Fantasy Week 4 brings a loaded week of baseball, with half the league scheduled to play 7 games. We have plenty of storylines, injury updates, and waiver wire considerations this week, but most importantly plenty of (scheduled) baseball.
In Week 3, we saw even more dominance from starting pitchers across the league. No performance more impressive than that of Jacob deGrom, who has more RBI (2) than ER (1) through his first 4 starts. On Saturday, deGrom struck out a career high 15 batters and passed Tom Seaver (2.57) for the lowest ERA in Mets franchise history (2.55). He pitched a complete game, throwing 100 mph in the 8th inning and 99 mph in the 9th. The most impressing thing about deGrom is how he always seems to be getting better, even at 32 years old.
On Sunday, ARI starting pitcher Zac Gallen, available in about 7% of leagues, flirted with a no-hitter into the 6th inning of an abbreviated game, the first of two scheduled against the Braves for the day. Then in the second game, his teammate Madison Bumgarner, about 85% available, pulled off a no-hitter of his own, and struck out 7 batters to go with it, though it will not count officially since it was only a scheduled 7 inning game.
On to Week 4, we have 5 teams scheduled to play only 5 games this week: NYM, PIT, SD, TOR, and WAS. It seems like the Mets never get to play baseball. They have the least games played on the season so far, with only 17. The Padres and Red Sox each played 23. Of note, the Nationals are scheduled to face three to four left handed pitchers.
The Yankees have struggled to start the season, but our models like them to bounce back this week as one of the teams with 7 games on the schedule. The Yanks open the week with 4 games at Camden Yards, where they are 21-5 since 2018. Yanks bats Gleyber Torres, 95% owned, and Clint Frazier, less than 35% owned, both have tremendous park history there. Then, over the weekend, the Yanks travel to Detroit to play a Tigers team that is very hittable. NYY starting pitchers are also worth a look, with Corey Kluber, about 30% owned, and Domingo Germain, less than 80% owned, each scheduled to have two starts.
There are a number of other low owned hitters and pitchers who we are targeting this week. This list will continue to grow throughout the week, but for now we are keeping a close eye on the following players/situations:
- We need to mention, Brandon Nimmo, less than 50% owned, first this time. He has been in here for two weeks now and still largely available. The Mets everyday leadoff man is still hitting well over .400 and is known for his impressive ability to take pitches and extend counts. The Mets play only 4 games this week, but Nimmo will not be on the waiver wire at the end of the season.
- Tampa’s Joey Wendle, whose ownership jumped from 20% to 80% since we wrote this last week, has been a top 25 fantasy player to start the season. If he is still available in your league, Wendle is certainly worth adding. He is eligible at 2B, 3B, and SS.
- Andrew Benintendi, owned in about 50% of leagues, hit his first HR of the season on Friday. He struggled at the start of the season, but could be worth adding during a favorable week in leagues where Nimmo isn’t available.
- Padres reliever turned starter, Ryan Weathers, owned in about 40% of leagues, is worth a speculative add. He has pitched over 9 scoreless innings so far and could be scheduled in a favorable matchup against the Diamondbacks this week, if he were to fill in for the injured Dinelson Lamet, available in nearly 15% of league and well worth an IL spot.