Fantasy Baseball: Week Four and Available A's Report

Week four of the Fantasy Baseball season begins this coming Monday. The sample sizes are getting larger and it's beginning to be that time to start making roster changes. There is plenty to talk about this week so let's get started.

Interleague Matchups this Week

Houston Astros at the San Diego Padres (Monday-Wednesday)

Los Angeles Angels at the San Francisco Giants (Friday-Sunday)

Two Start Pitchers for the Week

The pitchers below are scheduled to pitch twice this week. Please check the daily lineup for any changes to these listings.

Clayton Kershaw (Mon, Sun), Max Scherzer (Tue, Sun), Johnny Cueto (Mon, Sat), Corey Kluber (Mon, Sat), David Price (Mon, Sat), Madison Bumgarner (Mon, Sun), Cole Hammels (Mon, Sat), Sonny Gray (Tue, Sun), Jeff Samardzija (Mon, Sat), Jimmy Nelson (Mon, Sun), James Shields (Mon, Sun), Anibal Sanchez (Tue, Sun), Collin McHugh (Mon, Sat), Michael Wacha (Tue, Sun), Jason Hammel (Mon, Sun), John Lackey (Mon, Sat), Yordano Ventura (Tue, Sun), Julio Teheran (Tue, Sun), Doug Fister (Mon, Sat), Homer Bailey (Tue, Sun), Drew Hutchinson (Tue, Sun), Jered Weaver (Tue, Sun), Aaron Sanchez (Mon, Sat), Ubaldo Jiminez (Mon, Sun), Vance Worley (Mon, Sun), Taijuan Walker (Mon, Sat), Jarred Cosart (Mon, Sun), Chase Anderson (Mon, Sun), Yovani Gallardo (Mon, Sun), Dillon Gee (Mon, Sun), J.A. Happ (Tue, Sun), Nathan Karns (Mon, Sun), Joe Kelly (Mon, Sun), Adam Warren (Mon, Sun), Jeremy Guthrie (Mon, Sat), Roberto Hernandez (Tue, Sun), T.J. House (Tue, Sun), Kyle Kendrick (Mon, Sun), Dustin McGowan (Tue, Sun), Tommy Milone (Mon, Sat), Mike Pelfrey (Tue, Sun) and Eric Stults (Mon, Sat).

Waiver Wire Starting Pitchers

Each of these starting pitchers is available in at least 50 percent of all major Fantasy Baseball leagues.

Drew Hutchison SP Blue Jays: Two starts on the road this week against Boston and Cleveland. 21 strikeouts in 23 innings of work and averages less than three walks per nine innings. Hutchison has a 10.3 percent swinging strike rate and I like his 48.5 to 34.4 ground ball fly ball ratio.

J.A. Happ SP Mariners: Two starts on the road this week against Texas and Houston. Just nine strikeouts so far this season but his WHIP of 1.06 and less than three ERA are intriguing to me. 42.6 to 27.9 ground ball to fly wall ratio is a nice thing to see as is his ratio of less than one walk per nine innings.

Taijuan Walker SP Mariners: Two starts this week on the road against Texas and Houston. Nearly ten strikeouts per nine innings are great; his almost seven walks per nine innings aren't. Fly ball rate (40%) is higher than his ground ball rate (31%) and luckily for him only five percent of those fly balls leave the yard. If you need strikeouts Walker is your man.

Ubaldo Jiminez SP Orioles: Two starts at home this week against the White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. Nine strikeouts per nine innings and walks about four hitters per game but his 68.6 percent 20 percent ground ball to fly ball ratio is outstanding. So is his 2.40 ERA and .89 WHIP. He'll make you crazy but in the end he'll make you happy you picked him up this week.

Joe Kelly SP Red Sox: Two home starts against Toronto and the Yankees this week. Kelly averages nine strikeouts and 2.55 walks per nine innings. His ERA of 4.08 isn't very attractive but what his 1.02 WHIP is very attractive. 39-39 ground ball to fly ball split is okay but like Jimenez and Walker it's the strikeouts that make you smile.

Dillon Gee SP Mets: Two starts this week with one on the road against Miami and again at home against Washington. Six strikeouts per nine innings and a less than two walk per nine with a ground ball fly ball ratio of 58.9 to 25 percent. Gee is a good deeper league option this week.

Jimmy Nelson SP Brewers: Two starts on the road this week against the Reds and Cubs. Nelson has 7.65 strikeouts per nine innings and less than two walks per nine innings of work. ERA of just 1.35 and WHIP of .70 are excellent. 12.2 percent swinging strike rate is also nice to see as is Nelson's 57.8 to 26.7 ground ball fly ball percentage.

Starting Pitching Streaming Options

Monday: Taijuan Walker of the Seattle Mariners faces the Rangers on Monday. Less than 30% owned in the major Fantasy Baseball leagues and if you need strikeouts Walker averages nearly ten of them per nine innings.

Tuesday: Drew Hutchison of the Toronto Blue Jays faces the Red Sox on Tuesday. Owned in fewer than 35% of the major Fantasy Baseball leagues and is good for strikeouts and maybe even a win on Tuesday.

Wednesday: Jesse Hahn of the Oakland Athletics faces the Angels in Oakland on Wednesday. Hahn is owned in only seven percent of major Fantasy Baseball leagues. Great WHIP (.94) and ERA (2.12) and a ground ball pitcher in a large ballpark are always a good thing to see.

