Fantasy Baseball Hitters to Stream in Week 13 (June 28-July 4)

This is the second edition of a weekly series I am doing where I will talk about a hitter owned in under 20% of leagues who is a good option if you have no one else at that position. You can read last week’s edition here.

Catcher: Jacob Stallings

For a catcher, Stallings has had a good year offensively with a slash line of .226/.311./.387, good for a 96 wRC+ and a 94 OPS+. So far this year, he has a 19.1 K% with a 10.5 BB% and a 6.8% barrel rate, all better than average. He starts this week with three games at Coors Field before heading back to Pittsburgh for four games against the Brewers. The Brewers have good pitching and I would recommend avoiding the games against Peralta and Woodruff in daily leagues, but Stallings will also face Brewers pitchers Adrian Houser and Eric Lauer who I would start him against.

First Base: Yandy Diaz

Although Yandy Diaz has regressed from last year, he is still an above hitter with a .314 wOBA and 103 wRC+ in 288 plate appearances. He is still walking more than he is striking out, so his value is dependent on how your league scores walks and strikeouts. The Rays only have five games this week and playing time is always a concern for Rays players, but three of those games are against lefties which is good for Diaz. Besides the lefties, Diaz will possibly face Joe Ross and Alek Manoah, both of whom are not the scariest of opponents. 

Second Base: Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers was a top prospect before injuries and poor performance through 2019 and 2020 hurt his stock. However, it seems like he has figured it out this year with a .346 wOBA in 111 plate appearances. For some reason, he has better non-park adjusted numbers outside of Coors. which is a bit odd and could be due to the small sample size. With seven home games against the unintimidating pitching of the Pirates and Cardinals, Rodgers and the Rockies should do fairly well this week. 

Third Base: Wilmer Flores

Just like last week, I think that Wilmer Flores is a good addition for this week. He has gotten his offensive numbers up this year with a .323 wOBA and a 108 wRC+. Flores has a long track record of being an above-average hitter and is especially valuable in leagues that penalize strikeouts. The Giants start out the week against the Dodgers where they face Bauer and Buehler, both of which I would try to avoid, but after that, they head to Arizona for a four-game set which is an obvious start.

Shortstop: Willy Adames

I’m sorry for picking someone from last week for the second time in a row, but I don’t think I can overstate how much better Adames will be now that he doesn’t have to play in Tropicana Field where he found it difficult to see the ball. Since he was traded to Milwaukee on May 21st, he has a .368 wOBA and a 134 wRC+. Three games against the Cubs and four against the Pirates this week should allow him to continue to demonstrate what he can do outside of Tampa Bay.

Outfield: Yonathan Daza

Daza has had a good year so far with a .340 wOBA and, like most Rockies, he has really good numbers at home and poor numbers on the road. There are a lot of question marks with Daza, who has trouble hitting anything that isn’t a fastball, a high chase rate, and he has almost no power with a 3% barrel rate and an average exit velocity in the bottom 2% of the league. His .299 xwOBA suggests that he has gotten really lucky so far this year. However, if there is ever a time to start him, seven games in Coors is probably the time.