MLB Fantasy Streamers
Over the past week, the injury bug hit hard with Starling Marte, Mike Moustakas, Lance Lynn, Gavin Lux, and even Ke’Bryan Hayes aggravating his wrist injury. Not great, as many fantasy managers relied on those players to begin the year. Almost half the league plays a full slate of seven games this week with only a handful scheduled for five games. So that means several teams will rely on volume this week, even if their offenses as a team are struggling.
As always, we’ll review the Week 4 Hitters and Streamers, and see if they helped fantasy managers. Then we’ll look at the easier and tougher Week 5 hitter matchups, and finish off with some hitter streamers for the next week. This week, we’ll do our best to uncover a few interesting deep-league players. That said, let’s spring off the diving board and swim right in.
Quick Links
- MLB Fantasy Rankings
- Player News
- Latest Articles
- Fantasy Stats
- Advanced Metrics
- Player Projected
- MLB Lineups
Week 4 Streamer Hitter Review
- Jared Walsh – Win
- Evan Longoria – Loss
- Phillip Evans – Loss
- C.J. Cron – Win
- Raimel Tapia – Win
- Jed Lowrie – Push
- Jazz Chisholm – Win
Phillies Hitters – Outside of Jean Segura and Bryce Harper, it was a bit of a struggle for Rhys Hoskins, Andrew McCutchen, and Didi Gregorius.
Easier Week 5 Hitter Matchups
- Atlanta Braves – 4 vs. CHC, 3 at TOR
- Baltimore Orioles – 4 vs. NYY, 3 at OAK
- Houston Astros – 4 vs. SEA, 3 at TB
- Los Angeles Dodgers – 3 vs. CIN, 4 at MIL
- Milwaukee Brewers – 3 vs. MIA, 4 vs. LAD
- New York Yankees – 4 at BAL, 3 vs. DET
- Oakland Athletics – 4 at TB, 3 vs. BAL
- Philadelphia Phillies – 4 at STL, 3 vs. NYM
- Seattle Mariners – 4 at HOU, 3 vs. LAA
- St. Louis Cardinals – 4 vs. PHI, 3 at PIT
- Tampa Bay Rays – 4 vs. OAK, 3 vs. HOU
- Texas Rangers – 3 vs. LAA, 4 vs. BOS
This is a loaded week, as we have 14 teams playing a full slate of seven games. So for most or all of these teams, it’s about volume. Even struggling teams could accumulate counting stats and run into some offensive production. The table below shows the top-5 and bottom-5 teams in team wOBA, which gives us an idea of the struggling and thriving team offenses.
Interestingly, we have several teams playing seven games that rank in the bottom of the league in team wOBA in the Cubs, Rangers, Orioles, Yankees, Brewers, and Mariners. That tells us these offenses as a whole came out of the gate cold to start the season. Next weekend, the Athletics could feast on the Orioles pitchers as they project to face Matt Harvey, Bruce Zimmermann, and Dean Kremer. Although Zimmermann showed some intriguing whiff rates to begin the year with his changeup and curve, it’s still a low strikeout profile for Zimmermann.
With the Braves, they play seven while also facing mostly mediocre pitchers. All of the Cubs pitchers have struggled from an ERA standpoint including Kyle Hendricks. Then the Braves will face Robby Ray, Hyun-jin Ryu, and potentially Nate Pearson. Per EV Analytics, the current Blue Jays home ballpark in Denudin, FL ranks 5th with a 1.12 home run park factor, meaning the offense could lead the show.
Honorable Mention:
- Chicago Cubs – 4 at ATL, 3 at CIN
- Colorado Rockies – 3 at STL, 4 at ARI
Although the Cubs and Rockies play seven games in Week 5, both team offenses have struggled to begin the year. The Cubs offense ranks 25th with a .291 wOBA and the Rockies rank 26th with a .288 wOBA. Not great at all outside of a few players on each team producing regularly.
