2023 Fantasy Baseball Week 16 Start/Sit: Joey Votto, Cody Bellinger, and More!
Welcome to the Week 16 Start/Sit article! I hope you had a restful weekend and are ready to coast through the rest of July.
t’s time to face the typical Monday decisions we need to make as we set our rosters. Which pitchers have a two-start week? Which ones have juicy matchups? Which hitters are on a hot streak? Which ones are having trouble buying a hit? Think of this like a fantasy football streamers article.
I’ll be back later in the week to look at Droppables (Tuesday), 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.
And with that, let’s identify the right (or wrong) players we should have in our fantasy baseball lineups for the week of July 16.
Top Fantasy Baseball Starts
Cody Bellinger, 1B, Chicago Cubs
Bellinger took a bit to get going after his return from the Injured List, but he’s one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now. The 29-year-old has continued his comeback season strong as of late and now has a hit in 16 of his last 17 games. He’s hitting .476 (20-for-42) in July with 13 runs scored, five home runs, 13 RBI, and one steal in 11 games during the month. He’s hitting .305 on the year with 48 runs scored, 12 home runs, 35 RBI, and 11 steals. If he hadn’t missed a month, he’d likely be on pace for a 25-25 season (with 30-30 potential at least being in the conversation). While I doubt anyone is thinking of sitting Bellinger right now, I figured I’d be heavy-handed and make sure everyone who has him on their roster is cementing him into their lineup this week.
Michael Lorenzen, P, Detroit Tigers
Lorenzen has been one of my favorite streaming pitchers this year depending on who he is facing, but I think I might be bumping him up to a straight-out waiver pickup. Well, I guess I’m writing about it so it’s more than “might be”. Anyway, Lorenzen has allowed zero runs and just five total hits in his last two starts (11.2 innings) and struck out 11 in the process. He’s had a few blowups here and there, but he’s also had a few gems and appears to be trending in the right direction. While he’s not a huge strikeout guy (7.6 K/9), the 31-year-old has a 3.75 ERA and 1.14 WHIP on the season and has a great matchup against a bad Royals lineup this week.
CJ Abrams, SS, Washington Nationals
I’m going to double-dip here and cross-reference this week’s Waiver article with Abrams. He’s been under-the-radar very good this season. And even moreso lately. The 22-year-old is in the midst of a six-game hitting streak with his last five games including two or more hits in each. He’s also 7-for-14 over his last three games and had a home run and two steals in those games. Abrams is at the minimum good short-term pickup. But he might turn into a second-half asset.
As always, check out the fantasy assistant for personalized waiver wire recommendations and team analysis. Make moves based on projections, strengths and weaknesses, waiver alerts, and lots more.
Top Fantasy Baseball Sits
Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds
It was fun while it lasted, but Votto has fallen into a bit of a cold spell, and I’m sitting him (and maybe even dropping him) this week. Votto has just one hit over his last 11 at-bats and is hitting just .231 on the year. While the 39-year-old has seven home runs (and four of them admittedly came in July), there are better first basemen out there to start this week. I love Votto. I really do. But this is one of those “the season is too short for nostalgia” moments. Give Joey a seat on your fantasy bench this week.
Spencer Steer, 3B/1B/OF, Baltimore Orioles
Votto’s teammate is another sit candidate for me this week. And honestly more of a no-brainer decision than Votto for me. While Steer still has great season-long numbers in hitting .273 with 45 runs, 14 home runs, 51 RBI, and nine steals, he’s hasn’t hit a home run since July 2 and hasn’t stolen a base since June 30. Worse, he’s only scored three runs during July and has also only batted in three runs during the month. The .200 average during July doesn’t help much either, and Steer only has one hit in his last 24 at-bats. Give him a seat this week as he figures things out.
Hunter Brown, P, Houston Astros
I wrote about not dropping Brown last week due to his potential and I still think he’s worth holding onto. However, I don’t think he should be in your starting lineup right now. The 24-year-old has been off lately and has allowed eight earned runs combined in his last two starts (7.0 innings). While he was still able to rack up 14 strikeouts in those two games (which is the potential that makes me say not to dop him), Brown has been up and down like a yo-yo lately with some great starts mixed in with some awful starts. His next turn comes against a bad Rockies team, but it’s in Colorado and typically like to stay away from starting pitchers there – especially struggling ones.
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