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.
Also I want to give a quick shoutout to Scott Chu for covering this article last week while I was on vacation; he’s the best.
So here’s who you should start and avoid in Week 14 (7/25-7/31) 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
Los Angeles Dodgers hitters – Man, oh man, is it a great week to start your Dodgers. They have a full seven-game week this week, starting with three games against the Nationals, who own the worst team FIP in all of baseball, and closing with four games against the Rockies at Coors Field. Literally, I don’t think you could create a more favorable schedule this week for a team — three games against the worst pitching staff in baseball and four games in the best hitters’ park in baseball — so make sure you get your Dodgers out there in your lineups.
Colorado Rockies hitters – Speaking of Coors Field, it’s a pretty decent week to start your Rockies, too. They’re spending six out of their seven games this week in Coors Field, which is great. Unfortunately, four of those games will be against a very good Dodgers pitching staff, so that’s not ideal, but still, they’ve got two games against the White Sox and one game in Milwaukee against the Brewers. Six games at Coors Field is hard to turn down, so I’d get your Rockies out there. Over the past two weeks, José Iglesias has been slashing .323/.353/.484 if you’re looking for an interesting deep league play.
Chicago White Sox hitters – Normally I wouldn’t be recommending you start hitters on a team with just five games this week, but the White Sox are an exception because I think you can get some good production out of all five games. The White Sox start their week off with the aforementioned two games in Coors Field against the Rockies, and they close the week with three games against the A’s, who own the eighth-worst team FIP in all of baseball. Given the matchups and Coors Field, I feel like you’ve got to take advantage of your White Sox hitters this week. Yoán Moncada has been hitting well lately, slashing .297/.366/.514 over the past two weeks, and could hopefully keep that up this week. And if you’re looking for a deep league play, Adam Engel has been slashing .364/.364/.545 over the past two weeks.
Los Angeles Angels hitters – The Angels have a full seven-game week this week, all against very beatable pitching staffs. They start off with three games against the Royals, who own the third-worst team FIP in all of baseball, and they close with four games against the Rangers, who own the 11th-worst team FIP in baseball, so make sure you get your Angels hitters out there.
AVOID
Minnesota Twins hitters – The Twins have just a five-game week this week, which already puts them at a disadvantage. On top of that, they’ll have two games against the Brewers, including a matchup against Corbin Burnes, and three games against the Padres, who own the eighth-best team FIP in all of baseball, making Twins hitters a tough play this week.
New York Mets hitters – The Mets are in a similar situation to the Twins this week. They’ve got just five games, two of which will be against the Yankees, who own the third-best team FIP in baseball, and three will be against the Marlins where they’ll see both Sandy Alcántara and Pablo López. There just aren’t too many games worth taking advantage of this week for your Mets hitters, so I’d avoid them.
Chicago Cubs hitters – There are really only two games this week worth starting your Cubs hitters in — their first two games of the week against the Pirates. In daily leagues, go ahead and get your Cubs hitters out there. But the rest of their week consists of a four-game series against the Giants, who own the best team FIP in all of baseball, and that series will be in Oracle Park, one of the more pitcher-friendly parks in the league. With just two games worth taking advantage of this week, I’d avoid my Cubs hitters.
Arizona Diamondbacks hitters – The D’Backs have six games this week, starting off with three against the aforementioned Giants, who again, own the best team FIP in all of baseball. Then, they’ll close with three games against Atlanta, who own the second-best team FIP in all of baseball. So basically, the D’Backs are going up against the two best pitching staffs in baseball this week — avoid them.
Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire | Featured Image by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter and @EthanMKaplanImages on Instagram)