Bryan Fitzgerald
Below is a rundown of hitters owners need to be prepared to bench or consider cutting for the either the M-Th or F-Su scoring period for the upcoming week. There are a lot of seven-game weeks in Week 14, so finding a decent streamer should be easier than usual. Players that are listed are at least 50% owned in the NFBC’s Main Event or Online Championship.
Players are listed alphabetically by team, with rationale written below the chart. Suggestions for the strength of play for each scoring period are ranked as follows: Great Start, Solid Start, Possible Start, Likely Bench, Definite Bench.
| Hitters to Sit or Drop | ||||||
| Name | Team | Pos | ME% | OC% | Wk 14 M-Th | Wk 14 F-Su |
| Joc Pederson | ARZ | OF | 100 | 72 | Solid Start | Definite Bench |
| Jake McCarthy | ARZ | OF | 98 | 40 | Solid Start | Likely Bench |
| Eugenio Suarez | ARZ | 3B | 77 | 53 | Drop | |
| Geraldo Perdomo | ARZ | 2B,SS | 51 | 0 | Drop | |
| Jorge Mateo | BAL | 2B,SS | 97 | 47 | Likely Bench | Likely Bench |
| Masataka Yoshida | BOS | OF | 100 | 82 | Possible Start | Possible Start |
| Bo Naylor | CLE | C | 70 | 43 | Drop | |
| Michael Toglia | COL | OF,1B | 77 | 29 | Likely Bench | Possible Start |
| Colt Keith | DET | 2B,3B | 98 | 78 | Likely Bench | Possible Start |
| Wenceel Perez | DET | OF | 84 | 38 | Drop | |
| Nelson Velazquez | KC | OF | 84 | 53 | Likely Bench | Likely Bench |
| Jeremy Pena | HOU | SS | 100 | 100 | Possible Start | Solid Start |
| Jake Meyers | HOU | OF | 90 | 75 | Likely Bench | Possible Start |
| Kevin Pillar | LAA | OF | 90 | 39 | Likely Bench | Likely Bench |
| Sal Frelick | MLW | OF | 72 | 62 | Drop | |
| Harrison Bader | NYM | OF | 100 | 22 | Definite Bench | Possible Start |
| Jeff McNeil | NYM | 2B,OF | 60 | 27 | Drop | |
| DJ LeMahieu | NYY | 1B,3B | 58 | 8 | Drop | |
| Jack Suwinski | PIT | OF | 84 | 28 | Definite Bench | Likely Bench |
| Dylan Moore | SEA | 3B,SS,2B,OF | 97 | 63 | Possible Start | Likely Bench |
| Mitch Haniger | SEA | OF | 88 | 41 | Possible Start | Likely Bench |
| Amed Rosario | TB | OF,2B,SS | 65 | 51 | Drop | |
| Richie Palacios | TB | 2B,OF | 51 | 13 | Drop | |
| Leody Taveras | TEX | OF | 81 | 36 | Possible Start | Likely Bench |
| Ezequiel Duran | TEX | 1B,3B,SS,OF | 79 | 21 | Drop | |
| Spencer Horwitz | TOR | 1B | 100 | 39 | Possible Start | Possible Start |
| Davis Schneider | TOR | OF,2B | 98 | 86 | Possible Start | Possible Start |
| Justin Turner | TOR | 1B | 74 | 45 | Likely Bench | Likely Bench |
Joc Pederson, Jake McCarthy, Eugenio Suarez, Geraldo Perdomo – ARi faces 2/3 vs LHP F-Su, making Pederson a sit (he never plays vs LHP) and McCarthy a likely (he plays against about 50% of LHP). Suarez has a 62 wRC+ since May 1 and the team has vocally said he’s going to be losing playing time, which he is. Perodmo hits 9th on a middling offense, sits occasionally and contributes nothing besides some BABIP-fueled BA (.286 BA, .333 BABIP) and the occasional SB (16 SB in 495 PA last season).
Jorge Mateo – He’s posted a .588 OPS over the last three weeks, has sat against three of the last four RHP, and BAL faces 6/7 vs RHP next week.
