I’d like to wish all of our faithful readers here at Fantasy Alarm a very Happy Easter holiday. Hopefully all of that talking you down off the ledge a few weeks back has paid off for you now that guys like Emilio Bonifacio and Andre Brown (remember opening day?) have cooled down.
This week will be the first that will look like an actual MLB week throughout the summer. There are not nearly as many day games and every team is playing at least six games this week. With that let’s get you prepared for week four in fantasy baseball.
Starting Pitchers
The toughest choices you will make from week to week are what pitchers to use and which to sit on the bench. Lucky for you our staff here at Fantasy Alarm enjoy solving your problems. Not only do we tell you which starters are worth streaming next week, but we also tell you this weeks two start pitchers as well.
If that ain’t enough for you I have gone ahead and ranked my top 50 starting pitchers for this coming week. I also went ahead and listed the opposing team and pitcher for each individual matchup as well. You’re welcome you bastards!!
# | Player | Matchup 1 | Matchup 2 |
1 | Jose Fernandez (MIA) | @Braves (Wood) | @Mets (Gee) |
2 | Yu Darvish (TEX) | @Athletics (Straily) | @Mariners (Hernendez) |
3 | Felix Hernandez (SEA) | Astros (Keuchel) | Rangers (Darvish) |
4 | Cliff Lee (PHI) | @Dodgers (Maholm) | @Diamondbacks (Arroyo) |
5 | Adam Wainwright (STL) | @Mets (Gee) | Pirates (Volquez) |
6 | Justin Verlander (DET) | White Sox (Sale) | @Twins (Pelfrey) |
7 | Masahiro Tanaka (NYY) | @Red Sox (Lester) | Angels (Richards) |
8 | Chris Sale (CWS) | @Tigers (Verlander) | @Rays (Odorizzi) |
9 | Andrew Cashner (SD) | @Brewers (Peralta) | @Nationals (Roark) |
10 | Stephen Strasburg (WAS) | Padres (Erlin) | |
11 | Max Scherzer (DET) | White Sox (Quintana) | |
12 | Anibal Sanchez (DET) | White Sox (Danks) | @Twins (Hughes) |
13 | David Price (TB) | Twins (Gibson) | |
14 | Julio Teheran (ATL) | Marlins (Koehler) | Reds (Cueto) |
15 | Zack Greinke (LAD) | Phillies (Burnett) | |
16 | Michael Wacha (STL) | @Mets (Niese) | |
17 | Johnny Cueto (CIN) | @Pirates (Volquez) | @Braves (Teheran) |
18 | James Shields (TB) | @Indians (Salazar) | @Orioles (Gonzalez) |
19 | Hyun-Jin Ryu (LAD) | Phillies (Hamels) | Rockies (De La Rosa) |
20 | Jon Lester (BOS) | Yankees (Tanaka) | @Blue Jays (Dickey) |
21 | Dan Straily (OAK) | Rangers (Darvish) | @Astros (Keuchel) |
22 | Francisco Liriano (PIT) | Reds (Leake) | @Cardinals (Lyons) |
23 | Madison Bumgarner (SF) | @Rockies (Morales) | |
24 | Danny Salazar (CLE) | Royals (Shields) | @Giants (Vogelsong) |
25 | Cole Hamels (PHI) | @Dodgers (Ryu) | @D-Backs (McCarthy) |
26 | Scott Kazmir (OAK) | @Astros (Oberholtzer) | |
27 | Gio Gonzalez (WAS) | Angels (Weaver) | |
28 | Sonny Gray (OAK) | Rangers (Perez) | |
29 | Jordan Zimmarman(WAS) | Padres (Stults) | |
30 | Hiroki Kuroda (NYY) | Angels (Wilson) | |
31 | Tommy Milone (OAK) | Rangers (Scheppers) | @Astros (Feldman) |
32 | Yovani Gallardo (MIL) | Padres (Kennedy) | |
33 | Matt Garza (Brewers) | Cubs (Villanueva) | |
34 | Shelby Miller (STL) | Pirates (Cole) | |
35 | Clay Buchholz (BOS) | Orioles (Chen) | @Blue Jays (Morrow) |
36 | Gerrit Cole (Pirates) | @Cardinals (Miller) | |
37 | Lance Lynn (STL) | @Mets (Colon) | |
38 | A.J. Burnett (PHI) | @Dodgers (Greinke) | |
39 | Alex Wood (ATL) | Marlins (Fernandez) | |
40 | Marco Estrada (MIL) | Cubs (Hammel) | |
41 | Yordano Ventura (Royals) | @Orioles (Jimenez) | |
42 | Jered Weaver (Angels) | @Nationals (Gonzalez) | |
43 | Jake Odorizzi (TB) | Twins (Pelfrey) | White Sox (Sale) |
44 | R.A. Dickey (TOR) | Orioles (Gonzalez) | Red Sox (Lester) |
45 | Tony Cingrani (CIN) | @Pirates (Rodriguez) | |
46 | Jeff Samardzija (CHC) | Diamondbacks (Miley) | |
47 | Jenrry Mejia (NYM) | Cardinals (Lyons) | Marlins (Koehler) |
48 | Wily Peralta (MIL) | Padres (Cashner) | Cubs (Wood) |
49 | Matt Cain (SF) | @Rockies (Chatwood) | |
50 | Homer Bailey (CIN) | @Braves (Santana) |
What The D.H.?
It is always important to look at the interleague games for the week ahead. This week we've got two American League teams visitin National League Ballparks. Here are the matchups:
Los Angeles Angels at Washington Nationals (3 x - Monday-Wednesday)
Cleveland Indians at San Francisco Giants (3 x - Friday-Sunday)
Counting Stats
Always pay attention to which teams play the most games in a given week. This is the perfect way to maximize counting stats such as runs, RBI, wins and strikeouts. Here are the teams that play the most in week 4:
7 Games
Orioles, Red Sox, Indians, White Sox, Tigers, Astros, Royals, Athletics, Nationals, Cardinals, Padres, Pirates, Phillies, Mets, Dodgers, Reds, Cubs & Diamondbacks
6 Games
Angels, Twins, Yankees, Mariners, Rays, Rangers, Blue Jays, Braves, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers & Giants
Other Trends
The Orioles, Braves and Mets play all of their games this week against RHP
The Yankees play four games against left handed starters
Braves starter Mike Minor is due to come off the disabled list this week and could replace either David Hale in the rotation
Mets starter Jenrry Meija is questionable for his starts this week due to a finger blister on his pitching hand