Thursday: James Paxton of the Seattle Mariners faces the Astros in Houston and is owned in just seven percent of major Fantasy Baseball leagues. Paxton has been the victim of some bad luck and bad defense. Seven strikeouts and less than two walks per nine innings of work make him a good streaming option Thursday.

Friday: C.J. Wilson is owned in less than 35 percent of all major Fantasy Baseball leagues. He's on the road against the Giants on Friday. Six strikeouts and less than three walks per nine innings with a decent ERA (3.54) and excellent .98 WHIP.

Saturday: Drew Pomeranz is on the road Saturday against Texas. Owned in less then 23 percent of major Fantasy Baseball leagues he boasts an average ERA of 4.26 and an excellent WHIP of 1.06. Pomeranz is averaging nine strikeouts and just one walk per nine innings.

Sunday: Jimmy Nelson is owned in less than 50 percent of all major Fantasy Baseball leagues. Great ERA, excellent WHIP and faces the Cubs in Chicago on Sunday. This could be a great way to end your week.

Position Player Waiver Wire Suggestions

Each player listed is available in at least 50 percent of all major Fantasy Baseball leagues. Please check your individual waiver wire for these and other more suitable options.

Michael Morse 1B OF Marlins: Morse has a couple of bombs and a slash line of .219/.299/.344/.640 but as long as he's in either the four or five hole he will have plenty of RBI chances. Being dual eligible doesn't hurt either.

Adam Lind 1B DH Brewers: Two bombs and eight RBI with a slash line of .305/.373/.508/.882 is encouraging. So is the fact he's the Brewers everyday first baseman.

Brandon Phillips 2B Reds: Seventeen hits this season without an extra base hit and a slash line of .270/.292/.270/.562 doesn't concern me. At least for now it doesn't nor should it concern you either.

Luis Valbuena 3B 2B Astros: Five bombs already this season for the dual eligible Valbuena. The .198/.258/.482/.740 slash line makes me a little nervous as far as his batting average goes but is now 10-31 after his dismal 0-10 start.

Logan Forsythe 2B DH Rays: Two bombs and eight RBI and a slash line of .278/.381/.444/.825 are good things to see from a second baseman. In fact I like everything about Forsythe and he should only get better.

Adeiny Hechavarria SS Marlins: Did you laugh? Hechavarria is off to a fast start with a slash line of .328/.353/.438/.790 is no joking matter. Neither are his 10 RBI, one bomb and his seven multi hit games.

Jed Lowrie SS Astros: Three home runs and seven RBI thus far and a slash line of .275/.383/.490/.874 are a nice thing to see. So is his .210 ISO. I like Lowrie more and more each time I see him.

Will Middlebrooks 3B Padres: Middlebrooks has three bombs and eleven RBI already this season. He's even swiped a couple of bases as well. His .254/.286/.463/.748 slash line is a bit above his career numbers but as long as he gets the at bats he will help you.

Nick Castellanos 3B Tigers: Other than swinging at some really bad pitches Castellanos has a pretty decent slash line of .259/.333/.448/.782. Add to those numbers a couple of bombs and seven RBI and you have the makings of a decent backup third baseman to your roster.

David Freese 3B Angels: Four bombs and thirteen RBI this season and his slash line of .250/.294/.500/.794 is encouraging. Numbers that are also encouraging are the .500 slugging percentage and .350 ISO.

Yasmani Grandal C 1B Dodgers: The catching ranks are awfully thin this week but Grandal has a slash line of .205/.326/.308/.634 means I am reaching at this point. His .250 BABIP suggests that maybe his average will hopefully come up a bit.

Jason Castro C Astros: Castro is another catcher you pick up only if you absolutely need one. His OBP of .340 means he at least gets on base. I'm reaching again I know.

Odubel Herrera SS OF: Good slash line of .288/.333/.441/.774 to go along with three RBI and three stolen bases. Duel eligible and playing every day are both good things.

Avisail Garcia OF White Sox: Just one bomb and three RBI for the young slugger. His slash line of .263/.311/.368/.680 is well below his career average. His BABIP of .350 suggests he's been the victim of bad luck but his 26 percent strikeout rate suggests he's pressing too much.

Anthony Gose OF Tigers: A leadoff man with a bit of power is a nice thing but his platoon situation isn't all that great. He's good for average (.333) and stolen bases (3) and those are all good things.

Available Athletics

Mark Canha 1B OF 20% owned: Good slash line (.258/.313/.355/.668) but weak ISO (.097). Good runs scored (10) and good for a stolen base or two as well.

Sam Fuld OF 28.3% owned: Great runs scored guy (15) with stolen base potential. Good ISO (.180) and drives in the occasional run.

Drew Pomeranz SP RP 21% owned: If you consider Sunday April 25, 2015 he will have two starts this week. Great WHIP (1.06) and is averaging nine strikeouts per nine innings and just one walk.

Brett Lawrie 2B 3B 30% owned: Other than strikeout (24) Lawrie hasn't exactly set the world on fire this season. Just one bomb and four RBI but he's out there every night and he has too much history of good hitting to suggest this is only a slump.

Ike Davis 1B: Good slash line (.353/.414/.490/.904) and he even pitched a perfect inning this season.

Good luck this week Fantasy Baseball Owner!