Fantasy Baseball Players To Watch For The Week Ahead (May 27 - June 2)

Another week and Shota Imanaga, Ranger Suarez, and Seth Lugo haven't blinked, so I'll keep listing them at the top here until one of them does. While that's all good, the injuries to star players continue to pile up and you can't help but feel a little depressed about the game of baseball, both real-life and fantasy, losing the likes of Ronald Acuna Jr. for the rest of the season due to an ACL injury (again). Sigh...but we must move on.

For those keeping track of some of last week's topics, Ketel Marte's hit streak finally came to an end, although he started a less interesting one, having gone three games now without a hit (0-for-12). Rafael Devers did get a homer in a sixth straight game and Lars Nootbaar continued to hit. Robert Gasser could not make it to 3-0 and Yu Darvish's scoreless innings streak came to an end.

Taking a look ahead to this week's action, we'll touch on some intriguing hitters below, both for DFS and season-long. There are some enticing pitching matchups this week as well, and that bullpen that was in flux a week ago is still very much in flux. I've got my eye on these guys, and perhaps you should too.

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Players to Watch: Hitters

Anthony Volpe

What I'm watching: Hit streak

A 1-for-3 day at the plate Sunday brought Volpe's league-leading hit streak to 19 games. The 23-year-old is 27-for-81 (.333) during this stretch, and now slashing .282/.355/.435 on the season with a .349 wOBA and 129 wRC+. The former first-round draft pick continues to provide power (nine 2B, three 3B, six HR) and speed (11 SB). He's still on track to provide fantasy managers with a 20/25 season and hitting atop the Yankee lineup results in valuable run production (23 RBI, 35 R).

Anthony Volpe extends his hit streak to 19 GAMES! pic.twitter.com/O4jGiHbOun

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 26, 2024

Jarred Kelenic/Adam Duvall

What I'm watching: Who is going to fill the void left by Acuna's injury?

It seems both Jarred Kelenic and Adam Duvall will get additional playing time as a result of Acuna's injury, but we'll see if the Braves call up someone or make a move to bring someone in. Kelenic hadn't been playing against LHP and really wasn't hitting much otherwise other than a brief hot start to begin the season. He also picked up three hits in Sunday's game after he replaced Acuna. Maybe some consistent playing time will allow him to get into a groove.

Jarred Kelenic in today's series finale:

▪️3 hits
▪️3 runs pic.twitter.com/PHBjVsS6fF

— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) May 26, 2024

Duvall is hitting just .208 but has a career-high Contact% of 84.7% and a career-low chase rate of 30.4%. Add in a somewhat unusually low BABIP for him and there are reasons to believe he can turn things around. The last time this happened to one of Acuna's knees, Alex Anthopoulos brought in the right pieces and the Braves won a championship. It will be interesting to see how they move forward this time around.

Key Matchups: Hitters

These hitters caught my eye when looking over batter vs. pitcher matchups, and I kept rolling with the table format below as it seems easier on the eyes. Most of these guys are already rostered in a majority of leagues, so you aren't running out to snag them off the waiver wire, but they could be targets for your DFS lineups. While sometimes there isn't enough matchup history worth looking at, there is frequency with these, and with frequency comes familiarity. These pitchers likely don't have any more tricks up their sleeves versus these batters.

Players to Watch: Starting Pitchers

Tarik Skubal

What I'm watching: Two starts against teams that strikeout a lot

Tarik Skubal has two starts this week, but what's intriguing is that both games will feature opponents that strike out a ton. On Tuesday, Skubal will take his 2.25 ERA and 31.2% K% into Tuesday's matchup with Pittsburgh, a squad that has the fourth-most strikeouts as a team and seventh-worst team batting average. On Sunday, the southpaw will square off against the Red Sox who have the third-most strikeouts as a team. There should be a lot of swing-and-miss in that Pittsburgh game, as Jared Jones will toe the rubber for the Pirates (96th percentile Whiff%).

Tarik Skubal, 99mph ⛽️

And is fired up.

12th K. pic.twitter.com/yUiNpoLYnS

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 5, 2024

Chris Sale

What I'm watching: Juicy matchup versus A's

In Sunday's outing against the Pirates, Chris Sale uncharacteristically only struck out eight batters, after striking out nine or more in four straight outings. Sunday's start also marked the sixth straight start where he allowed one earned run or less. This Friday the veteran will take on the Athletics who have the second-most strikeouts in the league and fourth-lowest team batting average (third-lowest versus LHP). It feels like this one should end with a seventh straight start allowing one ER or less and 10+ strikeouts.

Luis Gil

What I'm watching: Can he finish May on a high note?

Similar to Sale, Gil is on some sort of heater right now. The 25-year-old is 5-0 in May with a 0.59 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, and a 22.1% K-BB%. Gil will get the Angels on Wednesday in Anaheim, which isn't as favorable as some of the aforementioned teams, but still not very daunting.

Luis Gil registered a daily high 22 Whiffs in his dominant 14 K outing against Chicago yesterday

Here are all of them: pic.twitter.com/kSGGwQZ6hX

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) May 19, 2024

Players to Watch: Relief Pitchers

Mets Closers

What I'm watching: who will take on the closing job?

It seems that no Mets reliever wants the closing job, as all of the pitchers who were effective a few weeks ago are no longer. Edwin Diaz, Adam Ottavino, and Reed Garrett have struggled over the past week. RosterResource lists four different Mets relievers with the "CL" role, including Jake Diekman and Jorge Lopez, so to say things are fluid is probably an understatement. Will Diaz regain his confidence or will someone else finally take the reigns?

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