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.
So let’s take a look at the hitters to start and avoid in Week 25 (9/18-9/24) 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
San Diego Padres hitters – The Padres have six games this week, starting with two at home against the Rockies, who own the worst team FIP in all of baseball, and closing with three more at home against the Cardinals, who own the 11th-worst team FIP in the league. In deeper leagues, Jurickson Profar is worth a look. He joined the Padres earlier this month and has been hitting .421/.476/.632 since being brought up to the majors. It seems like he’s going to continue getting playing time, and we’ve seen Profar get on hot streaks before, so he might be worth a look.
Seattle Mariners hitters – The Mariners have six games this week, starting with three against the A’s, who own the third-worst team FIP in baseball, and closing with three games against the Rangers, who own the 12th-worst team FIP in the league. If you need some power, Eugenio Suárez is sporting a .268 ISO over the past two weeks. The average hasn’t been great, but the power is there, if that’s something you need help in for the playoffs/end of the season.
Chicago White Sox hitters – The White Sox have a six-game week this week, starting off with three games against the Nationals, who own the second-worst team FIP in baseball, and closing with three games against the Red Sox, who own the ninth-worst team FIP in the league. Andrew Vaughn has been hot lately, slashing .318/.333/.591 over the past two weeks and is worth a look this week.
AVOID
Arizona Diamondbacks hitters – The Diamondbacks only have five games this week, which immediately puts their hitters at a disadvantage for fantasy, especially in weekly leagues. On top of that, two of their games will be against the Giants, who own the third-best team FIP in baseball, and the last three will be the Yankees, a series where they’ll face Carlos Rodón. So all in all, there’s maybe two games this week I’m comfortable starting my D’Backs hitters (and in daily leagues, go for it), meaning they’re benchable in weekly leagues.
Los Angeles Dodgers hitters – The Dodgers have seven games this week, starting off with three games against the Tigers, who own the 11th-best team FIP in the league (and a series where they’ll face Eduardo Rodriguez), and they’ll close the week with four games against the Giants who, as I mentioned earlier, have the third-best team FIP in baseball. All of this means your non-stud Dodgers hitters are worth a bench this week unless you don’t have better options.
Oakland Athletics hitters – The A’s also have a seven-game week this week and similar to the Dodgers, they’ll also face the Tigers (though for four games instead of three), who as I mentioned, have the 11th-best team FIP in the league. That’s at the end of the week though – they start the week off with three games against the Mariners, who own the second-best team FIP in baseball, making it a pretty tough week for your A’s hitters.