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 8 (5/22 – 5/28) of the fantasy baseball season.
Note: 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
Victor Martinez and Alex Avila - The Tigers get eight games this week thanks to a double-header against the White Sox, which makes their team in general pretty appealing, but I'm going to focus on two guys here. First: Victor Martinez has been killing the ball lately. I was worried early on with his slow start, it seemed like age was catching up with him, but he's righted the ship and has been hitting .307 with three home runs and 17 RBIs over the past month, and I don't see any reason he can't keep it going. Keep plugging him in there. As for Alex Avila, my recommendation for him only sticks if Miguel Cabrera is out with his injury. As of now, he's expected to be ok, but if he's in and out as they manage his injury, Avila looks intriguing, as the Tigers will face six righties this week. Avila's splits are stark, and he's batting .379 against righties so far this year. If Cabrera is out, Avila could see some first base starts along with some starts at catcher.
