What’s up everyone!
If you’re unfamiliar with this series, each week I take a look at some hitting matchups you should take advantage of and some hitting matchups you should avoid, based on who the hitters will likely be facing on the mound. I’ll also be focusing on catchers you can stream each week since we all know that catcher can be an especially tricky position in fantasy.
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 to start and avoid in Week 11 (6/10-6/16 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
Pittsburgh Pirates hitters – The Pirates have six games this week, starting off with three games against the Cardinals where they’ll see Miles Mikolas, Sonny Gray, and Lance Lynn. The Mikolas matchups is great, Gray is probably an avoid in daily leagues, and Lynn is fairly in the middle—not a total avoid but could be a problem.
Overall the series against the Cardinals grades out to be decent for your Pirates hitters. But the real appeal of the week comes after that when the Pirates get a three-game series in Coors Field against the Rockies, who currently have the worst team FIP in all of baseball. So with a great series for your Pirates hitters in Colorado and a decent one in St. Louis, there should be enough value to warrant starting your Pirates hitters.
Nick Gonzales is worth a look this week, as he’s been slashing .308/.293/.513 over the past two weeks (which is a bizarre line to see—I can’t remember the last time I saw a hitter’s OBP be lower than their batting average. Gonzales must’ve been pumping out some sac flies the past few weeks). Rowdy Tellez is also worth a look, as he’s hitting .350/.381/.450 over the past two weeks and is only slated to see one left-handed pitcher this week.
CATCHER TO STREAM: This is just a total dart throw given the matchups, but in deeper leagues, if you need help at the catcher position, Yasmani Grandal should be pretty widely available, as should Henry Davis. Neither have been hitting particularly well lately, but if you’re desperate, they’re worth a shot.
Minnesota Twins hitters – The Twins get a full seven-game week this week, which already puts them at an advantage for weekly leagues, but on top of that, they’ll have some great matchups too.
They start the week off with three games against the Rockies. Unfortunately those games won’t be in Coors Field but as I mentioned earlier, the Rockies have the worst pitching staff in baseball by FIP, so that’s still a good matchup for your Twins hitters.
After that, the Twins will have four games against the A’s where they’ll see Luis Medina, Mitch Spence, Joey Estes, and JP Sears, none of whom worry me all that much, making this a pretty good week to start your Twins hitters.
Trevor Larnach might be worth a look in deeper leagues. While he’s only hitting .231 over the past two weeks, he’s also sporting a ridiculous .384 ISO over that same time period, so you might be able to get some power out of him (and he’s typically batting leadoff too). He’s also got a .355 OBP over the past two weeks, so he might be easier to stomach in OBP leagues.
Arizona Diamondbacks hitters – The D’Backs have six games this week, starting off with three against the Angels, who currently own the third-worst team FIP in baseball, and closing with three games against the White Sox, who currently own the second-worst team FIP in the league.
They will see Erick Fedde in that White Sox series, who’s been pretty good, but outside of that, your D’Backs hitters should be good to go.
Ketel Marte is slashing .289/.396/.533 over the past two weeks, so make sure you’ve got him in your lineups.
San Francisco Giants hitters – The Giants have six games this week, starting off with three against the Astros, who currently own the fifth-worst team FIP in all of baseball, and closing with three against the Angels, who as I mentioned earlier, have the third-worst team FIP in the league.
If you haven’t hopped on the Heliot Ramos train yet, you need to get on now. The guy is on fire, slashing .395/.521/.658 over the past two weeks, and is still fairly available in most leagues. Also, Wilmer Flores is sporting a .355 ISO over the past two weeks and could have some value. And in deeper leagues, Brett Wisely could have some value, as he’s hitting .290/.333/.452 over the past two weeks.
AVOID
Baltimore Orioles hitters – The Orioles have seven games this week, which normally would be exciting, but they’re slated for some tough matchups ahead.
They start the week off with a game on Monday against the Rays to finish out the series from over the weekend. In that game, they’ll face Ryan Pepiot, who’s been pretty solid this year.
After that, the Orioles will have a three-game series against Atlanta, a team with the third-best FIP in all of baseball. Then, they’ll have another three games against the Phillies, who own the best team FIP in the league.
All in all, it’s a lot of tough matchups for your Orioles hitters, meaning it’s best to bench them if you can, outside of your obvious starts like Gunnar Henderson.
Cincinnati Reds hitters – The Reds only have five games this week and the matchups are not great on top of that, which makes it a tough week for your Reds hitters.
They’ll start the week off with two games against the Guardians where they’ll see Triston McKenzie and Tanner Bibee, both of whom can be problems for hitters. Then, they’ll have three games against the Brewers where they’ll see Freddy Peralta, Bryse Wilson, and Colin Rea.
Some of those matchups you might be able to take advantage of in daily leagues, but in weekly leagues, I don’t think there’s enough value here.
Boston Red Sox hitters – The Red Sox have six games this week and are slated for some tough matchups. They start the week off with three games against the Phillies who, as I mentioned earlier, have the best team FIP in the league. Then, they’ll have three games against the Yankees, who have the 11th-best team FIP in the league.
Here’s a list of the pitchers the Red Sox are slated to face: Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez, Aaron Nola, Luis Gil, Carlos Rodón, and Marcus Stroman. That’s a pretty rough set of pitchers to face.