2023 Fantasy Baseball Week 17 Start/Sit: Eduardo Rodriguez, Triston Casas, and More!
Welcome to the Week 17 Start/Sit article! I hope you had a restful weekend and are ready for our last week before the trade deadline!
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), Mid-week Waivers (Thursday), and the Closer Report (Friday), but for today, we’re going to take a look at who we should start and sit this week. Sidenote: I also covered some good streamer-type players in this week's waiver article if you have some extra time to check that out.
And with that, let’s identify the right (or wrong) players we should have in our fantasy baseball lineups for the week of July 24.
Top Fantasy Baseball Starts
Eduardo Rodriguez, P, Detroit Tigers
Rodgriguez came out of the gate on fire, but missed over a month due to a finger injury. Since then, he's more or less picked up where he left off and currently has a 6-5 record with a 2.69 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 88 strikeouts in 83.2 innings. He had a rough first start after returning from the Injured List, but he's allowed just two runs in each of his last game while striking out seven in each game. Moreso, he's only allowed seven total hits in those two starts combined. With a two-start week ahead of him, E-Rod has to be in your lineup this week.
Alex Kirilloff, 1B/OF, Minnesota Twins
Post-hype sleeper, anyone? The 25-year-old struggled through his first two forays into the Majors over the past two years, but he's finally starting to put things together. Up to .282 with 22 runs, eight home runs, and 32 RBI in 65 games this year, Kirilloff is on fire right now and needs to be in most fantasy lineups. Over the past week, he's hitting .357 with six runs, four home runs, and 13 RBI. Will he keep that up all season? Probably not. But he's worth getting into your fantasy lineup this week while he's hot.
Triston Casas, 1B, Boston Red Sox
As a Red Sox fan, I was REALLY down on Casas for the first few months of the year, but he's finally turning things around. After hitting .137 in April and .257 in May, the 23-year-old has progressed each month by hitting .286 in June and .333 through the first three weeks of July. He's also hit 5 home runs this month and is up to 14 on the year. For more immediate purposes, Casas is coming off a week where he hit .500 with six runs, three home runs, and five RBI. He's also riding a three-game multi-hit streak. Get him in your lineup while he's hot!
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
Anthony Rizzo, 1B, New York Yankees
In full disclosure, Rizzo went 4-for-4 with a home run yesterday. But I'm not buying it. That's Rizzo's first home run in 45 games and he was 1-for-21 over the week leading up to Sunday. The 33-year-old went all of June without hitting a home run and hit .173 during the month. July hasn't treated him much better with a .139 average and just one home run through the first three weeks of the month. Will Sunday be the beginning of a turning point? Maybe. But I'll put him on my bench until he does more than put one good game together.
Alex Verdugo, OF, Boston Red Sox
Verdugo sat Sunday night after going hitless in his previous four games and is now hitting .127 this month. He's also only added five runs, two home runs, seven RBI, and one steal during July. That's almost hard to do while playing every day! Verdugo has never been a huge home runs or steals guy, but his current .274 average would be his worst average since becoming a full-time player, and his 39 RBI are woefully short of where he should be. While I wouldn't outright drop Verdugo (especially in points leagues), he probably shouldn't be in your fantasy lineup right now.
Carlos Rodon, P, New York Yankees
I get the urge to stick with Rodon after waiting out his injury for so long, but he's just not helping your fantasy team right now. The 30-year-old has only started three games (so I wouldn't just drop him yet), but he curently has a 7.36 ERA and 1.43 WHIP with a 11:9 K:BB ratio in 14.2 innings (that's not good). He's given up a home run in all three of his starts this year and is coming off a start in which he gave up six earned runs in 4.1 innings to the Angels. Things may get better, but I'd rather sit and wait to see if he's able to put together a couple of good starts before I slot Rodon back into my fantasy lineup.
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