2023 Fantasy Baseball Week 18 Start/Sit: Whit Merrifield, Freddy Peralta, and More!
Happy Monday! I hope you had a restful weekend and are ready to dive head-first into August!
As always, it’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 31.
Top Fantasy Baseball Starts
Whit Merrifield, 2B/OF, Toronto Blue Jays
Merrifield has had a strange season as he came out of the gate hot in April (and especially May) before having June during which he struggled a bit and saw himself dropped to waivers in quite a few fantasy leagues. That said, the 34-year-old has been hot as of late and is hitting .365 with 16 runs scored, six home runs, 19 RBI, and three steals through July. Over the past week, Merrifield is hitting .464 with six runs scored, two home runs, seven RBI, and a steal. Moreso, his OPS over the past week is a ridiculous 1.198 (compared to .778 on the season). While the wheels may fall off, Merrifield absolutely has to be in fantasy lineups right now.
Freddy Peralta, P, Milwaukee Brewers
Peralta is one of my favorite fantasy pitchers so I'm glad I get to write him up this week! While his season-long stats (6-8, 4.46 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) aren't exactly stellar (or good), things are looking up for the 27-year-old. At least for now. Peralta had a blow-up two starts ago in allowing six earned runs to a good Braves lineup, but he sandwiched that start with two shutout performanches -- including a 13-strikeout performance against the Reds his last time out. He'll get to face the lowly Nationals lineup on Tuesday and has limited opposing batters to a .188 average this month so there's a chance he's finally turning things around.
Brandon Lowe, 2B, Tampa Bay Rays
It's easy to overlook Lowe when you see that he's hitting .222 on the year. However, he's been HOT as of late and is hitting .474 with three home runs and a steal over the past week. While May and June were awful for the 28-year-old, that doesn't really matter moving forward, and Lowe is hitting .286 with four home runs and 11 RBI during the month of July (with all four of those home runs coming over the past two weeks). Will he keep this up for the rest of the season? I don't know! But it's worth rolling with him this week to see if he can at least carry some short-term momentum into our fantasy lineups.
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
Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 3B, Cincinnati Reds
Well, it was a fun call-up, but CES hasn't done much since, unfortunately. While the Reds' young prospect is still one of the better dynasty prospects out there, he's been pretty awful over the last week and deserves a spot on your bench. The 23-year-old is hitting .071 over the past week and has struck out eight times in his last 14 at-bats. That's not good. The Reds will likely stick with him for a bit to see if he can get his you-know-what together, but I'd rather let him do that on my fantasy bench than continue to drag down my fantasy team's production.
George Springer, OF, Toronto Blue Jays
Springer has had an up-and-down season, and he's in the midst of quite the slump right now. After hitting .190 during the month of April, Springer turned things around in May and June, hitting .287 and .286, respectively. Through the first 30 days of July, however, Springer is back down to a .191 average on the month. And to make matters worse, he's gone hitless in his last seven games (27 at-bats) so he's really scuffling right now. While the 33-year-old can get hot in a hurry, I think it's better to let him figure things out on your fantasy bench right now. He's just making things worse in your lineup currently.
Marcus Stroman, P, Chicago Cubs
While Stroman still has good season-long numbers (10-7, 3.51 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 109 strikeouts in 125.2 innings), he's been pretty bad as of late. Through five July starts, Stroman has an ERA of 7.99 during the month while allowing opposing batters to hit .283. Making things even worse, he's failed to make it out of the fourth inning in each of his last two starts and has given up a combined 11 earned runs in those two starts. While it's tempting to use Stroman during a two-start week, I'm going to sit him against the Reds on Monday to see if he can get back on track.
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