Masataka Yoshida – Wilyer Abreu is set to come off the IL this weekend and I’d watch the BOS lineups closely this weekend to see if Yoshida is the odd man out. Duran, O’Neill, and Rafaela are all healthy and on fire lately. Yoshida has done nothing since he’s come off the IL (.154/.241/.192) and was beefing with the team for his lack of usage just before his thumb injury. Maybe BOS wants to showcase him for a potential trade, or maybe they just sit him. I wouldn’t be sucked into thinking BOS’s 6/6 vs RHP next week makes him a must-start.
Bo Naylor – If you haven’t cut bait yet, this is the week, as he sits vs LHP, gets 3/6 vs lefties next week and still has shown zero at the plate (52 wRC+, 36-4% K-BB in June).
Michael Toglia – Added for his seven-game home stream in Wk 14, he only gets games M-Th at HOU. His F-Su at CWS is solid, and I’d probably hold him for his seven-game home stream in Week 15. COL then gets four games at CIN to open Week 16. He’s also been hitting well in June (116 wRC+) though some of that is aided by a .367 BABIP.
Colt Keith, Wenceel Perez – Another annoying, LHP-heavy week for Keith, with 3/6 vs LHP including 2/4 M-Th. Perez has a seven-game week coming up, but has been a zero over the past two months. Since May 1 – 76 wRC+, 0 HR, 1 SB.
Jeremy Pena, Jake Meyers – HOU has a two-game M-Th in Week 14 (home vs COL). Meyers is cooling off (-8 wRC+, 31-2% K-BB June). Pena should play both games against weak opposing pitching, however, he’s been icy himself lately (.182 BA, 0 HR, 25 wRC+ in June) and I’d take a solid M-Th stream over him. With a bunch of seven-game weeks around baseball, that shouldn’t be too hard to find.
Nelson Velazquez – KC has a seven-game week, but I don’t trust him volume, as he’s started just three of the last six games and KC has been jerking around his playing time all season.
Kevin Pillar – LAA has seven games in Week 14, but Pillar’s playing time is too sporadic to trust. He’s losing time in centerfield vs RHP to Mickey Moniak and only played a handful of games in leftfield last week because Taylor Ward DH’d a bit after tweaking his back.
Sal Frelick – I have no interest in a strong-side platoon bat who just chips in at BA (.256) with some speed (9 SB) and no power (2 HR). Garrett Mitchell could be up to steal his playing time soon.
Harrison Bader, Jeff McNeil – The Mets play just two games M-Th, both vs RHP, and they’re Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil. Bader sits against the occasional RHP and is a must-sit. McNeil can be cut (.219/.286/.305, 76 wRC+).
DJ LeMahieu – You have to be a special kind of bad to be unrosterable while playing on the best offense in MLB, and LeMathieu is just that – 52 wRC+, 0 HR, 0 SB, .196 BA, 58% ground ball rate. He’s toast.
Jack Suwinski – He’s a strong-side platooner and PIT gets 3/6 vs LHP next week. Unless you’re seriously desperate for power, there’s no need to hold him (75 wRC+, 2 HR, 49-10% K-BB since he was called back up on June 4.)
Dylan Moore, Mitch Haniger – Jorge Polanco could be due back any day, which I think will send Moore back to a mostly short-side platoon role. Bad news in the short-term, as SEA faces 6/6 vs RHP in Week 14, then 5/6 in Week 15. Haniger is also only starting against about half the RHP the past few weeks.
Amed Rosario, Richie Palacios – I don’t understand why either is rostered as much as they are, especially Rosario at more than 50% in OCs. Neither plays regularly enough to count on for consistent roto stats.
Leody Tavares, Ezequiel Duran – Leody has sat two of the last five games and has a -19 wRC+ in June. Duran has started every game but one this month, however, a lot of that was to fill-in for Corey Seager and Josh Smith while they were banged up. Even with TEX on a seven-game week, I don’t trust either for volume or production.
Spencer Horwitz, Davis Schneider, Justin Turner – TOR has a seven-game week, but these messy playing time situations can be a trap. Each of them has sat against at least one RHP over the past week, and one of them is going to get stuck with just two starts M-Th (three games at BOS, one vs NYY). It will probably be Schneider, though I think he’s the best roto contributor of the trio. Regardless, I don’t fully trust any of them for a great stream.
