Who’s On First?
The season is almost here!
This article is going to be a weekly planner/FAAB piece. It will come out each Sunday morning for those of you looking for ideas for that night’s pick-up. I encourage you to also read the What’s On Second? article which has more players and things to consider for the not too distant future.
Things to Consider
The Giants and Dodgers are the only teams with four games in Week 1.
Giants are starting three right-handed pitchers and the Dodgers are starting three left-handed pitchers in the opening series.
The Rockies are on the road to start the year.
Many starters won’t go deep enough in the first week or two to get a win. Relievers that pitch multiple innings could be sneaky wins targets.
12-Team Pick Ups (Under 50% in NFBC Online Championships)
Nathan Eovaldi– Getting to open versus the Orioles is great and he has looked fantastic in summer camp.
Tyler Rogers– Sounds like he has a legit shot to close.
Franchy Cordero– Was a “sleeper” prior to the trade to Kansas City, but now should be on everyone’s radar.
Yoshi Tsutugo- Tampa Bay faces two right handed pitchers in the first three games so Tsutugo could lead off in games two and three of the opening series.
Tucker Barnhart– He may sit versus Boyd to start the year, but gets righties Ivan Nova and Spencer Trunbull in games two and three.
15-Team Pick Ups (Under 50% in TGFBI)
Kyle Crick– Could be the closer to start the year with Keone Kela likely not available. Also in the conversation are Richard Rodriguez and Michael Feliz.
Aaron Hicks– If you drafted prior to the season being delayed, chances are that you ignored Hicks, but now he is healthy and hitting in a very dangerous lineup.
Isiah Kiner Falefa- Looks like he may have an everyday role at third to start the season and is catcher eligible.
Edward Olivares– Oliveras has looked very impressive in summer camp and the Padres trading Franchy gives him a role against lefties. With that being said, the Padres open versus Madison Bumgarner and Robbie Ray.
Jordan Luplow– Luplow is a lefty killer. The Indians see two lefties in the first three games of the year in Danny Duffy and Mike Montgomery.
Ji-Man Choi– Choi will often sit versus lefties, but the Rays open versus two righties in Matt Shoemaker and Tanner Roark.
Wilmer Flores– The Giants open against the Dodgers who have three lefties going in the opening series. Austin Slater is also a guy that could see more playing time in the first four games.
Dustin May– Gets the Giants for four games and could be the guy that gets wins if their starters don’t go deep enough.
Nick Pivetta– Gets the Marlins and could be the guy that gets wins if their starters don’t go deep enough.
Daniel Ponce De Leon- Gets the Pirates and could be the guy that gets wins if their starters don’t go deep enough.
Yusmeiro Petit– The A’s may be a bit more conservative with some of their starters early on could be the guy that gets wins if their starters don’t go deep enough.
Tyler Mahle– Gets the Tigers and has already been mentioned by their managers as the piggybacker for starters that can’t go deep.
Brad Peacock– Gets the Mariners and could be the guy that gets wins if their starters, like Greinke who has had trouble ramping up.
Starting Pitching Matchups
| 7/23/20 | 7/24/20 | 7/25/20 | 7/26/20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | at BOS (Eovaldi) (R) | at BOS (Perez) (L) | at BOS (Weber) (RHP) | |
| Boston | vs BAL (Means) (L) | vs BAL (Cobb) (R) | vs BAL (LeBlanc) (L) | |
| New York (AL) | at WAS (Scherzer) (R) | at WAS (Strasburg) (RHP) | at WAS (Corbin) (LHP) | |
| Tampa Bay | vs TOR (Ryu) (L) | vs TOR (Roark) (R) | vs TOR (Shoemaker) (R) | |
| Toronto | at TB (Morton) (R) | at TB (Snell) (L) | at TB (Glanow) (R) | |
| Chicago (AL) | vs MIN (Berrios) (R) | vs MIN (Odorizzi) (R) | vs MIN (Maeda) (R) | |
| Cleveland | vs KC (Duffy) (L) | vs KC (Junis) (R) | vs KC (Montgomery) (L) | |
| Detroit | at CIN (Gray) (R) | at CIN (Castillo) (R) | at CIN (Bauer) (R) | |
| Kansas City | at CLE (Bieber) (R) | at CLE (Clevinger) (R) | at CLE (Carrasco) (R) | |
| Minnesota | at CHW (Giolito) (R) | at CHW (Keuchel) () | at CHW (Lopez) (R) | |
| Houston | vs SEA (Gonzales) (L) | vs SEA (Walker) (R) | vs SEA (Kikuchi) (L) | |
| Los Angeles (AL) | at OAK (Montas) (R) | at OAK (Manara) (L) | at OAK (Fiers) (R) | |
| Oakland | vs LAA (Heaney) (L) | vs LAA (Bundy) (R) | vs LAA (Ohtani) (R) | |
| Seattle | at HOU (Verlander) (R) | at HOU (McCullers) (R) | at HOU (Greinke) (R) | |
| Texas | vs COL (Marquez) (R) | vs COL (Gray) (R) | vs COL (Freeland) (L) | |
| Atlanta | at NYM (deGrom)(R) | at NYM (Stroman) (R) | at NYM (Porcello) (R) | |
| Miami | at PHI (Nola) (R) | at PHI (Wheeler) (R) | at PHI (Arrieta) (R) | |
| New York (NL) | vs ATL (Soroka)(R) | vs ATL (Fried) (L) | vs ATL (Foltynewicz) (R) | |
| Philiadelphia | vs MIA (Alcantara) (R) | vs MIA (Smith) (L) | vs MIA (Urena) (R) | |
| Washington | vs NYY (Cole) (R) | vs NYY (Paxtion) (L) | vs NYY (Tanaka) (R) | |
| Chicago (NL) | vs MIL (Woodruff) (R) | vs MIL (Houser) (R) | vs MIL (Anderson) (L) | |
| Cincinnati | vs DET (Boyd) (L) | vs DET (Nova) (R) | vs DET (Turnbull) (R) | |
| Milwaukee | at CHI (Hendricks) (R) | at CHI (Darvish) (R) | at CHI (Lester) (L) | |
| Pittsburgh | at STL (Musgrove) (R) | at STL (Williams) (R) | at STL (Brault) (L) | |
| St. Louis | vs PIT (Flaherty) (R) | vs PIT (Wainwright) (R) | vs PIT (Hudson) (R) | |
| Arizona | at SD (Paddack) (R) | at SD (Richards) (R) | at SD (Davies) (R) | |
| Colorado | at TEX (Lynn) (R) | at TEX (Minor) (L) | at TEX (Kluber) (R) | |
| Los Angeles | vs SFG (Cueto) (R) | vs SF (Samardzija) (R) | vs SF (Gausman) (R) | vs SF (Smyly) (L) |
| San Diego | vs ARI (Bumgarner) (L) | vs ARI (Ray) (L) | vs ARI (Gallen) (R) | |
| San Francisco | at LAD (Kershaw) (L) | at LAD (Stripling) (R) | at LAD (Urias) (L) | at LAD (Wood) (L) |
*2-Start Pitchers are highlighted in blue
**Subject to change
Two-Start Pitchers Worth Considering
None
Please let me know in the comments what you think or if there is anything I should add or subtract.
Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.
Gonsolin was optioned to the Dodgers’ alternate training site on Friday after missing the first several days of camp for undisclosed reasons, so isn’t likely for that Giants series. Luplow has been out with a sore back but did return to the field Saturday for the first time in several days and could be ready for opening day.