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 14 (7/1-7/7) 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.
Additional note: I want to thank Christian Otterman for covering for me last week while I was out of town!
START
Colorado Rockies hitters – If you’re seeing the Rockies on this list, you probably know what I’m about to say. That’s right, the Rockies get a nice long homestand this week in Coors Field—a full seven-game week!
They’ll start the week off with four games against the Brewers, who own the 10th-worst team FIP in baseball, and they close with three games against the Royals. Now, the Royals’ pitching staff has been pretty solid, but it’s a seven-game week in Coors with four games against one of the worst pitching staffs in the league, I’m not going to tell you to bench your Rockies.
Ryan McMahon has been hitting really well lately, slashing .333/.395/.538 over the past two weeks and is definitely worth a start this week. And in deeper leagues, Michael Toglia is sporting a .349 ISO over the past two weeks and could be worth a grab if you need some help in the outfield.
CATCHER TO STREAM: If you need some help at the catcher position this week, Jacob Stallings could have some value. His average hasn’t been great, but he does have a .209 ISO over the past two weeks and you could do worse than seven games in Coors for a streaming catcher.
Milwaukee Brewers hitters – A seven-game week in Coors Field lifts all boats, and that means your Brewers are worth starting too.
They start their week off with the previously mentioned four-game series against the Rockies in Coors Field (and bonus: the Rockies have the worst team FIP in all of baseball). Then, they’ll close the week out with three games against the Dodgers.
In that series, they’re slated to face Tyler Glasnow and James Paxton, as well as whoever ends up replacing Walker Buehler in the rotation now that he’s on the IL. In daily leagues, I’d avoid the Glasnow matchup, but Paxton doesn’t worry me enough to warrant benching your Brewers in weekly leagues and miss the benefits of a four-game series in Coors.
Brice Turang is slashing .294/.345/.471 over the past two weeks and is definitely worth a start this week. And in deeper leagues, Jake Bauers is slashing .286/.400/.571 over the past two weeks and could provide some value this week, as could Sal Frelick who’s hitting .351/.385/.432 over the same time period.
Kansas City Royals hitters – The Royals have a six-game week this week, but they’re slated for some really favorable matchups for their hitters.
They’ll start the week off with three games against the Rays, who own the eighth-worst team FIP in all of baseball, and they’ll close with the three-game series against the Rockies in Coors Field that I mentioned earlier. So two three-game series against two of the worst pitching staffs in the league, with three of those games in the best hitters park in baseball—definitely get your Royals hitters out there.
A lot of people probably gave up on MJ Melendez thanks to his atrocious start to the season, but he’s been a much more respectable .273/.368/.394 lately (not a lot of power, but pretty useful in an OBP league at least) and might be worth a snag this week if he’s out there. Hunter Renfroe has also been hitting a perfectly symmetrical .300/.400/.600 over the past two weeks and is worth a look, as is Kyle Isbel in deeper leagues, as he’s hitting .296/.321/.667 over the past two weeks.
Los Angeles Dodgers hitters – The Dodgers get six games this week, starting off with three against the Diamondbacks, a team that currently owns the fifth-worst team FIP in the league, and closing with the three-game series against the Brewers I mentioned earlier (and their pitching staff which owns the 10th-worst team FIP in baseball).
In deeper leagues, Miguel Rojas might be worth a snag, as he’s been hitting .314/.368/.429 over the past two weeks, and could have some value this week. Outside of that, the rest of the Dodgers’ lineup is either studs you’re starting no matter what (e.g. Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman) or guys who have been struggling lately.
AVOID
Atlanta hitters – Atlanta gets six games this week, starting off with three against the Giants, a team that currently owns the 11th-best team FIP in all of baseball. In that series, they’re slated to see Jordan Hicks, Logan Webb, and Blake Snell, all pretty tough matchups.
After that, Atlanta gets three games against the Phillies, who currently own the best team FIP in the league. There they’ll see Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez, and Michael Mercado. The Mercado matchups could be something to take advantage of in daily leagues, but there’s not enough value here for me to justify starting my Atlanta hitters in weekly leagues.
Cincinnati Reds hitters – The Reds also have six games this week, starting off with three games against the Yankees where they’ll see Luis Gil, Carlos Rodón, and Marcus Stroman. I’m not all that worried about the Stroman matchup (though he can definitely be tough), but Gil and Rodon could definitely be a problem.
After that, the Reds will get three games against the Tigers where they’ll see Reese Olson, Casey Mize, and Tarik Skubal. Obviously Skubal is a tough matchup, Olson certainly has been pretty tough this year, and Mize definitely has the potential to be tough. All in all, I’d say it’s a week to avoid your Reds hitters.
New York Mets hitters – It’s a seven-game week for the Mets, which normally would be great, but they’re slated for a good handful of tough to not-great matchups this week.
They start the week off with four games against the Nationals who currently own the sixth-best team FIP in the league. In that series, they’ll face MacKenzie Gore, DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker, and Jake Irvin. All of those guys, outside of Herz, have been pretty solid so far this year, which could make for some tough matchups. That said, in a daily league, I’m definitely fine starting my Mets hitters against Herz.
After that, the Mets will get three games against the Pirates where they’ll see Paul Skenes, Bailey Falter, and Jared Jones. Falter’s another one where, in a daily league, I’m fine starting my Mets hitters, but Skenes and Jones are pretty tough matchups, so all in all in a weekly league, I’d probably be looking elsewhere.