Hitters to Start and Avoid in Week 4 (4/22-4/28)

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 4 (4/22-4/28) 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 get a full seven-game week this week and lucky for their hitters, four of those games will be against the Rockies in Coors Field. After that, they’ll get three games against the Phillies luckily missing Zack Wheeler in that rotation (though they will see Aaron Nola, so that’s likely an avoid in daily leagues).

Basically, a seven-game week with four games in Coors Field is pretty hard to turn down, so definitely get your Padres out there this week. Jurickson Profar has started off the season nicely, hitting .296/.398/.465 on the year so far, and is definitely worth a look this week. Same with Jackson Merrill, who’s hitting .329/.397/.443 on the year so far.

 

Colorado Rockies hitters – The advantage of Coors Field works both ways! The Rockies have a six-game week this week but all six of those games will be at home in Coors, which is great news.

They’ll have the previously mentioned four-game series against the Padres and while they will see Dylan Cease there, they’ll dodge Joe Musgrove. Though honestly, in Coors Field, the Rockies would have to be facing a slew of aces for me to really push against starting their hitters in a long homestand.

Then, the Rockies will host the Astros on Saturday and Sunday where they’ll see Ronel Blanco and Cristian Javier.

All in all, a good week to start your Rockies. Make sure you’ve got Ezequiel Tovar out there as he’s been hot to start the season, slashing .306/.362/.486 so far. Same with Ryan McMahon, who’s been hitting .361/.434/.514 to kick off the season.

CATCHER TO STREAM: Elias Díaz hasn’t shown much of any power at all so far this year, but he’s still hitting .310/.349/.379 to start off the year. With six games in Coors Field, he’s worth a start if you need a catcher.

 

Minnesota Twins hitters – The Twins get a seven-game week this week, which on its own is great, but on top of that, they’ll have some great matchups for their hitters.

They start the week off with four games against the White Sox, who currently own the worst team FIP in all of baseball. They will see Garrett Crochet in that series, which definitely could be tricky and might be an avoid in daily leagues, but otherwise, you should be good.

After that, the Twins will get three games against the Angels, who currently own the sixth-worst team FIP in the league. They’ll see Patrick Sandoval in that series, which could prove tricky, as could Reid Detmers, but ultimately I’m not all that worried about it.

Alex Kirilloff has looked great to start off the year, slashing .291/.344/.545 so far, and is definitely worth a look this week.

CATCHER TO STREAM: If you’re looking for a catcher this week, Ryan Jeffers is sporting a .236 ISO on the year so far, and with the matchups he’s slated to have this week, he could provide some value.

 

Baltimore Orioles hitters – The Orioles get six games this week, starting with three against the Angels who, as I mentioned, have the sixth-worst team FIP in baseball so far this year. Then, after that, they’ll get three games against the A’s where they’ll see Ross Stripling, JP Sears, and Paul Blackburn, none of whom scare me from a hitting perspective.

That means it’s a great week to keep riding the Colton Cowser train, as he’s been crushing the ball slashing .383/.412/.766 on the year so far. This could also be an especially good week to have Ryan Mountcastle in your starting lineup, as the Orioles are slated to see three lefties this week, and Mountcastle is a career .281/.338/.515 hitter against lefties.

Of course, given that half the Orioles’ games will be against lefties this week, that means it would not be a good week to start Ryan O’Hearn, despite how well he’s been hitting. In daily leagues, go ahead and start him in the matchups against righties, but he’s almost certainly not going to be playing in the lefty matchups, meaning he’s out half of the games in weekly leagues.

 

New York Yankees hitters – The Yankees have seven games this week, starting with four against the A’s where they’ll see JP Sears, Paul Blackburn, Joe Boyle, and Alex Wood, which should be four pretty good matchups for your Yankees hitters.

After that, they’ll have three games against the Brewers where they’ll see DL Hall, Colin Rea, and Joe Ross, again three matchups that don’t worry me from a hitting perspective.

Oswaldo Cabrera has been hitting well to start off the year, slashing .310/.349/.534, and is definitely worth a look this week. And while Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t been sporting the best batting average so far, he does have a .286 ISO on the year so far and could have some value.

 

AVOID

 

Houston Astros hitters – It’s weird to say you should avoid a team that gets to play in Coors Field this week, but I think it’s a tough week to justify starting your Astros in weekly leagues.

The main issue is, the Astros only get five games this week. Sure, those two in Coors will be good for their hitters, and it’s worth starting your Astros in daily leagues in that series, but they’ll also have three games against the Cubs where they’ll see Jordan Wicks, Jameson Taillon, and Shota Imanaga. Taillon and Imanaga have both looked pretty good so far this year, making them tough matchups.

So in a week where a bunch of teams are getting seven-game weeks and everyone else is getting a six-game week, the Astros have just five games, and really only three that I’d feel comfortable starting my Astros hitters in. If you don’t have any better options in weekly leagues, it’s fine, but I’d be looking elsewhere first.

 

Oakland Athletics hitters – Normally I’d be excited by a seven-game week, but not this week for the A’s.

They start off the week with four games against the Yankees where they’ll see Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman, Clarke Schmidt, and Nestor Cortes. Then, they’ll close out the week with three games against the Orioles where they’ll see Corbin Burnes, Cole Irvin, and Grayson Rodriguez.

There are a couple of matchups in there where you could probably start your A’s hitters, but I don’t think there’s enough value in total to justify it in weekly leagues.

 

New York Mets hitters – The Mets have six games this week, starting with three against the Giants in pitcher-friendly Oracle Park. In that series, they’ll face Keaton Winn, Logan Webb, and Blake Snell, and while I’m not all that worried about Winn, Webb and Snell certainly worry me.

After that, they’ll get three games against the Cardinals where they’ll see Miles Mikolas, Sonny Gray, and Lance Lynn. Similarly, Mikolas doesn’t worry me, but Gray and Lynn have both looked great so far this year, so all in all, doesn’t look like a great week for your Mets hitters.

 

Chicago White Sox hitters – It’s another seven-game week, this time for the White Sox, but it’s another seven-game week that looks like it’ll be pretty tough for your White Sox hitters.

They’ll start the week off with four games against the Twins where they’ll see Chris Paddack, Pablo López, Joe Ryan, and Bailey Ober. Then, they’ll close with three games against the Rays where they’ll see Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale, and Zack Littell.

There are a couple of matchups in there where you might be able to squeeze some value from your White Sox hitters, but overall it’s probably a week to look somewhere else.

Feature image by Michael Packard (@artbymikep on Twitter) / Photo by Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire