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.
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 here’s who you should start and avoid in Week 12 (7/4-7/10) 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
Detroit Tigers hitters – The Tigers get eight games this week, which immediately makes starting their hitters pretty appealing. Even better? They’re going up against two pretty middle-of-the-road pitching staffs in the Guardians and the White Sox. Neither staff is especially bad, but they’re not especially good either, which makes the volume of an eight-game week pretty great.
Atlanta hitters – Atlanta has a seven-game week this week and gets some pretty solid matchups, starting off with four games against the Cardinals, who own the 11th-worst team FIP in baseball, and closing with three games against the Nationals, who own the worst team FIP in baseball. Dansby Swanson has been on fire lately, slashing .346/.358/.712 over the past two weeks and definitely warrants a start. Michael Harris II has also continued to hit well, slashing .302/.333/.512 and is worth a look this week.
Los Angeles Dodgers hitters – The Dodgers get a solid seven-game week this week, starting with three games against the Rockies (not in Coors Field, sadly), a team that owns the eighth-worst team FIP in all of baseball, and closing with four games against the Cubs, who own the fourth-worst team FIP in baseball. Pretty much every hitter in the Dodgers’ lineup is already widely owned, so make sure you start your Dodgers. One guy who might be worth a look: the Dodgers recently brought Jake Lamb up, who’s had some good years in the past and was hitting .290/.395/.537 in Triple-A when they called him up. Now, he’s 31 and has plenty of Major League experience, so you could argue of course he was hitting that well in Triple-A, but it’s just something to keep an eye on.
Ketel Marte – It’s a great week to get Ketel Marte in your lineups. The Diamondbacks have six games this week and four of them will be against lefties, which is great for Marte, who is a career .305/.356/.518 hitter against lefties.
AVOID
St. Louis Cardinals hitters – The Cardinals have seven games this week, which normally would be exciting, but those seven games will include four against Atlanta, who own the second-best team FIP in baseball, and three against the Phillies, who own the sixth-best team FIP in baseball. All of that is to say, it’s not a great week to start your Cardinals.
Oakland Athletics hitters – The A’s have six games this week, starting off with three against the Blue Jays, where they’ll see Alek Manoah, who’s been rock solid this year. They’ll also see Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi, neither of whom scare me, so feel free to start your A’s in those games in daily leagues. But after that series, they’ll have three games against the Astros, a team that owns the fifth-best team FIP in baseball. There are maybe two games where I think your A’s hitters will do well, but the rest of the week looks rough, meaning in weekly leagues, I’d bench my A’s.
Chicago Cubs hitters – It’s a bit of a rough week for the Cubs this week. They’ve got seven games, starting with three against the Brewers, who own the ninth-best team FIP in baseball, and closing with four games against the Dodgers, who own the third-best team FIP in baseball. One of those games in the Brewers series will be against Chi Chi Gonzalez, which doesn’t really worry me at all, so go ahead and start your Cubs in that game in daily leagues, but otherwise, this week is a pass for my Cubs hitters.
David Peralta – David Peralta has been hitting the ball pretty well lately, slashing .333/.407/.667 over the past two weeks, so it makes sense if you’ve added him. Unfortunately though, this week could be a bit of a slow down for Peralta. As I mentioned earlier, four of the Diamondbacks’ six games this week will be against lefties, and Peralta is especially bad against lefties, slashing .240/.305/.368 against them on his career. Frankly, he might not even play in those games and instead sit for someone like Jordan Luplow who, while not having the best batting average in general, at least has a .313 ISO against lefties on his career.
Photo by Steve Nurenberg/Icon Sportswire | Featured Image by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)