Week five of the Fantasy Baseball season begins Monday May 4th. The sample sizes are getting larger and in the next couple of weeks we should begin to see a separation of the Fantasy Baseball wheat from the chaff. There’s much to cover so let’s get started.
Interleague Matchups this week include the Baltimore Orioles travelling to New York to face the Mets on Tuesday and Wednesday and the Cincinnati Reds visiting the Chicago White Sox for three games Friday through Sunday.
Scheduled Two Start Pitchers
Two start pitchers this week include Clayton Kershaw (Mon-Sat), Felix Hernandez (Mon-Sun), Madison Bumgarner (Mon, Sat), Zack Greinke (Tue-Sun), Michael Pineda (Tue-Sun), Tyson Ross (Mon, Sat), Garrett Richards (Tue-Sun), Danny Salazar (Tue-Sun), Dallas Kuechel (Mon-Sat), Jake Odorizzi (Mon-Sat), Andrew Cashner (Tue-Sun), Carlos Martinez (Mon-Sat), Alex Wood (Mon-Sun), Matt Shoemaker (Mon-Sun), Drew Smyly (Tue-Sun), Jordan Zimmerman (Mon-Sun), Jesse Hahn (Mon-Sun), Jesse Chavez (Tue-Sun), Jeff Samardzija (Tue-Sun), Phil Hughes (Mon, Sat), Aaron Harang (Mon-Sun), Clay Buchholtz (Mon-Sun), Kyle Hendricks (Tue-Sun), Shane Green (Tue-Sun), Josh Collmenter (Tue-Sun), Travis Wood (Mon-Sat), Matt Garza (Tue-Sun), R.A. Dickey (Mon-Sun), Mat Latos (Tue-Sun), Scott Feldman (Tue-Sun), Jeff Locke (Tue-Sun), Kyle Lohshe (Mon-Sat), Michael Lorenzen (Tue-Sun), David Phelps (Mon-Sat), Chase Whitley (Mon-Sat), Ross Detwiler (Mon-Sat), Jeremy Guthrie (Tue-Sun), Kyle Kendrick (Mon-Sun), Trevor May (Tue-Sun), Bud Norris (Tue-Sun), Wandy Rodriguez (Tue-Sun), Ryan Vogelsong (Tue-Sun).
Starting Pitching Waiver Wire Options
Each of these starting pitchers is available in at least 50 percent of all major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Travis Wood SP Cubs: Wood has two starts on the road this week (St. Louis and Milwaukee). Wood has won his last three starts in a row and is averaging nearly 10 strikeouts and less then three walks per nine innings. Great WHIP (1.06) and ERA of 3.04 makes Wood an ideal pickup this week.
Phil Hughes SP Twins: Hughes may be 0-5 on the season but he does have two starts this week (home on Monday against the A’s and Saturday on the road against Cleveland). Hughes is averaging about seven strikeouts and less than one walk per nine innings. WHIP of 1.40 and ERA of around 5.60 might seem high but he’s still a good option this week.
Jeff Locke SP Pirates: Two starts at home this week for Locke (Tuesday against Cincinnati and Sunday against St Louis). Locke is averaging almost nine strikeouts and less than three walks per nine innings. Average WHIP of 1.46 and ERA of 4.76 are about right for a guy owned in just 30 percent of major Fantasy Baseball leagues. He’s another decent two start option this week.
Josh Collmenter SP Arizona: Collmenter has one start this week on the road Tuesday (Colorado) and one at home on Sunday against the Padres. Why would I recommend a pitcher averaging less than five strikeouts per nine innings a WHIP of 1.13 and an ERA of 2.76? For all those reasons including; the guy hardly walks anyone EVER and doesn’t give up very many bombs EVER. He’s good to go for both starts this week.
Jesse Hahn SP Oakland: Hahn has two starts this week on the road against the Twins on Monday and Mariners on Saturday. Great WHIP of 0.95 and excellent ERA of 2.86 while averaging just under five strikeouts and less than three walks per nine innings. He’ll be a really good streaming option on Monday as well as a great daily fantasy baseball value play also on Monday.
Jesse Chavez SP Oakland: Chavez has two starts on the road this week against the Twins on Tuesday and the Mariners on Sunday. Chavez is quietly averaging nearly ten strikeouts and just fewer than four walks per nine innings. Very good 1.13 WHIP and 2.55 ERA makes him ideal this week.
Starting Pitching Streaming Options Monday through Thursday
Each of these scheduled starting pitchers is available in at least 50 percent of all major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Monday: Jesse Hahn of the Athletics has a great matchup with the Minnesota Twins. The Twinkies have a .243 team batting average with 183 strikeouts and just twelve bombs in 777 at bats. It doesn’t get much better than this for Hahn or for you.
Tuesday: I really like another A’s pitcher today. Jesse Chavez is averaging nearly ten strikeouts per nine innings and as mentioned the Twinkies strike out a bunch. I really like his under three ERA and 1.13 WHIP.
Wednesday: Rubby De La Rosa takes on the Rockies in Colorado and while I don’t normally suggest pitchers pitching in Colorado but just five percent of the 38 percent of fly balls he gives up leave the yard. He’s also striking out nearly ten batters and walking less than three per nine innings.
