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Whether you are prepping to set your weekly lineups or determining who to play in a pivotal daily matchup, choosing who to start vs. sit is one of the most nerve-wracking and potentially frustrating aspects of fantasy baseball. Fortunately, there is a free solution available at RotoBaller. The Who Should I Start? Tool allows you to quickly compare any two players and receive fantasy projections for today, tomorrow, or the current week.
The tool provides rankings, projections, recent news, and schedules side-by-side to aid in your decision-making. The tool defaults to ESPN scoring, but the Premium version within Team Sync will use your league's scoring and roster settings.
Each week, I will use the tool to review a few interesting start/sit comparisons for the final day of the period and preview the following week. Hopefully, this series will help both daily fantasy managers end their weeks strong and also get them comfortable with routinely using the tool during the week to make tough roster decisions. Let's get into some start vs. sit comparisons for Weeks 4 and 5!
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Who Should I Start for Fantasy Baseball?
Recent Call-Ups
Zach Neto (SS) vs. Brett Baty (3B)
Our first comparison is between two top prospects who were recently called up. Zach Neto and Brett Baty are listed as each team's second-ranked prospect on MLB.com and have been tearing it up at Triple-A. Baty is currently much more rostered than Neto at 53% compared to 9%, but which one should you potentially pick up and start?
RotoBaller gives a strong recommendation to Baty for Sunday. This seems to stem from the fact that they are projecting Baty to get about twice as many at-bats, which is interesting since both have been starting since they've been called up. Further, Neto will get the better matchup against Jordan Lyles, whereas Baty will face one of the Giants' starters in San Francisco.
Looking ahead to Week 5, the Angels have better matchups and more games, with four against the A's and three at the Brewers compared to three against the Nationals and three against the Braves for the Mets. The Angels are projected to face three lefties vs. two for the Mets.
Both have struggled since being called up, but Baty will more likely sit against lefties, as he is a left-handed hitter. Neto should likely see more at-bats in the week, so he gets the nod for Week 5 if fantasy managers feel compelled to start one of these guys.
Young Two-Start Pitchers
Our next comparison is between two young starters who have had overall strong starts to this season. Taj Bradley has made two solid starts and appears to have a long-term spot in the Rays' rotation. Nick Lodolo had an awful last start but had three solid starts before. Both should have two starts next week; which one has the edge?
Fantasy managers will be able to see who RotoBaller's tool prefers starting Sunday. Lodolo is slated for better matchups, facing the Rangers at home and the A's on the road. Bradley will face the Astros at home and the White Sox on the road.
Both pitchers profile similarly and showcase high strikeout potential. However, Lodolo will likely be given the opportunity to pitch deeper into games than Bradley and has a larger sample size of success at the big-league level. Lodolo's last start was abysmal, but the three home runs he allowed are very uncharacteristic, so I am inclined to toss it out as an instance of bad luck.
I think both Bradley and Lodolo are solid two-start options this week. However, if fantasy managers only have one option then I would lean Lodolo, even though Bradley outpitched him in their last start.
Slumping Sluggers
Ryan Mountcastle (1B) vs. George Springer (OF)
This comparison is for two higher-end fantasy hitters who have provided virtually nothing offensively of late. Ryan Mountcastle got off to a hot start but has been ice cold, and George Springer has yet to get it going at all. Fantasy managers are likely hesitant to sit either, but which one has the better outlook in the coming days?
Springer gets a strong recommendation for Sunday. This mainly comes down to a higher projection for Springer in RBI, walks, and stolen bases with a lower projection for strikeouts. Springer is also given the matchup advantage at Clarke Schmidt and the Yankees, whereas Mountcastle will face Matthew Boyd at home.
Looking to next week, the O's definitely draw the better slate of games. They'll get three against the Red Sox and four at the Tigers, compared to three against the White Sox and three against the Mariners for the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays will face all righties, while the O's are projected to face four righties and three lefties. This actually benefits Mountcastle, who has historically hit lefties pretty well and has a strong .333 batting average against them to start this season.
It's only a matter of time before both start performing to fantasy managers' expectations, but the matchups for next week give Mountcastle a better chance to right the ship earlier. He also did flash power to start the season, while Springer hasn't done much of anything so far. I like Mountcastle for the start in Week 5.
Hot Corner Infielders
Taylor Walls (2B/3B/SS) vs. Jake Burger (3B)
Our final comparison comes from a couple of corner infielders who have helped fantasy managers lately. Taylor Walls has been on fire overall and is now rostered in 46% of leagues, while Jake Burger has hit four HR in his last seven games. Which of these two can help fantasy managers finish the week strong and set the table for next week?
Burger gets a strong recommendation for Sunday. The two will face off against each other, but Burger is given the edge in most categories. This makes sense to a degree, as Burger is more of a power hitter than Walls is, although Walls hits in a better overall lineup.
Both clubs have tough matchups in Week 5, with the Rays playing three against the Astros and four at the White Sox and the White Sox getting three at the Blue Jays before facing the Rays. While Burger has more power upside, Walls has been getting on base more in a stronger lineup and offers steal upside (the multi-position eligibility is also a bonus). As such, Walls gets the nod for Week 5 weekly lineups.
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