Championships are won by making the right little decisions through the season and micromanaging your lineup well can be the difference maker. Each week, I’ll be taking a look at five hitting matchups you should take advantage of this week, and five hitting matchups you should avoid this week. Here are the batters you should start and avoid for Week 18 (7/31 – 8/6) of the fantasy baseball season.
Notes: All pitching matchups mentioned here are based off of projections as of this writing. It is entirely possible that the actual matchups could change either because of injury, weather, or anything else. 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.
Special MLB Trade Deadline note: Some of these projected pitching matchups may change as players get trade closer to the deadline. This is being written on Saturday, so all projections are as of then.
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Philadelphia Phillies hitters - I know right? The Phillies? They're terrible. But this week should be a good week for them offensively. They get a seven-game week starting with one game against the Atlanta Braves, and then three games in Angel Stadium where they'll gain a DH, and then to top it all off, three games in Coors Field against the Rockies. And aside from Jon Gray and Jeff Hoffman, they're not projected to face anyone overly challenging. So I'd be starting Maikel Franco, Freddy Galvis, and Odubel Herrera among others (probably would be a good week to start Cameron Rupp too). I'd also start Cesar Hernandez as he's been slashing .308/.357/.462 over the past 15 games.
Please dont laugh at me, but Im asking nonetheless. Are you starting Cargo and Fisher who are both at home all week in lieu of the ice cold Mookie, the poor matchups Stanton and/or Pollock?
Nah, I’m gonna stick with my studs there and go with Mookie/Stanton/Pollock