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MLB Weekly Planner: Week 8 (5/25 – 5/31)

FTA-LogoJamie Calandro discusses matchups and planning for Week 8.

This piece is part of our article program that features quality content from experts exclusively at FantasyPros. For more insight from Jamie head to Fantasy Team Advice.

Welcome to this edition of fantasy baseball’s planner for Week 8 (5/25 – 5/31). Whether you play in a league that offers weekly or daily lineup changes, you can still gain a distinct advantage by scouring the matchups for the week ahead and planning accordingly. This is the time to get your FAAB bids in or to make your waiver claims, and I’m here to help target to right guys.

In my DFS work on Fantasy Team Advice, I often write about the benefits of stacking your lineups against certain pitchers (or the reverse – targeting pitchers against certain lineups). While I don’t recommend piling on a ton of hitters from one team in seasonal leagues, you’ll find that the analysis behind the selections is similar if you’re a DFS player.

NOTE – Bear in mind that the Memorial Day holiday moves up the lock time to 1 PM EST if you’re in a weekly league.

Get Start/Sit & Waiver Wire Advice

STREAMING PITCHERS

TWO-START OPTIONS

Matt Shoemaker (SP,RP, LAA) – vs. SD, vs. DET

Shoemaker has undergone some struggles this year due to a drop in velocity, but he gets two home matchups this week and he has historically done better in the friendly confines of Angel Stadium (2.98 home ERA, 4.62 road ERA). Both lineups are very right-hand heavy and Shoemaker has given up much less hard contact to RHB while allowing only a career .296 wOBA.

Clay Buchholz (SP, BOS) – @MIN, @TEX

You never know when the “bad” Clay Buchholz is going to show up, but he has two healthy matchups this coming week so I’d be willing to roll the dice on him. I know it’s difficult to do, but throw out his high ERA. His peripherals have actually been quite good, as he has a 27.2% K-rate, a 6.6% BB-rate, and a 49.7 GB%, leading to a 3.10 xFIP (indicating he’s pitching much better than it looks). This week he faces the Twins and Rangers, who rank 21st and 19th in wRC+, respectively, against RHP.

Bartolo Colon (SP, NYM)  – vs. PHI, vs. MIA

Make no mistake about it. Colon’s early success is most likely unsustainable given his history, but he has two terrific matchups at home this week. The Philles rank last in both wOBA and wRC+ against RHP, and the Marlins are 24th in wRC+. Colon is currently posting a 7.44 K/9 (high for him), so take advantage.

ONE-START WONDERS

Jimmy Nelson (SP, MIL) – vs. ARI

Nelson is a solid play this week at home against the Diamondbacks, who routinely throw out at least seven RHB in their regular lineup. Nelson has a 26.7 K% and an 0.87 WHIP at home so far this season despite early struggles with the HR ball.

Mike Fiers (SP, MIL) – vs. ARI

From a fantasy standpoint, Fiers could prove even better than his teammate Nelson. He is posting an elite 11.23 K/9 this year and the Diamondbacks rank 25th in wOBA away from Arizona. Like Nelson, he struggles with giving up homers (1.30 HR/9 allowed), but the upside is too great to ignore.

Chris Heston (SP,RP, SF) – @ATL

Heston is struggling against LHB (.380 wOBA allowed), but also is posting a 3.10 FIP and 7.63 K/9 so far. The Braves do not have a fearsome power lineup outside of Freddie Freeman. Heston also doesn’t lose much in the way of park factor going from San Francisco to Atlanta.

STREAMING HITTERS – START/SIT

START

Pablo Sandoval (3B, BOS)

The Kung Fu Panda’s slow start to his Boston career has some people panicking (even going so far as to drop him). His injury shouldn’t keep him out much longer and this week looks like a recipe for success as he faces off against Texas and Minnesota, who will throw out a series of mediocre-to-poor RHP. Sandoval has always been significantly better against RHP in his career, posting a .366 wOBA and .190 ISO. He is also cruising along this year with a 1.013 OPS versus righties so far this season.

Adam LaRoche (1B,DH, CWS)

Another slow start on a new team, but this week looks quite tasty. LaRoche is part of a few teams who get eight games in week 8, and he is already facing six (perhaps seven) RHP in that time frame. In his career, LaRoche has posted a .359 wOBA and .216 ISO vs RHP.

Adam Eaton (CF, CWS)

If you’re in need of a speed boost, you can use the same idea here. Eaton has been atrocious this year, but ZiPS projects him for 17 SB despite only having one so far (you can’t steal if you’re not on base!). Eaton has a 73 wRC+ vs. RHP this season, which is still bad, but is significantly better than he’s doing against lefties.

Jimmy Paredes (3B,RF,DH, BAL)

The Orioles are enjoying an 8-game week as well, and the switch hitter is playing every day in a favorable lineup spot for Baltimore. He’s been useless as a righty, but luckily the O’s are scheduled to face 5 RHP so far (could be six with the doubleheader). Paredes has a .327 wOBA and 106 wRC+ vs. RHP this season.

SIT

Jorge Soler (RF, CHC)

The Cuban sensation is striking out a ridiculous 32.8% of the time right now, and is only posting a .124 ISO. Until he corrects some things, he belongs on your bench, especially since he faces Zimmermann, Scherzer, and Yordano Ventura all in the same week, the latter two of whom have a K/9 over 9.00 vs. RHB.

Jace Peterson (2B,3B,SS, ATL)/Nick Markakis (RF, ATL)

The only Braves lefty I’d leave in this week is Freddie Freeman (and I’m not even that thrilled with him). The lefty-heavy Atlanta lineup ranks 20th in both team wOBA and team wRC+, and face a slew of solid-to-elite LHP this week (Brett Anderson on Monday, escalating to Kershaw and Bumgarner later in the week). This leaves only 4 games against RHP, and two of them are against Greinke and Lincecum. All of these games are on the road in pitcher parks, so the upside is severely capped for Braves hitters this week. I’d even consider sitting Freeman if you had an alternative like LaRoche or Mike Napoli.

A.J. Pollock (CF, ARI)

Pollock is a solid major league hitter with power and speed upside, so it’s hard to justify sitting someone like that. However, his splits against RHP vs. LHP are significant (.484 wOBA, .222 ISO vs. LHP, .314 wOBA, .112 ISO vs. RHP), and this week he faces a slew of high-upside K pitchers (Carlos Martinez, Lance Lynn, Mike Fiers and Jimmy Butler). If you have a viable alternative on your bench (maybe Rusney Castillo?), I’m advocating sitting A.J. for this week where the Diamondbacks only have six games.

Jamie is the Lead Baseball Writer for Fantasy Team Advice. Be sure to check back next Sunday for his Weekly Planner. For questions and answers, find him on Twitter @jac3600.


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