Thursday: I’ll stay with the A’s once again against Minnesota and this time it will be Drew Pomeranz and his nearly nine strikeouts and two walks per nine innings. His WHIP of 1.23 and 4.50 ERA are just average that usually looks spectacular against the Twins.
Position Player Waiver Wire
Each of the suggested position players is available in at least 50 percent of all major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Adam Lind 1B Milwaukee: Lind is off to a great start this season. Slash line of .329/.393/.570/.963 with 4 bombs and 13 RBI is very encouraging. Batting cleanup for the Brewers doesn’t hurt much either.
Yonder Alonso 1B Padres: Besides a weak .103 ISO Alonso has been okay so far this season. Good slash line of .333/.411/.436/.847 with just one bomb and seven RBI. He even has a couple of stolen bases this season.
Kelly Johnson 1B 3B Braves: Johnson has 4 bombs and 11 RBI and boasts a slash line of .250/.304/.519/.823. His .231 BABIP is awfully low but outside of that and coupled by his duel eligibility Johnson might be just what you need.
Luis Valbuena 2B 3B Astros: Valbuena is hitting bombs (5), scoring runs (12) and does have 9 RBI to go along with a slash line of .220/.293/.451/.744. I do like his duel eligibility and if a multi position second baseman is what you are looking for Valbuena will help you.
Brandon Phillips 2B Reds: Its hard to believe Phillips is in this space but his .286/.302/.333/.655 slash line with only 1 bomb and 12 RBI is the reason why. He still has an 89 percent contact rate so maybe he can snap out of his funk and help you win your matchup this week.
Brett Lawrie 2B 3B Athletics: Just about the time many have given up on Lawrie he gets hot. Like 9 RBI and 1 bomb in the last seven days hot. His slash line of .230/.269/.333/.602 isn’t that great but that should be a good indicator of how bad things were before he got hot.
Odubel Herrera SS OF Phillies: Good player on a bad team and Rule 5 draftee Herrera is playing everyday, duel eligible and his slash line of .299/.337/.414/.751 as well as his 4 stolen bases, 10 runs scored and 8 RBI should help keep him in the lineup despite his 19.4 percent strikeout rate and his .115 ISO.
Wilmer Flores SS Mets: Flores is the mostly everyday shortstop for the Mets and while he’s not the greatest defensively his 3 bombs, 8 RBI and slash line of .240/.278/.387/.665 more than make up for the bad defense.
Will Middlebrooks 3B Padres: Middlebrooks is the mainly everyday 3B for the Padres but his slash line of .214/.256/.381/.637 is mighty disappointing. He has hit 3 bombs and 13 RBI plus a couple of stolen bases so he still has some value.
David Freese 3B Angels: For all his offensive faults, and there are many, Freese still has 4 bombs and 17 RBI but his slash line of .225/.263/.416/.679 leaves us shaking our head. His .245 BABIP leaves me shaking my head too but he’s David Freese and he should still be able to do better than this.
David Holt 3B OF Red Sox: Holt’s duel eligibility is awesome and he is on quite a tear with 1 bomb and three RBI during the past week. His overall slash line of .370/.453/.478/.931 is sweet and while it’s bound to come down ride the duel eligible Holt while he’s hot!
Nick Hundley C Rockies: Hundley has a nice slash line of .317/.377/.460/.837 and has hit 1 bomb, 5 RBI and scored 7 runs. He does strike out a bit (18%) but everything else seems to be good and with his BABIP 0f .388 it looks like Hundley might make a pretty good backup on any roster.
A.J. Pierzynsky C Braves: Pierzynsky is on a tear to begin the season with 3 bombs and 14 RBI to go along with a slash line of .408/.429/.653/1.082. His BABIP is also quite high at .385 so it looks as though this hot streak may last a little while longer.
Juan Lagares OF Mets: Largely regarded for his defense Lagares has put together a slash line of .305/.323/.358/.681 to go along with 13 runs scored and 11 RBI. With the way the Mets are playing Lagares is going to be a nice source for runs scored and maybe RBI going forward.
Justin Maxwell OF Giants: Maxwell has been hot with 2 bombs and 4 RBI over the last seven days. His slash line of .241/.317/.481/.798 is fairly decent as well. His .270 BABIP suggest he might be a bit unlucky and with 3 bombs and 9 RBI on the season Maxwell might be a good add to your roster this week.
Rajai Davis OF Tigers: Davis is a very good stolen base guy with 6 steals already this season and has put together a nice slash line of .300/.397/.420/.817 with 1 bomb and 5 RBI. He’ll still get playing time and as long as he does he will produce decent numbers in all categories and exceptional stolen base numbers.
Available A’s
Other than the ones already mentioned the following Oakland Athletics might be able to help you win your matchup this week.
Mark Canha 1B OF 8.8% owned: Canha is hot one week; cold the next but it looks like another hot streak is on the horizon. Over the past seven days Canha has hit 2 bombs and driven in 5 RBI with a slash line of .500/.538/1.000/1.538.
Josh Reddick OF 67% owned: He’s not available enough to make the main report but there’s a good chance he’ll still be sitting on your waiver wire. Over the last seven he’s put up a slash line of .480/.552/.840/1.392 with 2 bombs, 11 RBI and just one strikeout in 25 at bats.
Good luck this week Fantasy Baseball owner!
