Fantasy Baseball: Week 12 Guide

Scherzer makes for one of the top two-start pitchers this week.

Happy Father’s Day to all, week 12 is upon us! So what does week 12 bring in for gifts, how about some two-start studs with Max Scherzer, Masahiro Tanaka, Johnny Cueto and Adam Wainwright to start the list.

Just to add to that present, we’ll cover your start/sit hitter options, streamers for the week and just all things baseball to make sure you are loaded with the ammo you need to succeed in week 12.

ROTOWORLD: WEEK AHEAD: HEAR ME ROARK

Beyond the article title each week, Nick Nelson (Rotoworld) provides a great rundown of what to expect in the week ahead. For example, look at a guy like Tanner Roark, there’s only one possible explanation on why he is owned in just 50% of Yahoo! leagues. The Nationals’ rotation is so loaded that Roark just gets lost in the crowd. There’s this thing he has though called his home 1.55 ERA where he’ll be capitalizing on twice this week. Who else are two-start strong plays this week, here’s a look at a few names out of the AL and NL as well as streamer options from both leagues.

Two-Start Pitchers

Streamers

National League

• Jake Arrieta @ MIA  – He sports a 2.50 ERA with 35 K in 36 innings, but is unowned everywhere
• Jeff Locke vs. CIN – He pitched tremendously in his last outing resembling his first half of last year
• Edwin Jackson vs. PIT – He’s always a wild card, but has a 3.22 ERA and a 9.2 K/9 rate at home this season

American League

• Kevin Gausman @ TB – He shut down a strong Oakland lineup and he’ll face a struggling Tampa unit
• Erasmo Ramirez @ SD – Lots of talent pitching inside pitcher friend Petco Park
• Hector Noesi @ MIN – Has pitched fairly well and has been quality in 3 of his last 4

CBS SPORTS: START AND SIT HITTERS FOR WEEK 12

Week 12 will bring back a few hitters from injury with Shane Victorino being the most notable player, though he may not be so productive right out of the gate. There are a handful of guys though that were nursing day-to-day injuries heading into the weekend. Hanley Ramirez, Brian Dozier, Jose Altuve and Jacoby Ellsbury all appear to be on their way back making them “too obvious” plays for their positions. With that said, here’s a look at some positional breakdowns from Scott White (CBS Sports).

Catcher:

Too obvious: Jonathan Lucroy, Buster Posey, Yadier Molina, Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana, Brian McCann, Miguel Montero, Evan Gattis, Wilin Rosario, Salvador Perez, Devin Mesoraco

Start: Russell Martin, Pirates

Martin has been the fourth highest scoring catcher in Head-to-Head points leagues. His batting average is too good to be true, but his hot and cold nature certainly makes him worthy of a look considering how hot he is right now. Start Martin instead of Mike Zunino, John Jaso or Dioner Navarro.

Sit: Carlos Ruiz, Phillies

Ruiz has been hot and cold in his own right this season and has rebounded from a poor May to hit .333 with a home run and an .867 OPS in his last 12 games. That hot streak may come to an end though with tough matchups against the Braves and Cardinals. All seven of his games will be on the road where he bats .253 compared to .300 at home. Sit Ruiz instead of Russell Martin, Jason Castro or Kurt Suzuki.

Third Base

Too obvious: Miguel Cabrera, Josh Donaldson, Adrian Beltre, David Wright, Matt Carpenter, Todd Frazier, Evan Longoria, Anthony Rendon, Martin Prado, Ryan Zimmerman, Lonnie Chisenhall, Kyle Seager, Xander Bogaerts, Pedro Alvarez

Start: Aramis Ramirez, Brewers

A DL stint may have helped Ramirez break out of his slump and he’s now batting .297 with two home runs ten games into his return. The Brewers have the best matchups of any team this week (4 @ARI, 3 @COL) and Ramirez will be just one of beneficiaries getting to hit in these batter friendly parks.

