It is vital to look at important fantasy baseball storylines and aspects this week to be ahead of the curve and gain an edge on your league mates. We have 20 such storylines for you to monitor. This guide will help you navigate the waiver wire, pinpoint potential streamers and more.
Spencer Strider is returning from the injured list (IL) this week for a two-start week versus the Nationals and Padres. He had some reduced velocity in his last rehab start, which is concerning. We need to see if that was just a bump in the road or something more.
Kristian Campbell has been taking reps at first base recently, which is an interesting development. If Campbell starts playing first regularly, that would open up a spot for David Hamilton to get more time or potentially one of their top prospects like Marcelo Mayer or Roman Anthony to come up.
Zebby Matthews made his season debut for the Twins on Sunday, throwing three innings and allowing four earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out five in the loss.
Matthews had been amazing in AAA, but the Twins have been very cautious with him and fellow pitching prospect David Festa by limiting their workload. There is a ton of upside, but if he isn't going to be allowed to go deep into games, he needs to be pristine in each outing.
Mick Abel made his Major League debut on Sunday, throwing six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and zero walks while striking out nine in the victory over the Pirates.
Abel has struggled with command and control in the Minors, but he was great in his debut. He has an opportunity to stick in the rotation with Aaron Nola on the IL, but we need to see what kind of rope the Phillies will give him.
Ryan Weathers returned from the IL and looked great in his start versus the Cubs last week. Talent has not been in question for Weather, but he has struggled going deep in games and staying healthy.
Weathers has another matchup versus the Cubs, which will be a great test to see if he can start going deeper into games.
Clayton Kershaw made his season debut on Saturday, throwing four innings and allowing five earned runs, five hits and three walks while only striking out two in the no-decision.
Kershaw was much better in his rehab assignments, so we need to watch to see if he can return to being the useful fantasy pitcher he has been in his career.
Logan Henderson has been fantastic in his two starts for the Brewers, but he is walking a thin line with only two pitches. His change-up is fantastic, and his control has been, too.
However, if he does not start throwing a third pitch, he may run into problems on days when he doesn't have a good feel for one of his two pitches.
Ronald Acuna Jr. is expected to return this week after a successful rehab assignment that included two home runs in four games. He has stated he is likely to run less, but unlike last time, he came back from a major knee injury, the power seems to be back.
We need to see if Acuna is completely done running because that would change his value tremendously.
Jose Alvarado has been suspended for 80 games for violating the league's performance-enhancing substance abuse policy.
The Phillies will likely turn to Jordan Romano as the main closer, but they have consistently gone with a committee, which may mean he could split the duties with Matt Strahm.
Luke Jackson has been struggling and then got hit with a comebacker last week. Chris Martin was dealing with an injury of his own. In their absences, Shawn Armstrong picked up two saves and Robert Garcia threw in high-leverage spots.
We need to see now that both Jackson and Martin are back, if they are still the guys at the back end of the bullpen in Texas.
Jameson Taillon has been up and down this season, but he faces a bad Miami team in a great pitching park.
Jack Leiter (SP, RP - TEX) at CWS
Jack Leiter has really good stuff, but can struggle with control at times. He has a great matchup versus a terrible White Sox team, which is a good spot to take a gamble.
Michael Wacha (SP - KC) at MIN
Michael Wacha has been quietly pretty good and is facing a beat-up Twins offense.
Tomoyuki Sugano (SP - BAL) at MIL, at BOS
I don't know how he has done it this season, but Tomoyuki Sugano has thrown 52.2 innings with a 3.08 ERA. However, he is getting extremely lucky with a 2.26 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and an 87.6% strand rate.
Sugano is allowing the third-most contact of any Major League starter, and regression will happen at some point. However, despite that, you have to keep playing him until that regression begins.
Jose Soriano (SP - LAA) at ATH, vs. MIA
Jose Soriano has been pretty good this season, throwing 52 innings with 42 strikeouts and a 3.46 ERA. However, he has struggled with allowing too many walks and his WHIP is 1.46 because of it. He also allows a fair amount of contact, though most of it is on the ground, which allows him to avoid homers.
Soriano has a tough matchup in Sacramento and then back home for an easy one versus the Marlins, which makes him a pretty decent start this week.
Will Warren (SP - NYY) vs. TEX, at COL
Despite some bad surface stats, Will Warren has pitched well, getting strikeouts and just being unlucky in the strand rate.
Warren has an interesting set of matchups versus a struggling Rangers offense at home and then going to Colorado, which is a tough place to pitch, but he faces the worst team in baseball in the Rockies.
Ben Brown (SP, RP - CHC) at MIA, at CIN
Ben Brown has been up and down this season, but he has been a bit unlucky as well. He has an inflated BABIP, and his 3.49 xFIP tells a different story than his 4.75 ERA. He has a great matchup to start the week versus the Marlins and then a decent one against the Reds.
Davis Martin (SP - CWS) vs. SEA, vs. TEX
Davis Martin has been really good this season despite bad underlying stats. This is a week where he faces a hot Mariners team and a cold Rangers team, so there is risk on top of a low strikeout projection and a bad team supporting him.