Let’s enjoy this season while it lasts. Each week continues to provide more and more uncertainty about the 2020 season as the St.Louis Cardinals have not played a baseball game since July 29th and have already canceled the beginning of their series this week with the Pirates. This, coupled with injuries to Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson, and the possibility of losing more players due to the COVID pandemic makes setting a weekly lineup harder than ever. It may be hard to roll out a full starting lineup every week but we need to prepare our rosters for the worst-case scenario. As always I encourage you to read Max Freeze’s Sit/Start article on the site for pitching matchups for this upcoming week of games. Let’s take a look at some players you should be considering picking up this Sunday.
Hitters
Matt Kemp gets to play six games at home this week and the Rockies are not afraid to trot him out there every day. Unfortunately, for guys like Sam Hilliard this means the loss of some playing time but Kemp has been kind of good this year posting two home runs and eight rbis through the first few weeks of the season and also batting a respectable .258. Kemp is not the sexiest guy to add and in 2020 who would’ve thought he would even be worth a pickup but if you’re desperate, most of us are, he could be a nice fill in this week. Kemp is available in 82% of TGFBI leagues.
Percentage of FAAB on Kemp: 5-10%
Marwin Gonzalez is the perfect candidate to take over for Josh Donaldson missing time due to a calf injury. With Donaldson’s history of calf issues, who knows how long he will be out. Marwin has shown promise in the past and is hitting .350 so far this year in 40 at-bats. If he is given every day playing time, he could be extremely valuable based on the lineup around him and his positional flexibility. He might only be an average boost for you while trickling in a few home runs and runs now and then but he should get all the playing time that Donaldson had while he is out. Marwin is available in 23% of TGFBI leagues.
Percentage of FAAB on Marwin: 10-15%
Mike Tauchman was a hot pickup last year with all of the Yankee injuries and with Giancarlo Stanton going down and heading to the IL, he could see a huge playing time increase. Last year, Tauchman hit 13HR with six steals and a .277 average for the Yankees and he is already off to a hot start in limited playing time this year batting .310 with four steals. Look for Tauchman to get the bulk of the playing time with Stanton out. If Tauchman isn’t available in your league, you could throw a smaller bid on Clint Frazier if the Yankees were to give him another chance on the big league roster. Tauchman is available in 53% of TGFBI leagues.
Percentage of FAAB on Tauchman: 10-15%
Honorable Mentions
Max Stassi and Francisco Cervelli are worth looking into if you need help at either catcher spot in your lineup. Stassi has been tearing the cover off the ball this year. especially against lefties, to the tune of four home runs and a .296 average. Stassi still will be splitting playing time with Jason Castro, but I don’t know how long they can keep his bat out of the lineup. Cervelli will be getting the bulk of the playing time for the Marlins with Jorge Alfaro testing positive for COVID. Cervelli has always been a decent hitter when healthy and he should at least help in the average category if you need a fill-in catcher. Stassi and Cervelli are available in 91% of TGFBI leagues.
Percentage of FAAB on Stassi & Cervelli: 2-5%
Monte Harrison, Edwin Rios, and Nick Markakis are all guys I would consider picking up this week as well. Harrison looks to be in line for some playing time for the Marlins and if he performs well, could be in line for the bulk of the playing time in the Marlins outfield for the rest of the year. Rios has been very good in his limited part-time opportunities with the Dodgers so far this year. He’s a guy that is worth a stash because if an injury were to happen or a player was diagnosed with COVID, he would most likely get a chance in the lineup. Markakis was a popular pick as some people’s fifth outfielder this year during the draft season. He plays on a good offense and should have a decent spot in the lineup. Now that he is opted back in for the year, he should be here to stay.
Percentage of FAAB on Harrison/Rios/Markakis: 5-15% depending on if they need to start for your team or not
Pitchers
Rafael Montero will most likely be one of the highest bids of the week as he is fresh off of two straight saves and looks to be the guy in Texas with Jose Leclerc out. My thought all along was that Montero would be the guy if Leclerc were to falter or land on the IL. Nick Goody had to come in last week and ruin that for me as he got a save and at that time we did not know when Montero would be activated. Now that Montero is here to stay, he is the closer in Texas. Texas’ offense is putrid and they will have to rely on the aces of the staff to win some games but if they do win, they will be close games most likely. Montero is available in 88% of TGFBI leagues.
Percentage of FAAB on Montero: 15-25% unless you only have one reliable closer or a St. Louis closer then 25-40%
Randy Dobnak is slated for two starts this week at Milwaukee and versus the Royals. Both offenses have been decent so far this year but most fantasy teams are chasing good performances from their pitchers. Dobnak won’t set the world on fire but he could provide decent ratios and the possibility of a couple of wins in this two-start week. In his first three starts of the year he has given up three hits in all of them and only allowed one run all year. His ceiling for strikeouts in a week is relatively low but we should be chasing the good matchups and potential wins for streamable pitchers. Dobnak is available in 38% of TGFBI leagues.
Percentage of FAAB on Dobnak: 8-12%
Zach Eflin and Jake Arrieta are both scheduled to face the Orioles at home this week. Eflin is the guy I want long term over Arrieta but a case can be made for both to be added this week just for the Oriole starts. In Eflin’s first start versus the Yankees he went four innings with five strikeouts, one walk, and two unearned runs. He was a decent streaming option last year and should have a nice day versus the Orioles this week. Arrieta looked good in his last start versus the Braves as he threw six scoreless innings while posting six strikeouts and one walk. Both are worth a pickup this week due to their matchup and both are available in 65% of TGFBI leagues.
Percentage of FAAB on Eflin/Arrieta: 8-12%
As always I will plug Max Freeze’s Sit/Start article again for more insight on the pitching matchups this week. Good luck on your FAAB tonight and hopefully we will see you here next week.
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