Fantasy Baseball Week 21 Start/Sit: Charlie Blackmon, Paul Blackburn, and More!
Welcome to Week 21.
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 August 21.
Top Fantasy Baseball Starts
Charlie Blackmon, OF, Colorado Rockies
Charlie Blackmon is still playing?! He sure is. And he's playing well. The 37-year-old has had an injury-plagued season, but he's been absolutely on fire since returning from his two-month hand injured absence. Blackmon has recorded a hit in each of the six games he's played since returning from the Injured List and is hitting .450 with eight runs scored, two home runs, and five RBI during that span. I have my doubts on him being able to keep this up, but he's worth playing just in case he can prove me wrong.
Paul Blackburn, P, Oakland A's
Blackburn's season-long stats (3-3, 4.09 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) don't exactly jump off the page in a good way, but the 29-year-old is worth a look this week. He gets a two-start week (starting with the lowly Royals on Monday) and has pitched pretty well lately. He's thrown a shutout in two of his last three starts and has a 1.93 ERA during the month of August while limiting opposing batters to a .239 average. I don't love using pitchers on the A's due to their lack of run support, but I think Blackburn is an interesting streamer add this week.
Eddie Rosario, OF, Atlanta Braves
I wrote about Rosario being a ridiculously streaky player in last week's mid-week waiver column, and he's still streaking! Over the past week, Rosario has hit .524 (yes, you read that right) with three home runs and 10 RBI. He's riding a four-game hitting streak heading into Monday's NL East matchup with the Mets and will look to continue his recent hot streak. I'm sure he'll fall off a cliff at some point soon, but it's worth adding Rosario into any open lineup spots you have for the short-term.
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
Trevor Story, SS, Boston Red Sox
Story's return was fun for a day, but the wheels have fallen off since. I know it's easy to remember how good he was for the Rockies a couple of years ago, but it's time to forget those days. He's an injury-plagued player who still isn't in perfect game shape yet, and he probably won't be much of a fantasy factor for much of this season. I know he's hitting in the middle of the Red Sox order, but the 30-year-old is hitting just .050 over the last week in 20 at-bats and doesn't deserve to be anywhere near your starting fantasy lineup.
Michael Lorenzen, P, Philadelphia Phillies
While Lorenzen's no-hitter was fun, he hasn't been quite as fun to have on your fantasy team since. Lorenzen is part of a six-man rotation for the Phillies so his opportunities to put up stats are limited right out of the gate, and he was absolutely awful his last time out in allowing six earned runs in 3.1 innings against the Nationals. While Lorenzen has upside any time he's on the mound, I'm going to sit him against the Giants this week to see if he's able to round back into form.
Hunter Greene P, Cincinnati Reds
Greene had a great April, but things haven't been going all that great for him otherwise. He's up to a 4.72 ERA and 1.47 WHIP on the season and got absolutely blasted in his first game back from a hip injury. It was just one start, but in 3.0 innings against the Blue Jays, the 24-year-old gave up 10 hits and eight earned runs while walking three and giving up FIVE(!) home runs. While he has some nice upside, Greene is way too volatile and should be on your bench for his next start against the Diamondbacks on Friday.
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