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Welcome to the newest edition of the Weekly MLB Preview!
GAME BREAKDOWN GRID FOR WEEK 4 (4/25-5/1)
| TEAM | # GAMES | HOME | AWAY | VS LEFT | VS RIGHT |
| Orioles | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Yankees | 6 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Red Sox | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Blue Jays | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Rays | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Tigers | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Royals | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| White Sox | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Indians | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| Twins | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Angels | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Mariners | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| Athletics | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Rangers | 6 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Astros | 6 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Nationals | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Marlins | 7 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Mets | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Braves | 7 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Phillies | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Cardinals | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| Pirates | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| Brewers | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Reds | 6 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Cubs | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Dodgers | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Giants | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Padres | 6 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Rockies | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Diamondbacks | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
Analysis: Here are several key takeaways from this week’s upcoming schedule:
- The New York Yankees will begin a lengthy road trip starting in Week 4, initially facing the Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox. The Yankees have some of the most dramatic home/road AVG splits, as they hit .256 as a team in New York, but just .210 on the road, which is second-worst in the major leagues. Their road OBP is a putrid .291, so owners will have to take that into consideration.
- Speaking of teams with splits on the road, the Miami Marlins also have six games away from home in Week 4. Unlike their pinstripe counterparts, the Marlins actually have the best AVG on the road, at .290. Leaving the cavernous spaces of Marlins Park certainly benefits the team’s productivity, and they have the added bonus of actually playing in front of fans for a change.
- Last season DFS players could count on the Toronto Blue Jays murdering LHP, but the team is off to a very slow start against southpaws in 2016. In over 100 Abs, Toronto is batting just .212 with a .245 .OBP against LHP. They face four lefties this week (Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, John Danks and Drew Smyly).
- While this sort of pace is unsustainable, the Pittsburgh Pirates are hitting .302 with a .384 .OBP against RHP over the course of 450 team ABs. All seven pitchers which they face are right-handed in Week 4.
INTERLEAGUE OUTLOOK
| AWAY TEAM | HOME TEAM | # GAMES | DH? | PLAYER(S) IMPACTED |
| Red Sox (2), Braves (2) | Red Sox (2), Braves (2) | 4 | Yes (2), No (2) | David Ortiz, Kelly Johnson, Jeff Francoeur |
| Indians | Phillies | 3 | No (3) | Carlos Santana |
Analysis: There are two interleague contests which span seven games during Week 4. The largest impact for Fantasy owners is the loss of the DH for the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians while on the road, which means that David Ortiz and Carlos Santana will be limited to pinch-hitting opportunities.
STARTING PITCHER RANKINGS
| PITCHER | MATCHUP 1 | MATCHUP 2 |
| Clayton Kershaw | Marlins (Koehler) | Padres (Pomeranz) |
| Noah Syndergaard | Reds (Iglesias) | Giants (Bumgarner) |
| Danny Salazar | @ Twins (Milone) | @ Phillies (Velasquez) |
| Madison Bumgarner | Padres (Pomeranz) | @ Mets (Syndergaard) |
| David Price | @Braves (Wisler) | Yankees (Eovaldi) |
| Jordan Zimmermann | Athletics (Graveman) | @ Twins (Santana) |
| Gerrit Cole | @Rockies (Bettis) | Reds (Iglesias) |
| Chris Sale | @ Blue Jays (Dickey) | @ Orioles (Gausman) |
| Cole Hamels | Yankees (Eovaldi) | Angels (Richards) |
| Raisel Iglesias | @ Mets (Syndergaard) | @ Pirates (Cole) |
| Ian Kennedy | @ Angels (Richards) | @ Mariners (Walker) |
| Zack Greinke | Cardinals (Garcia) | Rockies (De La Rosa) |
| Kevin Gausman | @ Rays (Archer) | White Sox (Sale) |
| Chris Archer | Orioles (Gausman) | Blue Jays (Dickey) |
| Taijuan Walker | Astros (Fister) | Royals (Kennedy) |
| Wei-Yin Chen | @ Dodgers (Stripling) | @ Brewers (Peralta) |
| Vince Velasquez | @ Nationals (Ross) | Indians (Salazar) |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | @Rays (Odorizzi) | White Sox (Danks) |
| R.A. Dickey | White Sox (Sale) | @ Rays (Archer) |
| Garrett Richards | Royals (Kennedy) | @ Rangers (Hamels) |
| Drew Pomeranz | @Giants (Bumgarner) | @ Dodgers (Kershaw) |
| Joe Ross | Phillies (Velasquez) | @ Cardinals (Martinez) |
| Kyle Hendricks | Brewers (Nelson) | Braves (Wisler) |
| Carlos Martinez | @ Diamondbacks (Miller) | Nationals (Ross) |
Analysis: Another week passes with Clayton Kershaw and Noah Syndergaard atop the rankings. Danny Salazar comes in third this week with two outstanding matchups against the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies, two clubs who rank towards the bottom in most offensive categories. Salazar has been outstanding to start the season, allowing two earned runs or less while striking out at least seven batters in each of his first three starts.
