Brandon Phillips and the Reds’ offense should rebound this week
Jamie Calandro breaks down the top matchups and streaming options for the week ahead.
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 5 (5/2 – 5/8). 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 of the selections is similar if you’re a DFS player.
Get free start/sit and waiver wire advice for your fantasy team 
STREAMING PITCHERS
TWO START OPTIONS
Bartolo Colon (NYM) – vs ATL, @SD
Colon is nowhere near as exciting as his Met teammates, but he has two wonderful matchups against two of the worst offenses in the league. The Braves and Padres rank 24th and 25th in team wOBA, the Braves are last in ISO, and the Padres have struck out the second most against RHP.
Nathan Karns (SEA) – vs OAK, @HOU
Karns is giving up a bit too much power but is otherwise doing just fine in Seattle. His start against Oakland looks really enticing as the A’s rank 27th in wOBA against RHP. He loses big time in the park factor department going to Houston later in the week, but they have struck out the most in the league to start the season and are still scuffling offensively.
Patrick Corbin (ARI) – @MIA, @ATL
Corbin has two road starts which helps his stock as he’s getting away from hitter-friendly Arizona. Miami and Atlanta are both favorable to pitchers, and Atlanta strikes out a TON more against LHP than they do against righties. Miami can be tough on lefties, but the loss of Dee Gordon hurts the lineup overall, and Corbin is not the traditional platoon attack point as some other SPs
ONE-START WONDERS
Drew Pomeranz (SD) – vs NYM
Pomeranz has a lot going against him. He’s facing a Mets’ offense that is rolling right now, and he’s scheduled to square off against Noah Syndergaard. However, he has fantastic peripherals so far this season along with an elite 12.68 K/9, and he will be pitching in his home park which really stifles offenses.
Rich Hill (OAK) – @BAL
There might be some hesitation to start Hill against a high-octane offense in their hitter-friendly home environment, but Hill (like Pomeranz) has insane peripherals and a 12.81 K/9 so far this season. The ZiPS projection system also suggests almost every Oriole starter will have higher than a 15% K rate.
STREAMING HITTERS
START
Brandon Phillips (CIN – 2B)
The Reds are in a nice spot this week. They get to play all seven games in their hitter-friendly home park, and outside of Johnny Cueto they are facing six pitchers with average to below-average K rates who give up lots of fly balls. Phillips hits cleanup and should be in the mix for a nice rebound week along with the entire Reds’ offense.
Chris Carter (MIL – 1B)
Carter could rack up the power numbers this week. Milwaukee plays three games at home and then four in Cincinnati where power is also inflated. Hector Santiago is the highest-rated pitcher Milwaukee will face, but he has allowed a career 1.53 HR/9 to RHB. The Reds’ pitchers (outside of Raisel Iglesias) are not good, and their bullpen ranks 29th in the majors.
SIT
Logan Forsythe (TB – 2B)
The Rays are not a team you want to deploy this week. They are playing only five games and all are in pitcher-friendly environments. Forsythe is much better against lefties but really tends to struggle against righties (career .292 wOBA, .096 ISO), and he only faces one LHP this week so there’s almost all downside here. Oh yeah, did I mention the one lefty he’s slated to start against is Clayton Kershaw?
Chase Utley (LAD – 2B)
The Dodgers are the other team you want to sit this week. They’re the only other squad with a five-game week and (like the Rays) are playing all their games in pitchers’ parks. The first two games are against Matt Moore and Drew Smyly (both power lefties). Utley has really lost a step against same-handed pitching over the years.
Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | TuneIn | Google Play
