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Each week, you may have noticed, I share with you what I think are the five teams with the most favorable hitter matchups. Sometimes there are legitimately five. Sometimes it's more like three with great matchups and two with ... halfway decent ones. And sometimes it's a stretch to find five with matchups that are good on any level.
Week 20 (Aug. 6-12) isn't one of those weeks.
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Five isn't enough, frankly. The Braves, Cubs, Cardinals and Mets each have just as much of a claim to one of the spots as the five I've actually chosen in a week when there should be plenty of offense to go around. And those teams are well represented on this list.
OK, so it's mostly the Mets. Let's face it: Their current state gives them a lot of players owned in less than 80 percent of CBS Sports leagues.
Jake Bauers has become a symbol for everything that's wrong with Fantasy Baseball in August. I keep recommending him. He keeps delivering, scoring the third-most points among first basemen since July 8. And yet he remains available enough to keep qualifying for this list. He's facing the lousy Orioles and Blue Jays rotations this week, so get a clue.
Carlos Gonzalez's turnaround has flown under the radar a bit, but over his past 52 games, he has hit .335 with 10 home runs and a .967 OPS. As has been true throughout his career, he has hit righties (.870 OPS) better than lefties (.790) and hit much better at home (1.055) than on the road (.691) this year. The Rockies are at home for all seven of their games this week, and they're facing five righties.
Of the three Mets on this list, Michael Conforto is clearly the hottest, batting .295 (18 for 61) with four homers and a .946 OPS in his past 18 games. He has also historically hit righties much better than lefties in his career, his batting average being about 50 points higher against them, which matters since the Mets are facing five of the worst the Reds and Marlins can throw at them.
Though you could make the case C.J. Cron is having a breakout season seeing as he's on a 32-homer pace, he has been mostly an all-or-nothing hitter this year. He's a lot more all than nothing right now, though, batting .286 (22 for 77) with six homers and a .931 OPS in his past 22 games, which makes now a good time for him to face pitchers like Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner, David Hess, Marco Estrada and Sam Gaviglio.
Johan Camargo continues to right the wrongs of some bad early BABIP luck and flash better than expected power, batting .288 (14 for 45) with four homers in his past 14 games. The Braves draw three left-handers — Tommy Milone, Gio Gonzalez and Wade Miley — in their seven games this week, and the switch-hitter has done much of his damage vs. lefties, batting .295 with a .931 OPS.
It took Kevin Kiermaier weeks to get going after missing two months with a torn ligament in his thumb, and while he's doing a little better now, he hasn't exactly caught fire at the plate. Batting at the top of the Rays lineup has led to plenty of run-scoring opportunities, though, which should be true again this week with the kind of pitchers they're facing. It helps that they're all right-handers. Kiermaier's OPS was nearly 200 points higher against righties than lefties last year.
Brandon Nimmo's strikeouts have proven to be a major problem as this season has played out, contributing to his .171 (19 for 111) batting average over his past 34 games. He did finally homer Thursday, though, which is a good sign heading into a week against pitchers like Homer Bailey, Sal Romano, Tyler Mahle, Jose Urena, Wei-Yin Chen and Dan Straily.
If there's one Yankee I can call a sleeper in a week they have even more favorable matchups than the Mets, it's Greg Bird, who continues to play most every day and has played better of late, batting .265 (22 for 83) with four homers and an .788 OPS in his past 23 games. Some of the pitchers he'll face this week: Dylan Covey, Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito, Martin Perez and Bartolo Colon.
Yet another beneficiary of the Rays' favorable, righty-heavy matchups, Mallex Smith brings the speed element and has brought it with regularity of late, batting .396 (19 for 48) with six steals over his past 16 games. He's not just a pure burner either, hitting five doubles and three triples during that stretch.
Owned in just 13 percent of leagues, Wilmer Flores remains one of the more underappreciated players in Fantasy considering he's the 16th-best first baseman in points leagues since becoming the team's regular at the position June 16. A lot of it's his ability to make regular contact, which doesn't play as well in Rotisserie leagues, but seeing as he's also eligible at second and third base, he's a handy player to have when he has favorable matchups.
Best hitter matchups for Week 20
1. Pirates @COL3, @SF4
2. Yankees @CHW3, TEX4
3. Dodgers @OAK2, @COL4
4. Red Sox @TOR3, @BAL4
5. Rays BAL3, @TOR3
Worst hitter matchups for Week 20
1. Athletics LAD2, @LAA3
2. Blue Jays BOS3, TB3
3. Reds @NYM3, ARI3
4. White Sox NYY3, CLE3
5. Twins @CLE4, @DET3
