It is vital to look at important fantasy baseball storylines and aspects this week to be ahead of the curve and gain an edge on your league mates. We have 20 such fantasy baseball storylines for you to monitor. This guide will help you navigate the waiver wire, pinpoint potential streamers and more.
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- Rest-of-Season Projections
20 Fantasy Baseball Things to Watch
1. Schedule Notes
- Zero teams play just five games this week.
- The following teams play seven games this week:
- Baltimore Orioles vs. BOS, at SF
- New York Yankees vs. WSH, at CWS
- Chicago White Sox vs. KC, vs. NYY
- Atlanta Braves at MIA, at PHI
- Miami Marlins vs. ATL, at NYM
- Philadelphia Phillies at NYM, vs. ATL
- New York Mets vs. PHI, vs. MIA
- Milwaukee Brewers vs ARI, at TOR
- St. Louis Cardinals vs. PIT, at CIN
- Pittsburgh Pirates at STL, at BOS
- Arizona Diamondbacks at MIL, at LAD
2. Bubba Chandler (SP – PIT)
Bubba Chandler made his Major League debut last week and was sharp, throwing four scoreless innings in relief to register the save for the Pirates. Chandler is the top pitching prospect in baseball and has been great in AA, but he will likely be limited as the Pirates aren’t in contention. Chandler could be valuable for some cheap wins and strikeouts.
3. Jordan Lawlar (2B, 3B, SS – ARI)
Jordan Lawlar is a top-tier prospect who has had some time in the Majors but struggled with injury over the last couple of seasons. He is back and healthy in AAA, and it won’t be long before the Diamondbacks bring him up to see how he can fare at the Major League level.
4. Victor Robles (OF – SEA)
Victor Robles is back in the Majors after missing the majority of the season with a shoulder injury. He could be a valuable stolen base asset the rest of the way. However, he is also facing a suspension that is under appeal from an incident where he threw a bat at a pitcher during his rehab assignment after being hit multiple times by pitches.
5. Carson Williams (SS – TB)
Carson Williams is a top-tier prospect who made his Major League debut last week. He was up and down in AAA, hitting .213/.318/.447 with 23 home runs and 22 stolen bases in AAA. There is plenty of power and speed, but he struggles with consistent contact. His defense is fantastic, though, which could keep him in the everyday lineup. If Williams can make league-average contact, he could be extremely valuable.
6. Anthony Volpe (SS – NYY)
Anthony Volpe has been struggling mightily, hitting .171/.203/.378 since the beginning of July. He is still hitting for some power and stealing bases, but he is now losing playing time as the Yankees are in a dogfight for the playoffs. We need to see if the loss of playing time will be a regular thing.
7. Shane Bieber (SP – TOR)
Shane Bieber made his season debut last week and looked great, throwing six innings and allowing one earned run while striking out nine. Coming back from surgery can make pitchers struggle with consistency, so we need to see if his command and control are intact.
8. Nolan McLean (SP – NYM)
Nolan McLean is a top-50 prospect who has been called up recently and looked fantastic. There is a ton of upside when McLean’s control is there, and so far, it has been through two starts. McLean may face an innings limit at some point, but the Mets are in the playoff hunt, so we need to see how they handle him.
9. Aaron Nola (SP – PHI)
Aaron Nola returned recently and has really struggled. The former ace has had a disastrous season, throwing 58 innings with a 6.52 ERA. With the loss of Zack Wheeler, the Phillies will be counting on Nola to turn things around.
10. Jacob Misiorowski (SP – MIL)
Jacob Misiorowski is back from the injured list (IL), but the Brewers are keeping him on a short leash. He was only able to go 1.1 innings in his first start back and four innings in his last start. If he cannot go five innings, he loses a lot of his upside because he won’t qualify for wins.
11. Giants Closer Chaos
Ryan Walker got the save on Sunday for the Giants over the Brewers. Randy Rodriguez had been closing games for the Giants, but took the loss earlier in the week. We need to see if this is a changing of the guard.
12-14. Streaming Options
Ryan Bergert (SP – KC) at CWS
Ryan Bergert has been fantastic since being traded to the Royals, throwing 22.1 innings with a 2.82 ERA and 22 strikeouts. He gets a great matchup this week and is a premium streaming candidate.
Colin Rea (SP, RP – CHC) at SF
Colin Rea has been outstanding since the beginning of August and gets a great matchup in a fantastic pitcher’s park.
Dustin May (SP – BOS) vs. PIT
Dustin May has quietly been great for the Red Sox and faces a terrible Pirates team at home.
15-20. Two-Start Options
Cam Schlittler (SP – NYY) vs. WSH, at CWS
Cam Schlittler has been great this season, throwing 36.1 innings with a 3.22 ERA and 38 strikeouts since joining the Yankees’ rotation. His underlying skills aren’t as good, but he has been hot, and the Yankees are a great offense supporting him.
Luis Gil (SP – NYY) vs. WSH, at CWS
Luis Gil has been pretty good after a rough first start returning from injury. He is a bit risky because we don’t know how long his leash will be, but these are about as good of matchups as you can ask for.
Kyle Bradish (SP – BAL) vs. BOS, at SF
Kyle Bradish has looked great in his rehab starts, but it is hard to know if that will translate to actual MLB games. He has a tough matchup at the beginning of the week and an easier one at the end. There is some upside here because the arm is great when healthy.
Shane Baz (SP – TB) at CLE, at WSH
Shane Baz has been up and down this season, but he has been great on the road, where both of these contests are. He has a 3.52 road ERA and two nice matchups away from Tampa, so he is a great streaming candidate.
Justin Verlander (SP – SF) vs. CHC, vs. BAL
Justin Verlander has been great recently, but these are not great matchups, and the Giants are not winning ball games right now. This is more of a Hail Mary than anything else.
Mitch Keller (SP – PIT) at STL, at BOS
Mitch Keller has been fantastic this season, but has struggled recently. He should bounce back, but these are matchups against teams that can get to you, so there is some risk and not much win potential.
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