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Turns out Week 4 (April 15-21) is the first of 2019 in which the teams with favorable matchups far outnumber those with unfavorable matchups.
Which makes for a fine selection of sleepers in Fantasy, all owned in less than 80 percent of CBS Sports leagues. Some have been popular pickups for other reasons — hot-hand plays, injury fill-ins, etc. — but the top choice is one Fantasy owners seem reluctant to buy into.
Especially when you consider he was also the top sleeper hitter at this time a week ago.
So far, the Yandy Diaz experiment is playing out exactly the way the Rays had hoped, with him elevating the ball just enough for some of his hard-hit balls to sail over the fence. He's also a disciplined hitter who makes a ton of contact, so there's a path here for him to achieve must-start status. In a week he's scheduled to face Dylan Bundy, David Hess, Andrew Cashner, Eduardo Rodriguez and Rick Porcello, it should be pretty obvious.
Joc Pederson typically isn't the most advisable play in a weekly format since he almost never starts against left-handed pitchers, but the Dodgers don't have a single one of those on the schedule this week. You look at what he does against righties, though (a near 1.200 OPS so far this year after a near .900 OPS last year), and you have to take advantage of a slate like this one, especially when those righties include questionable ones like Tyler Mahle, Zach Davies, Jhoulys Chacin and Freddy Peralta.
Jorge Polanco was an under-the-radar breakout pick coming into the season and has been piling up extra-base hits in the early going, even hitting for the cycle on April 5. The Twins have seven games against Blue Jays and Orioles pitchers this week, which should be enough to keep him going.
One of the trendiest pickups in recent days is still available in nearly half of CBS Sports leagues. Daniel Vogelbach's playing time doesn't seem to be tied to Jay Bruce's health, either, given that the Mariners have been rotating different hitters out of the lineup as a way to keep Vogelbach in it. His high-OPS bat is finally translating to the majors, and there won't be much incentive for the Mariners to sit him this week, with six righties on the schedule.
Not only do the Twins have excellent matchups facing what little the Blue Jays and Orioles can throw at them, but six of the seven pitchers on tap are righties, which of course benefits a left-handed hitter like Max Kepler (last year's splits notwithstanding). Though he has fallen short of expectations to this point in his career, the tools are there for a breakout, especially with him continuing to elevate the ball this year.
Jonathan Schoop seems to be bouncing back nicely after a year derailed by an oblique injury, following up a two-homer game Tuesday with three more hits Wednesday. And of course, he benefits from those same favorable matchups Polanco and Kepler have.
Jorge Soler is still striking out too much, which has tabled much of the breakout talk, but he's also making loud contact, entering Friday's game having homered in two straight. He seems like a worthy gamble with matchups against pitchers like Ervin Santana, Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and CC Sabathia this week.
A surprise contributor last year, Niko Goodrum has been reaching base at a high clip this year. He's also top 10 in xwOBA, which suggests his high line-drive and hard-contact rates haven't been justly rewarded yet. Maybe that changes with four games against the White Sox pitching staff this week.
Freddy Galvis has been one of the most unexpectedly productive hitters so far this year, and while his track record suggests it's unlikely to last, the fact is the Blue Jays have the best matchups of any team this week, going against seven of the worst the Twins and Athletics have to offer (which basically means they're missing Jose Berrios). He seems like a reasonable hot-hand play.
The Yankees matchups this week include Nathan Eovaldi, Homer Bailey, Jake Junis, Heath Fillmyer and Jorge Lopez, and Brett Gardner is still their leadoff hitter. He doesn't have as many mashers to drive him in now, with all the injuries, but he's still capable of carrying himself, especially with the right matchups.
Best hitter matchups for Week 4
1. Blue Jays @MIN4, @OAK3
2. Twins TOR4, @BAL3
3. White Sox KC3, @DET4
4. Angels @TEX3, SEA4
5. Phillies NYM3, @COL4
Worst hitter matchups for Week 4
1. Giants @WAS3, @PIT3
2. Cardinals @MIL3, NYM3
3. Red Sox BAL1, @NYY2, @TB3
4. Marlins CHC3, WAS3
5. Rangers LAA3, HOU3