Another pitcher who has exceeded his owner’s expectations is Jordan Zimmermann. The righty has yet to allow a run in close to 20 IP this season, while posting a pristine 1.09 WHIP. While I can’t guarantee that he won’t surrender any runs against the Oakland Athletics or Twins, they certainly don’t scare me.
Chris Sale faces two tough AL East teams in Week 6 in the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles. Although Sale receives his fair share of praise from pundits for his outstanding arsenal of pitches, perhaps his best attribute this season is his unreal 26:3 K:BB rate. Sale won’t do these lineups any favors by allowing free passes, and will limit the damage done.
Kevin Gausman returns to the majors this week, and is greeted by the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox. Both matchups are positive on paper, and it will be curious to see what if his ownership will rise with success.
| PITCHER | MATCHUP 1 | RATING |
| Max Scherzer | Phillies (Hellickson) | 9 |
| Jake Arrieta | Brewers (Jungman) | 9 |
| Carlos Carrasco | @ Phillies (Eickhoff) | 8.5 |
| Jon Lester | Brewers (Davies) | 8 |
| Kenta Maeda | Marlins (Fernandez) | 8 |
| John Lackey | Braves (Undecided) | 8 |
| Francisco Liriano | Reds (Straily) | 8 |
| Stephen Strasburg | @Cardinals (Garcia) | 8 |
| Gio Gonzalez | Phillies (Nola) | 7.5 |
| Jose Fernandez | @ Dodgers (Maeda) | 7.5 |
| Corey Kluber | @Phillies (Morton) | 7.5 |
| J.A. Happ | @Rays (Ramirez) | 7.5 |
| Jason Hammel | Braves (Teheran) | 7.5 |
| Jacob deGrom | Giants (Cain) | 7.5 |
| Matt Harvey | Reds (Moscot) | 6.5 |
| Johnny Cueto | Padres (Shields) | 7.5 |
| Felix Hernandez | Astros (McHugh) | 7 |
| Marcus Stroman | @ Rays (Smyly) | 7 |
| Dallas Keuchel | @ Mariners (Karns) | 7 |
| Jeff Samardzija | Padres (Cashner) | 6.5 |
| Aaron Sanchez | White Sox (Quintana) | 6.5 |
| Masahiro Tanaka | @ Red Sox (Owens) | 6 |
| Matt Moore | Orioles (Tillman) | 6.5 |
| Patrick Corbin | Cardinals (Wainwright) | 6.5 |
| Michael Wacha | @ Diamondbacks (De Le Rosa) | 6.5 |
| Mike Fiers | @Athletics (Surkamp) | 6.5 |
| Marco Estrada | White Sox (Danks) | 6.5 |
| Brandon Finnegan | @Mets (Colon) | 6.5 |
| James Shields | @ Giants (Cueto) | 6.5 |
| Jeremy Hellickson | @ Nationals (Scherzer) | 6 |
| Jose Quintana | @Blue Jays (Sanchez) | 6 |
| Sonny Gray | @ Tigers (Verlander) | 6 |
| Justin Verlander | Athletics (Gray) | 6 |
| Chris Tillman | @ Rays (Moore) | 6 |
| Adam Wainwright | @Diamondbacks (Corbin) | 6 |
| Clay Buchholz | Braves (Chacin) | 6 |
| Adam Conley | @Brewers (Anderson) | 6 |
| Shane Greene | @Twins (Hughes) | 6 |
| Robbie Ray | Rockies (Lyles) | 6 |
| Alex Wood | Padres (Erlin) | 6 |
| Drew Smyly | Blue Jays (Stroman) | 6 |
| Jerad Eickhoff | Indians (Carrasco) | 6 |
| Yordano Ventura | @ Mariners (Miley) | 6 |
| Bartolo Colon | Reds (Finnegan) | 6 |
| Luis Severino | @ Rangers (Griffin) | 6 |
| A.J. Griffin | Yankees (Severino) | 6 |
| Edinson Volquez | @Angels (Weaver) | 6 |
Analysis: Owners will find a common theme amongst my top 12 selections this week, as the majority face the Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers or Atlanta Braves. Simply put, there are several teams at the bottom of the NL who are downright dreadful, resulting in a streamer’s paradise. Most of the top 10 pitchers listed are no-brainers, but Kenta Maeda has snuck into double-digit territory as a surprise.
I previewed Maeda in the weeks leading up to the beginning of the season and pegged him as one of my “Deep Sleepers” for 2016. Don’t be surprised if this level of success continues as teams face him for the first or second time.
J.A. Happ has allowed four earned runs over the course of 19 innings to start the season, and has utterly dominated all three AL East teams he’s faced. He takes on the Tampa Bay Rays again, and owners can expect similar success against a very weak lineup bereft of power.
Although the St.Louis Cardinals lead the league in runs scored to start 2016, I’ve ranked Patrick Corbin favorably and would recommend him as a start. He’s allowed one earned run in both of the past two starts, and looks to continue his trend here.