astros who currently own the second-worst team FIP in all of baseball, where they’ll see Spencer Arrighetti, Cody Bolton, and Peter Lambert.
Trevor Story has been hitting a solid .280/.345/.400 (not a ton of power though) over the past two weeks and could have some value this week.
CATCHER TO STREAM: While he’s generally been hitting at the bottom of the lineup, Carlos Narváez owns a .250/.280/.458 line over the past two weeks (that’s a very good .208 ISO) and could be useful if you need some help at the catcher position in deep leagues.
Milwaukee Brewers hitters – The Brewers also have six games this week, starting off with three games against the Diamondbacks who currently own the 10th-worst team FIP in the league. There, they’ll see Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Michael Soroka, none of whom should be a problem.
After that, the Brew Crew will face off against the Nationals for three games, a team that as I mentioned earlier, has the worst team FIP in all of baseball. There, they’ll see Jake Irvin, Foster Griffin, and Zack Littell, who again, shouldn’t be an issue.
Jake Bauers is slashing .300/.349/.475 over the past two weeks and is worth a look this week.
AVOID
Texas Rangers hitters – The Rangers get six games this week, kicking off with three games against the Yankees, who currently own the second-best team FIP in the league. There, they’ll see Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, and Will Warren.
After that, the Rangers get three games against the Tigers, who own the sixth-best team FIP in baseball, where they’ll see Jack Flaherty, Keider Montero, and Casey Mize.
Of those starts, Flaherty doesn’t worry me much at all. Montero has looked solid, though if you wanted to start some of your Rangers hitters against him in daily leagues, I don’t have a problem with that. But on the whole, this week looks to be a rough one for your Rangers hitters, and I’d be looking elsewhere.
Minnesota Twins hitters – The Twins get a full seven-game week this week, which would normally be exciting for their hitting potential, but they’ve got some tough matchups slated ahead.
They start the week off with three games against the Mariners, who own the third-best team FIP in baseball, where they’ll see Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby. After that, they’ll get four games against the Blue Jays, where they’ll see Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Patrick Corbin, and Trey Yesavage.
There are a couple of matchups you could take advantage of there, but overall in weekly leagues, I’d be avoiding my mid-tier Twins hitters this week.
Miami Marlins hitters – The Marlins have six games this week, starting off with three games against the Dodgers, who own the fourth-best team FIP in the league, where they’ll see Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, and Tyler Glasnow.
After that, the Marlins get three games against the Phillies, who have the 11th-best team FIP in baseball, where they’ll see Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Jesús Luzardo.
Honestly, that’s a whole bunch of pitchers who are likely to be a major headache for your mid-level Marlins hitters so I’d be looking elsewhere this week if I could.