Sit: Pablo Sandoval, Giants

He’s cooled off a bit in June, but his numbers are still more than worthy of playing him. The issue is, the Giants are the only team with five games this week and three of those games will go against left-handed pitchers who Sandoval is batting just .169 against. Sit the Panda instead of Aramis Ramirez, Manny Machado or Trevor Plouffe.

FANTASY ALARM: MLB WEEKLY PREVIEW: WEEK 12

Michael Pichan (Fantasy Alarm) is here to bring you all the happenings for week 12 including interleague schedules, lefty/righty matchups, streaming options and more. Take a look below to see what he has to say about a couple of the topics just mentioned.

Loaded Lefty/Righty Matchups (Listed are teams that play 5 games or more against either LHP or RHP)

• Angels – 6 games vs RHP
• Braves – 6 games vs RHP
• Diamondbacks – 6 games vs RHP
• White Sox – 6 games vs RHP
• Cubs – 5 games vs RHP (Matchup on Sat vs. PIT TBD)
• Indians – 6 games vs RHP
• Marlins – 6 games vs RHP
• Brewers – 5 games vs RHP (Matchup on Sun vs. COL TBD)
• Yankees – 5 games vs RHP (5 games vs. RHP will be at home)
• Mets – 6 games vs RHP
• Phillies – 6 games vs RHP
• Pirates – 6 games vs RHP
• Rays – 5 games vs RHP
• Blue Jays – 6 games vs RHP (The Jays owns the 2nd best OPS in MLB vs RHP)

Interleague Schedule

NL Team’s Getting a DH:

• Padres at Mariners (2x Mon & Tues)
• Giants at White Sox (2x Tues & Wed) – Two lefties might put Buster Posey into the DH and switch-hitting Hector Sanchez may catch.

AL Team’s Losing a DH

• Astros at Nationals (2x Tues & Wed) – Chris Carter will likely be the odd man out again @HOU.
• Mariners at Padres (Thurs)
• Blue Jays at Reds (3x Fri-Sun) – Edwin Encarnacion will be expected to slide to first base which would lead to less AB’s for Adam Lind.

ESPN: FANTASY FORECASTER: WEEK OF JUNE 16

Every week, Tristan Cockcroft (ESPN) provides his fantasy forecaster which covers topics including hitting advantages, pitching advantages and much, much more. This week, we’ll take a quick look at his teams and players with pitching/hitting advantages to round out our weekly guide. Be sure to visit ESPN for the rest of Cockcroft’s fantasy forecaster.

Pitching Advantages:

• Adam Wainwright will have a favorable matchup regardless which day he starts. The Cardinals staff as a whole will face the Mets and Phillies who rank in the bottom 10 in wOBA and runs scored.
• The Mariners are Cockcroft’s under-the-radar pitching staff of Week 12. The opposing Padres and Royals rank 30th and 23rd in terms of runs scored this season. Chris Young and Roenis Elias have rebound opportunities against these light-hitting offenses.
• Streamer Delight Picks for Week 12
  • Jaime Garcia vs. PHI – Fear of injury keeps him from being owned more and he has a 0.95 WHIP
  • Marcus Stroman @ NYY – Yankees struggle against breaking pitches and his strength is his slider
  • Edinson Volquez vs. CIN – He has  a 3.22 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in nine games at PNC Park
  • Wei-Yin Chen @ TB – 6-for-9 in quality starts against the Rays with a 2.86 ERA and 1.22 WHIP
  • Marcus Stroman @ CIN – The Reds have batted .149 and missed 1/3 of their swings against sliders
  • Tom Koehler vs. NYM – Against the Mets he has a 2.12 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in his past five starts.
  • Drew Hutchison @ NYY – His road splits are hard to ignore where he has a 2.03 ERA and 0.96 WHIP

Hitting Advantages:

Volume Plays: Home Games

• Indians – 7 games
• Athletics – 7 games
• Rays – 7 games
• Diamondbacks – 7 games
• Marlins – 7 games
• Cardinals – 7 games
• Yankees – 6 games
• Nationals – 6 games
• Padres – 5 games