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 6 (5/4-5/10) 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 get six games this week with some pretty favorable matchups ahead. They start the week off with three games against the Rockies in Coors Field, which is always appealing (especially given the Rockies have the eighth-worst team FIP in the league)
After that, the Mets get three games against the Diamondbacks, who currently own the fifth-worst team FIP in baseball, where they’ll see Ryne Nelson, Merrill Kelly, and Eduardo Rodriguez, none of whom concern me all that much.
MJ Melendez has been hot lately, slashing .278/.316/.500 over the past two weeks and is worth a look this week, especially since he’s been hitting towards the top of the Mets’ lineup.
Miami Marlins hitters – The Marlins get a full seven-game week, starting off with one game against the Phillies on Monday that closes out a four-game series from over the weekend. In that game, they’ll face Jesús Luzardo, which I would avoid where I can in daily leagues.
After that, though, the schedule gets better. The Marlins will have three games against the Orioles, where they’ll see Chris Bassitt, Brandon Young, and Cade Povich, none of whom worries me. Bassitt can turn in a decent performance here and there, but Young and Povich have had plenty of struggles keeping runs off the board.
Then, the Marlins close the week out with three games against the Nationals, who own the second-worst team FIP in all of baseball. There, they’ll see Foster Griffin, Zack Littell, and Cade Cavalli, none of whom worry me.
Make sure you’ve got Liam Hicks in your lineups, as he’s been hitting well, slashing .267/.351/.567 over the past two weeks.
Philadelphia Phillies hitters – The Phillies also have a full seven-game week, kicking off with that one game against the Marlins I mentioned earlier that finishes out a weekend series. In that game, they’ll see Janson Junk, who’s looked solid lately but is someone I’m totally fine starting my Phillies hitters against.
After that, the Phillies get three games against the Athletics, who own the fourth-worst team FIP in baseball, where they’ll see Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, and J.T. Ginn, none of whom worry me.
Then, the Phillies close out the week with three games against the Rockies (sadly not in Coors Field), who own the eighth-worst team FIP in the league, where they’ll see Chase Dollander, Kyle Freeland, and Tomoyuki Sugano. Freeland and Sugano don’t worry me, but given the way Dollander has been pitching, I might actually consider benching my mid-tier Phillies hitters against him in daily leagues, especially since the game will be in Philly.
In weekly leagues, though, there’s too much value this week for your Phillies hitters to ignore them.
Brandon Marsh has been hitting well lately, slashing .382/.405/.618over the past two weeks, and is definitely worth a look this week.
AVOID
Atlanta hitters – Atlanta has a six-game week, kicking it off with three games against the Mariners, who own the sixth-best team FIP in the league, where they’ll see Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Bryan Woo.
After that, they’ll get three games against the Dodgers, who own the second-best team FIP in baseball, where they’ll see Emmet Sheehan, Roki Sasaki, and Justin Wrobleski.
You’d probably be fine with the Wrobleski matchup in daily leagues (probably Sasaki too), but in weekly leagues, I’m not seeing enough value here to warrant starting my mid-tier Atlanta hitters unless I have to.
Arizona Diamondbacks hitters – The D’Backs have a six-game week this week, starting off with three games against the Pirates, who own the fourth-best team FIP in the league right now, where they’ll see Bubba Chandler, Paul Skenes, and Mitch Keller.
After that, they’ll get three games against the Mets, who have the fifth-best team FIP in baseball, where they’ll see Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, and David Peterson.
Similar to Atlanta, I think there are maybe a couple matchups you could utilize in daily leagues, but in weekly leagues, there’s just not enough value to warrant starting your mid-level D’Backs hitters this week.
Athletics hitters – The A’s also get six games this week, starting off with three games against the Phillies, who own the third-best team FIP in baseball right now. There, they’ll see Cristopher Sánchez, Andrew Painter, and Zack Wheeler.
After that, they’ll get three games against the Orioles, where they’ll see Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, and Chris Bassitt. As I said earlier, Bassitt is kind of whatever, and I certainly think you could get some value out of the matchup against Painter, but otherwise, the rest of the week makes me feel a little uneasy about starting my mid-level A’s hitters.
