In the second week of the fantasy baseball season, there are 18 teams with six games on the docket, and a dozen teams play a week-high seven games.
Notable Matchups
Atlanta Braves at LAD (3), vs. MIA (3)
It’s a double-whammy of negatives for Atlanta’s hitters. First, they’re one of the 18 teams playing a week-low six games. Second, they have a challenging layout of opposing pitchers, such as Clayton Kershaw (SP – LAD), Walker Buehler (SP – LAD), Trevor Rogers (SP – MIA), and Jesus Luzardo (SP – MIA). So, you might be best served sitting any of your Braves hitters that are fringe starters in weekly lineup leagues.
Colorado Rockies vs. PHI (3), at DET (3)
The Rockies are among my favorite six-game-week teams, playing three at Coors Field to open next week. Further, their pitching matchups are excellent.
Philadelphia Phillies at COL (3), vs. MIL (3)
The Phillies are another six-game-week team I’m digging for next week. They’re the visitors to Coors Field to open the week before a three-game series in their homer-friendly home digs, Citizens Bank Park. Also, while a matchup with the Brewers appears tricky at first blush, they duck Corbin Burnes (SP – MIL) and Brandon Woodruff (SP – MIL).
St. Louis Cardinals at MIA (3), at CIN (3)
The Cardinals’ six-game week is a mixed bag. First, sadly, they have a few problematic pitching matchups. Second, three games at pitcher-friendly loanDepot park are suboptimal for the Red Birds’ bats. Finally, however, three games at homer and hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park provides St. Louis’s hitters a pick-me-up.
Boston Red Sox vs. MIN (1), vs. TOR (3), at TB (3)
The Red Sox jump-start my favorite seven-game schedules in fantasy baseball week two. First, they play four games at hitter-friendly Fenway Park to start the week. Second, their pitching matchups are middling.
Chicago White Sox at CLE (4), at MIN (3)
The Pale Hose will play seven games against righties next week. The pitching matchups aren’t overly imposing. However, I specifically mentioned the right-handed layout to highlight Gavin Sheets (OF – CWS) as a streamer. According to FanGraphs, Sheets has hit .257/.331/.534 with 11 homers in 166 plate appearances against righties.
Minnesota Twins at BOS (1), at KC (3), vs. CWS (3)
Like their AL Central rivals above, the Twins have seven games against ho-hum starting pitchers next week. Further, the Twins will likely face at least three lefties, bumping the value up for Gio Urshela (3B – MIN). Additionally, Ryan Jeffers (C – MIN) is a deep-league streamer option in two-catcher formats with daily lineup changes.
Oakland Athletics vs. BAL (4), vs. TEX (3)
In the offseason, the A’s tore their team down to the studs — and I don’t mean baseball superstars. They’re rebuilding. As a result, their underwhelming lineup has low-rostered streamers to pick from. Next week, Chad Pinder (OF – OAK) stands out as a deep-league streamer option. He’s no longer being used as only a platoon option. Regardless, the A’s project to face at least three lefties which is good for Pinder’s value. Since 2019, the 30-year-old hitter has slugged 14 homers and slashed .253/.315/.456 in 324 plate appearances against lefties. Moreover, he’s been penciled into a top-four lineup spot in four of seven games this year, hitting six in two and sitting in one.
Hitter Notes
The Giants will eventually get reinforcements on offense. Alex Pavlovic provided an update on this trio on Twitter earlier this week.
Update from the Giants on their injured players #MarcoMonday pic.twitter.com/gDqpWLmHXC
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) April 11, 2022
The injuries were also discussed a few days earlier in The Mercury News. La Stella’s timeline for return appears to be the murkiest of the bunch. Further, he’s the least exciting fantasy option of the bunch. Longo is tracking toward an early-May return, and if Wade’s knee responds well to running this week, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him back on the Giants as early as late next week. If you have an open IL spot in 12-team mixers or deeper, Longo and Wade — in that order — are defensible stash options.
When you have Pollock on your fantasy baseball roster, you know you’re signing up for occasionally missed games because of injuries. Pollock hasn’t played more than 120 games in a season since 2015 and has done so only twice since his 2013 rookie campaign. Sadly, he’s already on the IL with a hamstring strain. Given how Pollock previously described the hamstring injury and general manager Rich Hahn’s quotes, Pollock should be back shortly after the minimum IL stint. Nevertheless, I worry about the hamstring issue preventing him from stealing bases when he returns. The veteran outfielder stole only nine bases in 10 attempts in 2021. Still, it behooves gamers to have a contingency plan to replace Pollock’s modest stolen base contributions.
Hernandez left Wednesday night’s game against the Yankees with discomfort in his left side. Unfortunately, the discomfort has been revealed to be an oblique strain. As a result, Hernandez is on the IL.
Pitcher Notes
Castillo and Sims should make their 2022 debuts for the Reds soon. An injury update from MLB.com has expected return dates of mid-to-late April for Sims and late April for Castillo.
Snell is on the IL, paving the way for Gore to make his first MLB start. The rookie is a must-add player in leagues of all sizes. Unfortunately, he struggled last year. However, Gore was lights out in the spring, reverting to the form that made him one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.
Giolito was placed on the IL on Tuesday afternoon, retroactive to April 9. He has an abdominal strain. Thankfully, Giolito has said, “recovery and rehab and all that has been going about as good as possible.” Hahn is “cautiously optimistic” that Giolito will miss just two starts.
Gray is on the IL with a blister on his right middle finger. Fortunately, the injury is minor and isn’t a significant concern for his rest-of-season outlook. As a result, gamers should hold him in an IL spot in leagues as shallow as 12-team mixers.
Duran has filthy stuff, and you can see the visual evidence below.
First big league frame for @Twins No. 6 prospect Jhoan Duran:
16 pitches
14 strikes
3 fastballs over 💯
3 strikeouts pic.twitter.com/PQRKTPoZPU— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 8, 2022
The righty has been developed as a starter. Yet, he’s being deployed from the bullpen in his first year in The Show. Duran has made two appearances spanning 3.0 innings, and his most recent was working the ninth with a four-run lead against the Mariners. It’s unclear his precise role, but Jeff Zimmerman shared some interesting quotes in his superb Mining the News series. The electrifying rookie righty is on only 23% of Yahoo! rosters. I suggest scooping him up as a potential multi-inning ratios helper or closer in leagues of all sizes.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
