2023 Fantasy Baseball Week 4 Start/Sit: Gunnar Henderson, Salvador Perez, More (4/24/23)
Welcome to Week 4. We’re almost a full month into the season (somehow), and we’re starting to get a better idea of who the players are going to be this year. There’s still a LONG way to go (and we’ve seen April pretenders fool fantasy managers before), but things are starting to come into focus a little bit more.
I’ll be back later in the week to look at Trade Values (Wednesday) and to dive into the Closer Report (Friday), but for today, we’re going to take a look at who we should start and sit this week.
I’m not going to waste anyone’s time giving you the obvious “start Shohei Ohtani” takes here, so the list you’ll see below is going to be filled with more borderline players you might be waffling on.
And with that, let’s go position-by-position and identify the right (or wrong) players we should have in our fantasy baseball lineups for the week of April 24.
Check out all the injuries on every team across Major League Baseball!
Catcher
Start
Jonah Heim, Texas Rangers
With Mitch Garver out for a while, Heim has inherited the starting catcher job for the Rangers. He’s now up to four home runs with 16 RBI on the year while hitting .315! While he won’t keep that up all year, he’s a great plug-and-play option if you need a catcher this week.
Sit
Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals
I like Perez a lot as a fantasy player. He’s one of the best catchers you can have on your fantasy roster. But it’s been a rough start to 2023 and things don’t seem to be getting much better. Perez has just four hits in his last 22 at-bats and hasn’t hit a home run since April 8. If you can find a better option for this week (yes, even Heim), you should use that option.
First Base
Start
Connor Joe, Pittsburgh Pirates
Joe has been an absolute beast as of late and is hitting .357 with two home runs and a steal on the year. He doesn’t bring a ton of power to fantasy lineups, but he’s hitting .391 in his last 23 at-bats and provides multi-position eligibility in most fantasy leagues.
Sit
Nathaniel Lowe, Texas Rangers
Lowe has two home runs and 15 RBI on the year, but he’s hitting just .256 and only has five hits in his last 23 at-bats. Even worse, he only has two home runs on the year and hasn’t hit one since April 12. Lowe is a good player worth having on your fantasy roster, but he’s not worth starting right now.
Second Base
Start
Thairo Estrada, San Francisco Giants
Estrada is still available in almost 40 percent of ESPN leagues, and I’m not sure why. He’s hitting .329 on the year with four home runs and five steals while bringing eligibility at both second base and short stop. He only hit .259 last week, but he added three steals so he’s still producing and needs to be in fantasy lineups right now.
Sit
Gleybar Torres, New York Yankees
Torres had an amazing start to the season, but the wheels have fallen off a bit. He’s got great season-long stats, but he only has four hits in his last 22 at-bats and hasn’t chalked up a home run or steal in over two weeks.
Learn more about our premium fantasy baseball tools and products!
Shortstop
Start
Tommy Edman, St. Louis Cardinals
There is a lot of lineup fluctuation going on in St. Louis, but don’t let that scare you. Edman is getting regular playing time and is still producing. He has three home runs and two steals on the season and two of those home runs and one of those steals came last week – a week during which he hit .313. Keep him in your fantasy lineups!
Sit
Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins
Correa will heat up, but that warming process hasn’t started just yet. He’s at .214 on the year and hasn’t really shown signs of elevating his game so far as he’s coming off a which during which he hit .227 with zero home runs, zero steals, and just two RBI. He’ll turn it around, but it’s probably time to bench him for a bit.
Third Base
Start
Patrick Wisdom, Chicago Cubs
I feel like I shouldn’t have to tell you to start a guy who has nine home runs so far, but Wisdom is available in over 45 percent of ESPN leagues so here we are. The wheels will fall off at some point (he’s 31 years old and has never hit more than 28 home runs in a season), but he hit three home runs last week so he’s worth rolling out there for now.
Sit
Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
Henderson has had a rough start to his rookie season and is hitting just .183 on the year. He still only has one home run and has been moving down the Orioles lineup. While he’s been cutting back on strikeouts, he’s an albatross on fantasy lineups right now and should be benched until he can prove otherwise.
Outfield
Start
Jack Suwinski, Pittsburgh
Suwinski is on a TEAR right now and should be started until further notice. He’s hitting .353 with four home runs and two steals over the last week. Will he keep that pace up? Absolutely not. But he’s worth riding until the wheels fall off.
Sit
Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox
Robert started the season strong (and he’s still good – don’t drop him), but he’s in a slump right now. He’s hitting just .120 in his last 25 at-bats and has just one hit in his last 16 at-bats (six of which were strikeouts). He’ll turn things around, but let him do it on your bench this week.
Use our Trade Analyzer to see which team gets the better end of any fantasy baseball deal!
Pitcher
Start
Drew Smyly, Chicago Cubs
Smyly is a two-start pitcher this week so that’s a great start here. He’ll face a tough Padres lineup but will then get to face a bad Nationals lineup later in the week. He’s allowed just two total earned runs in his last three starts and is coming off a 10-strikeout game in his last start. Get him in your lineups this week!
Sit
Kodai Senga, New York Mets
Senga started the year strong but has fallen on rough times recently. He’s allowed four earned runs in each of his last two starts and hasn’t made it past the fifth inning in either of those starts. While he’ll get to start the Nationals this week, I’m still holding off on slotting him into my fantasy lineups until he can show he’s turned things around.
Fantasy SP has worked diligently to bring you next-level sports betting analytics, prop betting tools, public betting splits, and so much more! Become an Edge+ member today!
