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.
This will be the last edition of Hitters to Start and Avoid for the 2024 season. Thanks for reading all year (or for part of the year, or maybe this is your first time, but still thank you)! I’ve been doing this column for roughly five years now (maybe it’s been six? Time means nothing) and I truly hope it’s been helpful to people.
Anyways, if you’re reading this and this article will be useful to you, that likely means you’re in the championship of your fantasy league, and that means all the traditional strategies of the regular season are out the door. You’re still always starting your studs, but take advantage of good hitting matchups and guys who are on hot streaks in favor of mediocre guys who maybe were bench guys during the season. This week is it, get as much out of it as you can.
Anyways, let’s take a look at the hitters to start and avoid in Week 26 (9/23-9/29) 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 – Could you ask for a better way to close out the season than the Rockies getting a six-game week all at home in Coors Field? If there’s a series of matchups to take advantage of, it’s this one.
The Rockies start off the week with three games against the Cardinals where they’ll face off against Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, and Kyle Gibson. Normally, a matchup against Gray would give me some pause, but in Coors? I’m not worried, and I’m certainly not worried about facing Fedde or Gibson in Coors.
After that, the Rockies will have three games against the Dodgers who, it should be noted, own the eighth-worst team FIP in the league. In that series, they’ll see Walker Buehler, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and whoever takes Tyler Glasnow’s place in the rotation. Yamamoto has looked good lately, but 1. it’s Coors; and 2. the Dodgers continue to limit his innings, so even if he’s pitching well, he’s likely getting four innings at most.
If you need some power and can stomach a mediocre-to-bad batting average, Michael Toglia owns a .200 ISO over the past two weeks and could provide some value there.
CATCHER TO STREAM: If you need help at the catcher position, Hunter Goodman owns a .250/.294/.750 line over the past two weeks. Now, that might not look great, but that is a .500 ISO (thanks largely to the five home runs he’s had in that timespan), and if you need help, you could do a lot worse than a guy on a power streak with six games in Coors.
St. Louis Cardinals hitters – The Cards have six games this week, three that should be really good for their hitters and three that should be good enough to warrant a start this week.
They start their week off with the three-game series I mentioned earlier against the Rockies in Coors Field, which is an automatic start for their hitters. The worst pitching staff in baseball by team FIP in the best hitters’ park in baseball? Yeah, you’re starting your Cards hitters there.
After that, the Cardinals get three games in San Francisco against the Giants where they’ll see Landen Roupp, Blake Snell, and Hayden Birdsong. The matchup against Snell is definitely an avoid in daily leagues, Roupp has looked solid in his two starts since coming out of the bullpen but he’s not someone I’m straight-up avoiding just yet, and while Birdsong has had his moments, again he’s not someone I’m actively avoiding.
The series against the Giants should be good enough for your Cardinals hitters that, in weekly leagues, the value you’ll get out of the Rockies series will be worth it.
Brendan Donovan has been on quite the hot streak lately, slashing .395/.477/.632 over the past two weeks and is definitely worth a start this week. And if you’re in need of some power, Jordan Walker is sporting a .243 ISO over the past two weeks.
Texas Rangers hitters – The Rangers get six games this week, starting off with three games against the A’s, who currently own the 10th-worst team FIP in all of baseball. Then, they’ll get three games against the Angels, the team with the second-worst team FIP in the league.
Here’s who the Rangers are slated to face this week: Brady Basso, Mitch Spence, J.T. Ginn, Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning, and Jack Kochanowicz. Basso’s had his moments, but aside from him, there’s not a pitcher there I’m even remotely scared of (and for the record, I’m not worried about Basso either).
Wyatt Langford has been on a roll lately, slashing .275/.370/.525 with three steals over the past two weeks, so make sure you’ve got him in your lineups. And while his average hasn’t been great, Leody Taveras owns a .215 ISO with two steals over the past two weeks and could have some value in deeper leagues.
Minnesota Twins hitters – The Twins get six games this week, starting off with three games against the Marlins, who currently own the fifth-worst team FIP in all of baseball. In that series, they’ll see Ryan Weathers, Edward Cabrera, and Valente Bellozo, none of whom concern me (Cabrera could be tough, but I’m not actively avoiding him).
After that, the Twins will have three games against the Orioles where they’ll see Cade Povich, Albert Suarez, and Dean Kremer. All three of those guys have had their moments but they’ve also had plenty of moments where they’ve looked pretty bad, so I think you’re good to start your Twins hitters there.
Trevor Larnach hasn’t been showing much power lately but he does own a solid .310 average and .444 OBP over the past two weeks and could help bolster your team there. Willi Castro has been similar, hitting .290/.425/.419 over the past two weeks and could provide some value. Carlos Santana has also looked solid lately, slashing .275/.326/.450 over the past two weeks.
AVOID
Cincinnati Reds hitters – The Reds have just five games this week, which automatically puts them at a disadvantage in weekly leagues. On top of that, the matchups they’re slated to have don’t look great.
They start the week off with two games against the Guardians, who own the 12th-best team FIP in the league, where they’ll see Tanner Bibee and Joey Cantillo. Bibee is always concerning for your hitters, and it’s worth noting that Cantillo has looked good lately, giving up no more than one earned run in each of his last three starts.
After that, the Reds will get three games against the Cubs where they’ll see Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, and Jordan Wicks. Wicks doesn’t concern me all that much, but Taillon and Imanaga could definitely be tough.
All in all, I’m not seeing enough value to warrant starting your Reds hitters in weekly leagues this week.
Cleveland Guardians hitters – The Guardians are in a similar boat to the Reds, in that they have just five games this week and there isn’t a ton of value to be had.
They start the week off with the two-game series against the Reds I mentioned earlier where they’ll see Julian Aguiar and Nick Martinez. Neither of them worry me, so if you own some Guardians hitters you want to start in daily leagues, go for it.
After that, they’ll get a three-game series against the Astros where they’ll see Justin Verlander, Spencer Arrighetti, and Hunter Brown. Brown has had his up-and-down moments this year, but it’s worth noting that aside from his start against the A’s on September 11, Brown hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs since the beginning of August.
Similar to the Reds, there’s not enough value here to warrant starting your Guardians hitters in a weekly league.
Oakland Athletics hitters – The A’s have six games this week and are slated to have some tough matchups.
They start the week off with three games against the Rangers where they’ll see Nathan Eovaldi, Cody Bradford, and Kumar Rocker. Bradford doesn’t concern me, but Eovaldi does and Rocker has looked pretty good too.
After that, the A’s will have three games against the Mariners, who currently own the third-best team FIP in baseball, where they’ll see Emerson Hancock, Bryan Woo, and Bryce Miller. Hancock doesn’t worry me all that much, but Woo and Miller could certainly prove difficult, making this a tough week to start your A’s hitters.
Washington Nationals hitters – The Nats have a six-game week this week, starting off with a three-game series against the Royals, who currently own the fifth-best team FIP in baseball, where they’ll see Cole Ragans, Alec Marsh, and Michael Wacha. Marsh doesn’t worry me, but Ragans does and Wacha has looked pretty darn good lately too.
After that, the Nats will have three games against the Phillies, who currently own the eighth-best team FIP in the league. In that series, they’ll see Ranger Suárez, Zack Wheeler, and Aaron Nola.
All in all, there’s not a lot of value to be had from your Nats hitters this week.