Fantasy Baseball Preview: April 2, 2014
Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Every team has a record, meaning we can start to pay a little more attention to our fantasy stat-sheets. April 2 has some favorable match-ups that we look at in today’s fantasy baseball preview.
Today’s Favorable Matchups
- Pitchers
1. Gio Gonzalez at New York Mets
More often than not, staying away from David Wright will go a long way in keeping the Mets from beating you.
Judging by his 1.58 ERA, 0.850 WHIP, 36 K’s in 40 innings, and a 4-0 record at Citi Field, it looks like Gonzalez has done a fine job of that throughout his career. I wouldn’t love seeing Gio on the other side of a H2H match-up this week.
2. Tyson Ross vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Ross had an ERA under 3.00 and a WHIP under 1.00 in 2013’s second half, so it’s a pretty good start. Also, while Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford have both had some success against him, Yasiel Puig is the only current Dodger to have taken Ross deep in his career. Other than those three guys, none of them has more than one hit against him.
Combine that with a great pitcher’s yard in Petco Park, and Ross doesn’t look like a half bad play in daily leagues. I don’t think I’d roster him if you’re looking for a win, but I do expect some decent stats today.
- Hitters
1. Chris Johnson at Milwaukee Brewers (Matt Garza)
It’s not much of a sample size, but you’ve got to like what you’ve seen from Johnson here: 4-6, 1 HR, 3 RBI.
Whether Johnson follows up on a breakout 2013 season or not remains to be seen. But you’ve got to like what he has to offer here. Streaming hitters isn’t ever smart but, especially not this early in the year. But you definitely want him active if you’ve got him on the roster.
2. Starlin Castro at Pittsburgh Pirates (Charlie Morton)
- Castro’s career numbers at PNC Park: 36-125 (.288 average), 12 runs, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 5 SB.
- Castro’s career vs. Morton: 5-16 (.400 average), 1 SB.
It’s also very important for Castro to get off to a good start this year, and he had a rough day on Monday. If anything can jump-start his focus and get him going, this match-up is it.