Week 9 is almost here and at this point, it feels like the time is flying by. Hopefully, you all had a very successful week 8. If you followed last week’s weekly planner I know you’ve been reaping the rewards. Especially you Jorge Soler owners, letting that man play games at Coors Field should be illegal with as hard as he hits the ball.
This week, there are a few more juicy matchups to key in on. We are still early enough in the season that you can take advantage of the waiver wire. Later in the season, it gets more difficult, but outside of very deep leagues, there are still some players you can add on a weekly basis that will give you top-tier production.
With that being said, let’s get into some of my favorite and least favorite matchups of the week.
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Let’s take a look at the week ahead.
Favorable Matchups
Baltimore Orioles: vs CLE (3), @ SFG (3)
After a somewhat slow start to the year, Baltimore’s offense has come alive. They’ve currently scored the seventh most runs in baseball for the year and have hit the fourth most home runs in the last two weeks. They start off this week against a Cleveland team that’s been hit around quite a bit on the road. They’ve given up 34 road home runs already and are allowing the fourth-worst batting average against at .267.
After Baltimore, they head to face the Giants where we can only expect more fireworks from the Orioles’ lineup. Their offense is a finely tuned machine built around a solid mix of both power and speed that’ll play very well in San Francisco. It’s not the easiest park to go yard in, but the long alleys in the outfield make for plenty of double and triple opportunities.
Players To Target
Hays has been playing well this year, but he’s been playing especially well in the last seven games. If you’re looking for someone from this lineup to target this week, Hays is your guy. In those last seven games, he’s hitting .360 with two doubles, a home run, five runs scored, and four RBI. He’s making much better contact this year as well. His 12.8% barrel rate, 91.1 MPH average exit velocity, and 44.4% hard-hit rate are all career highs. Look for him to get into at least a couple of doubles this week with some RBI to show for it.
I’ll take “players I didn’t expect to be recommending in 2023” for 600, please. After an underwhelming year in Seattle, Frazier has turned things around in Baltimore. Already with six HR and six stolen bases, Frazier is on track for a career-best season. Never mind the fact he’s one of only a handful of players who are walking (10.1%) more than he’s striking out (9.5%). Currently, on a bit of a heater, look for it to continue this week.
Arizona Diamondbacks: vs COL (4), vs ATL (3)
I’ll tell you right now, I absolutely love keying in on a team playing seven games in a week. The best ability is availability, and nothing says available like playing every single game of the week. Especially against a weaker opponent like the Rockies. Had this series been in Colorado, the Dbacks would likely have been listed first on here, but playing in Arizona is also beneficial.
Atlanta is a tough matchup on paper, but their pitching injuries have them gutted in the starting rotation. Guys like Schuster and Dodd are being forced to make starts despite proving they aren’t nearly the level of pitcher as the guys they replaced. Hitting .284 at home overall, expect the Diamondbacks to show up and show out this week.
Players To Target
McCarthy was just announced as being called up an hour or so prior to me writing this. Coming into this season I was fairly high on McCarthy. He was someone I targeted often in drafts and wasn’t a fan of how he started. The demotion he got seems to have helped as he hit .410 with a .932 OPS in 22 minor-league games. Now back to being the starting centerfielder, McCarthy seems to be a man on a mission. A handful of steals from him this week shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Keep sleeping on this man if you want, you’re missing out on an underrated fantasy baseball star in the making. Hitting .315, walking at an impressive 12.3% clip, and flashing some speed with his five steals, Perdomo offers a ton of upside in any league. He struggles slightly against lefties but faces only one in the seven games this week. Perdomo is lined up to be a jack of all trades who’ll excel in points leagues.
Matchups To Avoid
Chicago Cubs: vs TB (3), @ SDP (3)
Already off to a bad start with just six games, the Cubs also line up against two of the most difficult-to-play teams in baseball. Everyone knows the story of the Rays this season. They’ve been a juggernaut on both sides of the diamond, and the Cubs start the week Monday against their ace Shane McClanahan. Not an easy task. After they finish in Tampa Bay they head to San Diego which is the second least hitter-friendly park in baseball. Don’t expect much from the Cubs bats this week.
Hitters To Avoid
Christopher Morel (2B/OF – CHC)
As a Morel owner myself, this one was tough to write. But it has to be done. Morel’s incredible start to the season was bound to slow down at some point and if it’s going to happen it’s going to happen against these two tough matchups. His 37.5% strikeout rate and 43.9% whiff rate are numbers that should be a massive red flag. Especially when you see he has an almost 50% whiff rate on fastballs. Trade Morel now so you can let someone else worry about starting him this week.
He’s on a cold streak so he may be off some people’s radar currently, but just in case he isn’t…stop it. Stop it right now. There are many players you will end up wanting to start this week, do not let Wisdom be one of them. He has just two hits since the 14th and is hitting just .163 with two home runs in the month of May after hitting .250 with 10 in April. Wisdom has been known to be very streaky, so wait for him to break out of the cold streak before inserting him into your lineup.
Cleveland Guardians: @ BAL (4), @ MIN (3)
A year removed from being one of the most surprising teams in baseball, the Guardians have seemingly dropped the ball. Their pitching has been good, but their hitting is lacking. That doesn’t look to change much this week. Seven games on the road and not one of them will come easy.
They start their road trip with five straight against right-handers which they are terrible against. For the season, Cleveland is hitting just .227 against righties with only 22 home runs, the lowest number in baseball. The high contact, speed combo on offense only works if everyone else is equally on board and down to fly around the basepaths which just hasn’t been their calling card. Look elsewhere this week because Cleveland’s struggles are about to continue.
Hitters To Avoid
Naylor is someone I always seem to have exceptionally high hopes for, and I always seem to be let down. He has performed better against righties this year hitting .243 with six home runs, but his current cold streak is worrisome. Especially against these pitching staffs. He’s gone 2/14 with a double as his only XBH and he’s had no problem chasing pitches out of the zone. In fact, his chase rate of 37.5% is the highest of his career and puts him in just the ninth percentile. He’ll get it right eventually, but this doesn’t feel like the week that happens.
While I’m not usually much for kicking someone while they’re down, Rosario has been the definition of a draft-day regret so far for those who drafted him. After hitting .282+ the last two seasons with double-digit home runs, Rosario is hitting .237 with a BABIP that suggests this isn’t entirely bad luck. He’s in the bottom 10th percentile in both walk rate and chase rate and his .298 xwOBA is almost 20 points below the league average. The speed is still there, but with his limited ability to get on base as of late don’t expect much in the way of steals this week.
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