What’s up, everyone!
If you’re unfamiliar with this article 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.
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 here’s who you should start and avoid in Week 11 (6/27-7/3) 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
Colorado Rockies hitters – It’s one of those weeks (you know which week I’m talking about). The Rockies get to be at home all week, so that means you’re absolutely starting your Rockies. They’ll have three games against the Dodgers which, admittedly, is usually a tough matchup, and then they’ll have three games against the Diamondbacks. Pitching matchup-wise, it’s not the best, but still, it’s six games in Coors Field, you can’t pass that up. Even better? Four of those games will be against lefties. On his career, Connor Joe is a .297/.381/.448 hitter against lefties and is slashing .371/.436/.400 over the past two weeks. And Yonathan Daza? A career .312/.350/.391 hitter against lefties and slashing .313/.353/.396 over the past two weeks (it’s not much power, but in deep leagues, it’s something). Or how about Brendan Rodgers? He’s a career .295/.344/.530 hitter against lefties. There’s plenty of value to be found in Colorado this week.
Arizona Diamondbacks hitters – Normally I stay away from teams with five-game weeks, but the D’Backs get an exception. They’ll have two games against the Padres, which is tough, but the other three games are, as I previously mentioned, in Coors Field. So even in a weekly league, it’s tough to pass up three Coors Field games. Over the past two weeks, Christian Walker is slashing .275/.375/.650 and is definitely worth a look this week.
Minnesota Twins hitters – This is a fun week, because we get a few teams with eight-game weeks, which is great. The Twins are one of those teams, getting five games against the Guardians (a pretty middle-of-the-road pitching staff) and three games against the Orioles, who own the eighth-worst team FIP in baseball. That’s a lot of games against mediocre to bad pitching staffs, so start your Twins this week.
Toronto Blue Jays hitters – The Blue Jays also get eight games this week, starting with three against the Red Sox and ending with five against the Rays. Both the Sox and the Rays have pretty middle-of-the-road pitching staffs, so similar to the Twins, you get eight games against pretty beatable pitchers. That’s hard to pass up, especially in a weekly league. Alejandro Kirk has been on fire lately, slashing .308/.413/.641 over the past two weeks and is definitely worth a start. Same with Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who’s been hitting .385/.415/.564 over the past two weeks.
Lane Thomas – Half of the Nationals’ games this week will be against left-handed pitchers, which is good news for Thomas, who is a career .303/.385/.523 hitter against lefties, and is worth a look this week.
AVOID
San Diego Padres hitters – The Padres have six games this week, and while two are against the Diamondbacks (which isn’t all that scary), the other four are against the Dodgers, who own the third-best team FIP in all of baseball. In daily leagues, go ahead and start your Padres against the Diamondbacks, but in weekly leagues, I’d avoid.
Chicago White Sox hitters – The White Sox get six games this week, starting with three against the Angels where they’ll face both Noah Syndergaard and Shohei Ohtani, which could prove difficult. After that, they’ll have three games in San Francisco against the Giants, a team that owns the fourth-best team FIP in baseball. All in all, this should prove to be a tricky week for your White Sox hitters.
San Francisco Giants hitters – Speaking of the Giants, they’ve only got five games this week, and all five will be in their pitcher-friendly park, which already puts them at a disadvantage. On top of that, in their series against the White Sox, they’ll be facing Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease, and Lucas Giolito. They also get two games against the Tigers, which is fine to take advantage of in daily leagues, but other than that, this isn’t a great week to start your Giants.
St. Louis Cardinals hitters – The Cardinals get six games this week, starting with three against the Marlins where they’ll face Pablo López and Sandy Alcántara. Then, they’ll have three games against the Phillies, a team that owns the sixth-best team FIP in all of baseball. That’s a lot of pretty tough matchups for the Cardinals this week, so I’d avoid my Cardinals hitters.
Josh Bell – As I mentioned, half of the Nats’ games this week will be against lefties, and Bell has long struggled against lefties throughout his career, slashing just .241/.333/.430 against them. Bell’s been on fire lately, but I’d expect that fire to start dying down a bit this week, given the matchups.
Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire | Featured Image by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)