Hello everyone!

If you’re unfamiliar with this series, each week I’ll be looking at some hitting matchups that you should take advantage of and some hitting matchups that you should avoid based on who the batters are likely to face on the mound. I’ll also be focusing on catchers that you can stream each week, because we all know that catcher can be a particularly tough position in fantasy.

Here’s something else I want to add to the intro of this particular article and the articles that follow it: if you’re in the playoffs right now, streaming hot hitters for a week can be a very viable strategy, and you shouldn’t be afraid to ditch your struggling middle-of-the-road guys to squeeze the juice out of a hot streak. Don’t ditch your studs, of course, but you’re fighting for your playoff life, and sticking with a guy who’s hit .150 the last three weeks and is usually one of your borderline cases isn’t going to help you win.

Let’s take a look at the hitters to avoid in Week 25 (9/16 through 9/22) of the fantasy baseball season.

Notes: All pitching matchups listed here are based on projections at the time of publishing this post. It is entirely possible that actual matchups could change for a variety of reasons. Keep in mind that this article is geared toward mid-level players, which means you should start with top-tier bats regardless of the matchup. Always start with your studs.

START

Arizona Diamondbacks hitters – The D’Backs get a full seven-game week this week, starting with a three-game series against the Rockies, who have the worst team FIP in all of baseball, at Coors Field. You couldn’t ask for a more hitter-friendly series.

The D’Backs then head to Milwaukee for a three-game series against the Brewers, a team that currently has the eighth-worst team FIP in the league. They’ll feature Freddy Peralta, Tobias Myers, DL Hall, and Aaron Civale, and honestly, Peralta is the only one that worries me the least bit.

Pavin Smith has hit .286/.385/.905 over the past two weeks and is definitely worth a grab this week (and he’s available pretty widely, too). The same goes for Randal Grichuk, who is hitting .385/.429/.923 over the same stretch.

CATCHER TO STREAM: If you’re in a deep league and need some help at the catcher position, Jose Herrera can help you out (or at least not actively hurt your team, like some catchers who are only available in deep leagues likely would). Herrera won’t give you much in the way of power, but he’s hit a .278/.263/.333 line over the past two weeks and should be in some solid matchups this week. You could do worse.

Los Angeles Dodgers batters – The Dodgers also have a seven-game week this week, starting with a one-game series against Atlanta on Monday, which will conclude a four-game series from last weekend. That game is against Max Fried, and in daytime competitions, that’s probably one to avoid.

But after that, you should be safe. The Dodgers follow that game with a three-game series against the Marlins, who currently have the fifth-worst team FIP in baseball. That series features Darren McCaughan, Edward Cabrera, and Valente Bellozo, and Cabrera is honestly the only one who makes me hesitate even a little bit.

Then the Dodgers get three games against the Rockies. Unfortunately, those games aren’t at Coors, but still, any chance you get to start your hitters against the worst pitching staff in baseball, you take it.

Tommy Edman is definitely worth a start this week, as he’s hit .326/.356/.628 over the past two weeks. And if you just need batting average or OBP, Miguel Rojas has a .290/.371/.387 slash line over the past two weeks.

Chicago Cubs batters – It’s also a seven-game series for the Cubs this week, starting with a three-game series against the A’s, who have the 12th-worst team FIP in baseball. That series will feature Joey Estes, Mitch Spence and Brady Basso, none of whom scare me (I know Basso looked good, but he’s not someone I’m actively avoiding right now).

The Cubs then play four games against the Nationals, where they’ll face Patrick Corbin, Trevor Williams, MacKenzie Gore, and Jake Irvin. I know Corbin had a nice series where he looked pretty good, but he also gave up seven runs to the Pirates on Sunday, so I’m not going to shy away from him, and I’m not worried about the other pitchers they’ll face.

Michael Busch is worth watching this week as he has had a respectable .257/.333/.486 line over the past two weeks and I expect that to improve this week. The same goes for Dansby Swanson who has hit .311/.367/.511 over the past two weeks.

Atlanta Batters – Atlanta gets a seven-game week this week, starting with the one game against the Dodgers I mentioned earlier that concludes a weekend series. They’ll see Yoshinobu Yamamoto in that game, and normally that would be someone to avoid, although it seems like the Dodgers are slowly building up Yamamoto’s pitch count with each game to get him ready for the playoffs, which means he might not pitch too far into this game, so that could be a good thing.

Then Atlanta gets a three-game series against the Reds, who currently have the ninth-worst team FIP in baseball, and then they get a three-game series against the Marlins, who, as I mentioned earlier, have the fifth-worst team FIP in the league.

Here are the players Atlanta will be up against after that one game against the Dodgers: Brandon Williamson, Jakob Junis, Julian Aguiar, Adam Oller and Darren McCaughan (I’m not sure who will start for the Marlins, Oller or McCaughan, since Miami has been running a four-man rotation lately). None of those players worry me.

Jared Kelenic could be a value if you need some power this week, as he has a .316 ISO over the past two weeks, as has Jorge Soler who has a .176 ISO over the same span (and a .342 OBP, which can be useful in OBP leagues).

PREVENT

Cincinnati Reds hitters – The Reds play six games this week and they have some pretty tough clashes ahead of them.

They open the week with a three-game series against Atlanta, who currently has the best team FIP in all of baseball. That series features Ian Anderson, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Chris Sale, and while Anderson doesn’t worry me (so feel free to start your Reds hitters against him in daily leagues), Schwellenbach and Sale do.

The Reds then play three games against the Pirates, where they will face Mitch Keller, Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. All three can be pretty tough, so this is a week you should avoid as a Reds forward.

Baltimore Orioles batters – The Orioles get six games this week, starting with three against the Giants, who currently have the eighth-best team FIP in baseball. In that series, they’ll face Blake Snell, Hayden Birdsong, and Logan Webb. Birdsong doesn’t worry me as much (although he’s certainly had his moments), but Snell and Webb do.

The O’s then have a three-game series against the Tigers, who currently have the second-best team FIP in the league and nearly pitched a perfect game against the Orioles on Friday. The Orioles will be without Tarik Skubal for that series, but given how well the Tigers pitched as a team and how much they absolutely controlled the Orioles on Friday, it’s likely to be a tough series and a tough week for what has been a fairly cold O’s offense of late.

Kansas City Royals hitters – The Royals essentially have the opposite schedule to the Orioles, and if the Orioles are avoided this week, that means the Royals will have to as well.

They start their week with a three-game series against the Tigers who, as I mentioned earlier, have the second-best team FIP in baseball. In that series, the Royals get the pleasure of facing Tarik Skubal, which is always tough on your hitters.

Then the Royals get three games against the Giants who, as I said in the Orioles entry, have the eighth-best team FIP in the league. In that series they’ll see Mason Black, Landen Roupp, and Blake Snell. I’m not worried about Black, but Snell is clearly a concern and Roupp has actually looked pretty good when he’s been there.

All in all, it’s going to be a tough week for your Royals players and I don’t think you’ll get much value out of it.

Texas Rangers hitters – The Rangers have six games this week, starting with a three-game set against the Blue Jays, where they’ll see Chris Bassitt, Bowden Francis and Kevin Gausman. Bassitt doesn’t worry me, but Francis has looked great of late (almost throwing two no-hitters) and Gausman has looked really solid of late, giving up more than two earned runs only once in his last seven starts (and that was a three-run game against Atlanta, so not a bad game).

The Rangers then play three games against the Mariners, who have the third-best team FIP in baseball. They’ll face Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Bryan Woo, all of whom worry me, making this a tough week to start your Rangers hitters.