With the season just beginning, it is important to look at some important storylines and aspects this week to be ahead of the curve and gain an edge on your fantasy baseball league mates.
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20 Fantasy Baseball Things to Watch
1. Week Schedule Notes
- No teams have just five games this week!
- The following teams have seven games this week:
- Baltimore Orioles vs ARI, at CLE
- New York Yankees vs LAA, vs KC
- Cleveland Guardians at STL, vs BAL
- Athletics vs TEX, vs CHW
- Houston Astros at SEA (1), vs COL, vs STL
- Los Angeles Angels at NYY, vs SD
- Seattle Mariners vs HOU (1), at SD, vs TEX
- Washington Nationals at PIT, vs SF
- Pittsburgh Pirates vs WAS, vs TB
2. Noah Schultz
Top prospect Noah Schultz will make his debut for the White Sox versus the Rays. Shultz was fantastic through three starts, posting a 40 percent strikeout rate and a four percent walk rate. He struggled with walks last season, but if he can keep those in check in the Majors, the sky is the limit.
3. The Houston Astros Rotation
The Astros have recently lost Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier and have gone from being deep in the rotation to being extremely thin, especially after Cody Bolton, who was filling in, suffered a back injury. Tatsuya Imai is also dealing with arm fatigue, which is concerning. Spencer Arrighetti is expected to get called up this week, and he has been great in the minors, but they will need more than just him.
4. Shane McClanahan
McClanahan has been mediocre through his first two starts, throwing 8.2 innings with a 4.15 ERA and nine strikeouts. The issue has been his fastball velocity. Prior to the injury, he was averaging 96.8 mph on the fastball, and since returning this season, he is averaging 94.8. This lack of velocity hurts his overall repertoire as the secondary pitches don’t play up as much without the fastball being dominant. We need to see if the velocity begins to come back.
5. The Athletics at Home
The A’s are heading home to Sacramento, where they have been fantastic offensively, but haven’t played a ton this year. They are there all week, and the offense should be plenty. Their pitchers do struggle in the smaller park, so that is something to keep an eye on.
6. The Blue Jays Lineup
With the loss of George Springer, the Blue Jays are going to need a new lead-off hitter and people to pick up the offensive slack. Ernie Clement got the first start in the lead-off spot, and the Blue Jays brought up Eloy Jimenez to be the DH. We need to see if these changes work.
7. The Return of Zack Wheeler
Zack Wheeler is expected to make his season debut for the Phillies on Sunday. He had thoracic outlet surgery this offseason after experiencing a blood clot in his shoulder. There isn’t a good track record of pitchers coming back from TOS. He has been good in AAA during his rehab assignment, but his velocity has been down a ton. We need to see if he is still the same guy he once was.
8. The Weather Around the Country
We have been very lucky in the early season, with not too many rainouts, but that seems like it may change this week. Rain is expected in the Northeast and the Midwest. Keeping an eye on these potential rainouts will give you an advantage.
9. Astros Closer Chaos
With Bryan Abreu struggling, Bryan King may be entering the conversation for the closer’s role in Houston until Josh Hader is back from injury. This may be a cheap source of saves moving forward.
10. Rangers Closer Chaos
Jakob Junis got his second save of the season over the weekend, and Cole Winn picked one up as well. This appears to be a committee with Junis being the top option, but we need to see how fluid it is.
11-14. Streaming Options.
Sean Burke vs TB – Burke has pitched well so far and gets a Tampa offense you aren’t afraid of.
Colton Gordon vs COL – Colton has been fantastic in the minors and faces a Rockies team that struggles in their first series of a road trip.
Spencer Arrighetti vs COL – Arrighetti has been great in AAA and faces a Rockies team that struggles on the road.
Carmen Mlodzinski vs WAS – Mlodzinski has quietly been very good this season and is facing a strikeout-prone team at home, where he is protected by PNC Park.
15-20. Two-Start Options
Ryan Weathers vs LAA, vs KC – Weathers has been great through three starts, and while he has a history of injuries, that is a problem for later. He has two great matchups, and you are using him everywhere.
Joey Cantillo at STL, vs BAL – Cantillo has been really good so far, throwing 14.2 innings with a 2.45 ERA and 20 strikeouts. The underlying numbers do not support the massive strikeout numbers, but his stuff looks good, and he is mixing well. This is a nice week to use him with decent matchups on the table as well.
Ryne Nelson at BAL, vs TOR – After a rough first two starts, Nelson looked much better in his last start versus the Mets, allowing just one run and no walks in the win over the Mets. He gets a struggling Blue Jays team and an Orioles squad you aren’t running from, so this is a good week to stream him in.
Grant Holmes vs MIA, at PHI – Holmes has been great, and while I don’t expect his arm to survive the entire season, until he gets hurt, you are using him in most matchups, especially with Miami as one of them this week.
Cade Cavalli at PIT, vs SF – Cavalli has looked mediocre so far after some late draft season hype. He has a good matchup against a struggling Giants team, but has to go to Pittsburgh for a hot Pirates team.
Mitch Keller vs WAS, vs TB – Keller’s best days are behind him, but he offers the ability to go deep into games, and the Pirates are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now. Some risk, but these matchups aren’t bad at all.
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