Hopefully you are wrapping up a big week in fantasy baseball. While the week isn’t quite over, that Monday morning waiver wire period is right around the corner so it is time to dive into your top options. I could give you a list of names that are probably available in your league, but every league is different and there might be someone available to you who is better than the top pickups in most leagues. I figure the best way I can help is by just giving you my rankings for each week in advance. These are not my rest of the season rankings minus injuries, but rather based around a number of factors. Opponents, ballparks, anticipated spot in the lineup, splits and even potential postponements are all accounted for. Perhaps most importantly, however, are which players will be benefiting/suffering from time in Coors, and which pitchers are scheduled to start two games. I’ll tell you about both of them today then give you my rankings for Week 3. If you don’t already, you can follow me on twitter @bobbyfantasypro. I try to get to as many questions as possible (it helps if they are short and to the point), plus I post my start/sit chart for pitchers every weekday morning.
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Coors Field Watch
With the Humidor coming into play for Chase Field, there really is no second tier this season. Last year, it was Coors in Tier 1 for offense, Chase in Tier 2, then a handful of hitter-friendly environments like the ballparks for the Yankees, Braves, Rangers, Orioles and Reds. While offensive players spending time in those parks this week will get a slight bump, assuming they have reasonable pitching matchups, the only real significant movement will be players who take at-bats in Coors. This week there is just one series again, with the Rockies traveling to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates before welcoming the Cubs for a weekend home series. Cubs’ offensive players will get a fairly sizeable boost while others players may just rise or sink a few spots in their positional rankings.
Two-Start Risers
There are 38 pitchers expected to start two games this week, but 18 of them have little, if any, fantasy relevance. In many leagues, you may want to consider a spot start for someone like Aaron Sanchez vs KC, German Marquez @ PIT or one of Kyle Gison or Martin Perez @ TB. Nine others, are owned everywhere and were drafted within the top 120 with the exception of Patrick Corbin. Each is a must-start in both of their opportunities this week. That leaves us with 11 two-start pitchers who will see a significant increase in fantasy value over the next week and should be scooped up assuming they are not already owned. This does not apply in leagues with a season maximum for innings pitched. Here are my targets:
- Blake Snell (vs TEX, vs MIN)
- Michael Fulmer (vs BAL, vs KC)
- Tyler Skaggs (vs BOS, vs SF)
- Luis Castillo (@ MIL, @ STL)
- Kevin Gausman (@ DET, vs CLE)
- Danny Duffy (@ TOR, @ DET)
- Mike Foltynewicz (vs PHI, vs NYM)
- Nick Pivetta (@ ATL, vs PIT)
- Hyun-Jin Ryu (@ SD, vs WAS)
- Marco Estrada (vs KC, @ NYY)
- Ian Kennedy (@ TOR, @ DET)
Several of these arms like Tyler Skaggs and Nick Pivetta have been impressive early on. I expect the performances to continue rolling in at that rate based on their skill profile. Others like Luis Castillo have struggled earlier on, but shouldn’t be given up on quite yet. Now, below you can check out my rankings at every position.
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