Hence why they fall under the honorable mention section because it’s difficult to recommend many Cubs and Rockies hitters in Week 5. Furthermore, the Rockies play all seven games away from Coors Field. However, the Diamondbacks pitchers as a team allow the highest wOBA at .344, meaning they’re an easier hitter matchup against the Diamondbacks. Even the Cardinals’ pitchers rank in the bottom-5 in wOBA allowed at .328, so maybe the Rockies can take advantage of the weak matchups away from Colorado?
Tougher Week 5 Hitter Matchups
- New York Mets – 2 vs. BOS, 3 at PHI
- Pittsburgh Pirates – 2 vs. KC, 3 vs. STL
- San Diego Padres – 2 at ARI, 3 vs. SF
- Toronto Blue Jays – 2 vs. WSH, 3 vs. ATL
- Washington Nationals – 2 at TOR, 3 vs. MIA
In Week 5, we have a handful of teams that play only five games. A reminder that just because these teams play five games, doesn’t mean we’re sitting key players on any of these teams. However, maybe we consider sitting fringy guys like Phillip Evans, Colin Moran, Jurickson Profar, and Josh Harrison. Even if they’re swinging a hot bat, fantasy baseball is a game of accumulation.
Week 5 Hitter Streamers
Freddy Galvis, 2B/SS, Baltimore Orioles
Nothing about Freddy Galvis screams excitement. However, he’s riding a hot bat over the past seven days and he plays every day in a weak Orioles lineup. Pair that with seven games this week, and Galvis makes himself relevant in 15-team leagues or deeper. Over the past seven days, Galvis has two home runs, six runs, and three RBI with a .455 batting average. In terms of wOBA allowed, the Athletics team pitchers rank middle of the pack while the Yankees rank inside the top-10, meaning that’s middling to slightly more difficult matchups on the slate.
Unfortunately, Galvis doesn’t light up the Baseball Savant data with a 4.7% barrel rate, 104.3 mph maximum exit velocity, and 30.2% hard-hit rate. For reference, that’s not great, as he ranks in the 34th percentile or below. Based on volume and Galvis swinging a hot bat, don’t overlook him if you’re hurting with your middle infield spot.
Joey Wendle, 2B/3B/SS, Tampa Bay Rays
This one’s a bit of envy, as I have almost zero Joey Wendle, but he’s filling up the counting stats with a high batting average over the past seven days. During that stretch, Wendle boasts two home runs, ten runs, and seven RBI with a .433 batting average in 33 plate appearances. To begin the season, Wendle recorded a hit in 14 out of 17 games for a healthy season-long slash line of .365/.388/.619. Given his positional flexibility, Wendle plays almost every day, and it helps that he’s producing on offense.
Granted it’s a small sample, but Joey Wendle holds career bests or near bests in barrel rate, wOBA, and hard-hit rate. In 52 batted ball events, Wendle rocks a 5.8% barrel rate compared to 2.7% in his career. His 48.1% hard-hit rate ranks in the 77th percentile, almost 13% higher than any point in his career. Wendle’s .429 wOBA ranks in the top 7% of the league compared to a career .323 wOBA. Maybe the batted ball metrics regress with more plate appearances, but we can’t sit Wendle in 15-team leagues with 10-12 team relevance. If he’s sitting around on waivers in 10-12 team leagues, pick him up and ride the wave into Week 5.
Avisaíl García, OF, Milwaukee Brewers
With Avisaíl García, I’m longing for that 2017 to 2019 season, where he displayed 18-20 home run power with 5-10 steals. During those three seasons, García held a .288 batting average, and that’s solid for a power/speed player. Unfortunately, García missed time throughout each season that likely impacted his full-season potential. Since the Brewers placed Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich on the injured list, it clears the way for consistent playing time for García.
García had a decent stretch in the middle of April, where he played well, but unfortunately, hit a cold stretch of zero hits in his last 14 plate appearances. Therefore, his season-long line doesn’t look great with a .222 batting average, three home runs, 11 runs, ten RBI, and one steal in 71 plate appearances. The Brewers’ offense as a whole looks dreadful with a .292 team wOBA that ranks 24th in the league.
