It is hard to believe we are almost in May. The season is flying by, and standings are beginning to take shape. Setting lineups with your best hitters each week is crucial to optimize success on a week-to-week basis. The season is long, but winning each week will lead you to a championship at the end of the long season.
Using Quick Grades, you can find the top projected hitters for the week. Maybe you have a hole on your roster. A hitter that cracks the Quick Grades list could be available on your waiver wire. Pick them up and stream them for the week. The goal of the weekly quick grades is to help you make those tough lineup decisions. Just as a reminder, here are the four factors that go into the Quick Grades. If you have any questions regarding Quick Grades, please reach out on Twitter @RotoClegg.
The Quick Grade Series
Each week, I will provide breakdowns of hitters with a grade range from 40 to 100. Think about a school grade (90-100 being an A, 80-89 equaling a B, and 70-79 = C, and so on). Grades are weighted based on several different factors that I discuss below.
Week four covers games for the week of Monday, May 2, through Sunday, May 8.
You can find Week 3’s Quick Grades here.
How It Works
We established that each hitter would have a grade based on four categories that would land them a total score between 40 and 100. Each of the four categories will are graded from 10 to 25, which lands us at that total score. Here is what goes into it:
- Games Played – Let’s start simple. The more games played in a week, the more stats a player can accumulate. Maximizing plate appearances for fantasy baseball is huge. If the player you roster has seven games versus a different player having five games, it is a no-brainer. If a team is scheduled to play seven games that week, the team’s hitter will get 25 points. Six games earn a hitter 22 points, and five games drop you down to 18.
- Ballpark Factors – Is a hitter playing four games in Coors? What about three in Oakland? These things matter. We will use the FantasyPros’ park factors to help us out there. I have created an algorithm that gives each ballpark a score from 10-25. Then factoring in how many games a hitter plays where each week, a score of 10-to-25 is given.
- Matchups – Does a hitter have strong splits against a left or right-handed pitcher? What if they face three lefties this week with a poor split against lefties. We factor that in. What about facing a murderers’ row of pitchers like Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta. All these factors are taken into account.
- Projections – Finally, we will factor in projections. I will update using FantasyPros projections and scale them down to a weekly projection. It is not perfect, but using projections with the other factors can help project how a player might perform.
Week 4 Hitter Grades (5/2-5/8)
Surprising Hitters
- Cedric Mullins is off to a slow start to the 2022 season with just a .205 batting average and two home runs through 85 plate appearances. He is chasing more, making less contact, and the ball has undoubtedly affected a hitter like Mullins. The good news is that Mullins projects very well for next week. Seven games with matchups at home against the Twins and Royals give Mullins a chance to get things going.
- Jared Walsh is another player like Mullins, who is off a slow start to 2022. He currently has two home runs and a .238/.294/.349 slash line. Walsh could be primed for a big week with a seven-game slate and six scheduled to be against right-handed pitching.
Team to Stream
- Colorado Rockies - While only having three games at home this week, the Rockies have favorable pitching matchups with the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks. If you are contemplating starting a Rockies hitter this week, it feels like a great week to do so.
Team to Fade
- Chicago Cubs - The Cubs only play five games next week, which is the first red flag. They get two with the White Sox, where the projected matchups are Michael Kopech and Lucas Giolito. Then they finish the week with the Dodgers and two of the three matchups against Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler.
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Chris Clegg is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @RotoClegg.