For García, his recommendation here involves mostly volume plus his Baseball Savant data. García continues to crush the ball even though it’s not turning into fantasy production quite yet. He boasts a 15.6% barrel rate, 57.8% hard-hit rate, and a 96.8 mph exit velocity on FB/LD (No. 25). All pretty elite numbers across the board in the small sample, and hopefully, it translates into fantasy production soon. One minor downside for García this week – they project to face the Dodgers (No. 1) and Marlins (No. 9) pitchers, who rank top-10 in the lowest wOBA allowed. However, it’s difficult to stay picky if you’re itching for plate appearances.
Guillermo Heredia, OF, Atlanta Braves
With the Braves losing outfield depth in Ender Inciarte and Cristian Pache, Guillermo Heredia enters the chat. We know he’s a Quad-A type guy that isn’t fantasy relevant unless it’s a 15-team league or deeper. Through six games, Heredia has two home runs, five runs, and six RBI with a .294 batting average. This one’s a desperation play if the injuries ravaged your fantasy squads heading into Week 5. They also face the Cubs pitchers who allow the 7th highest wOBA at .324 and 7th highest ERA at 4.68. Even their ace Kyle Hendricks looks rough to start the season.
Enrique Hernández, 2B/OF, Boston Red Sox
Over the past seven days, Enrique Hernández has two home runs, six runs, and four RBI with a .321 batting average in 29 plate appearances. Using those NBA Jam rules, Hernández is heating up with a hit in six out of his past eight games. Hernández mostly bats leadoff for the Red Sox and the Red Sox sneakily have one of the best offenses in baseball with a .353 wOBA (No. 1).
The Red Sox project to face the Mets for two games and the Rangers for four games. Rangers pitchers have struggled to start the year with a .323 wOBA allowed (8th worst), and the hot Red Sox bats could take advantage of those matchups. For Hernández, it’s more about the runs and potential counting stats rather than the high batting average since he holds a career .240 batting average with a .247 BA to start 2021.
Omar Narváez, C, Milwaukee Brewers
On a weak Brewers offense, Omar Narváez holds the 5th most plate appearances with a team-best .396 batting average. Narváez either leads or ranks inside the top-5 in the other counting stat categories for the Brewers. It’s typically not a positive trend when your team’s catcher ranks as one of the team’s best hitters outside of J.T. Realmuto and Salvador Perez. That said, Narváez looks great so far after a dreadful 2020 season where he hit .176 with two home runs in 126 plate appearances.
We know Narváez is much better in OBP leagues, but we can’t discount his bloated batting average due to his .410 BABIP since it still counts. Even over the past seven games, Narváez has a .368 batting average with one home run, three runs, and four RBI in 21 plate appearances. The tricky situation with catchers like Narváez – he doesn’t play every day and doesn’t accumulate as much plate appearance volume similar to other everyday hitters. As mentioned earlier, the issue with the Brewers hitters involves the matchups though they play a full slate of seven games this week.
Miguel Rojas, SS, Miami Marlins
Although there’s nothing special about Miguel Rojas that explodes off the page, he’s sneakily hitting well over the past seven days. During that stretch, Rojas has a .412 batting average, zero home runs, four runs, and one RBI in 22 plate appearances. His teammates’ Jazz Chisholm and Trevor Rogers keep stealing the attention, and rightfully so given their solid start to 2021. Over the past three seasons, including 2021, Rojas has a batting average of .316, .304, and .284. However, the counting stats rank mediocre to below average, meaning he’s not someone to rely on regularly.
Rojas has an above-average contact-based profile that translates into relatively high batting averages. In 2021, Rojas holds an 88.9% Z-Contact% and 86.3% Contact% compared to his career 92.4% career Z-Contact% and career 85.4% Contact%. Through 17 games, Rojas has a hit in 11 out of 17 games with one of those hitless games as a pinch hitter. It’s not worth digging into his Baseball Savant data since he’s not known for hitting the ball hard. However, Rojas could provide a high batting average for your fantasy squad in 15-team leagues.
