Fantasy Baseball Today - Week 5 Sleepers & Two-Start Pitchers! (4/18 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)
Episode Date: April 18, 2026Frank Stampfl and Scott White are previewing Week 5 of the 2026 Fantasy Baseball season! Start or sit Jesus Luzardo with two starts next week? Mick Abel leads the sleeper pitchers. Angel Martinez is o...ff to a great start and has good matchups next week. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CPTowers @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
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Let's preview week five up next on Fantasy Baseball Today Express.
Welcome in to FPC Express on Saturday, April 18th.
I am Frank Stample joined by Scott White, and let's kick things off with the schedule for next week.
The first week that includes teams with five games.
So we have eight teams with seven games, the Braves, Red Sox, Cubs, Rockies, Tigers, Dodgers, Phillies, and Nationals,
20 teams with six games and two unlucky teams with five games, the D-backs and the Padres.
So you might want to avoid some fringe hitters on those specific teams.
What about the Rockies?
They do have seven games.
Four are at home.
Three on the road.
The home games, one against the Dodgers.
I guess that's a wraparound series from the weekend.
And then three against the Padres.
So keep that in mind.
Start or sit these projected two start pitchers.
I know, Jesus Lozardo was drafted as your SP1, as your SP2.
He's been bad.
It's got to restarting him at the Cubs, at the Braves.
It doesn't really get easier.
Yeah, it's, he had one great start, and the stuff has looked very good.
And you can't help but wonder if that awful start last time out,
I mean, reporters were asking about it.
Was he tipping his pitches again?
Lazzardo himself seemed insistent that he was.
but that he'd review the tape and, you know, get to the bottom of what's going on.
It makes you wary, though, since it wasn't a one-start issue last year, it happened two in a row,
and they were devastating starts.
I mean, took his stat line from Cy Young-Calibur to, you know, far less than that.
So it's definitely, even forget the matchups.
It wouldn't matter to me what the matchups.
were. It's just, is he tipping his pitches again? Because you want absolutely no part of him if that's
the case and it doesn't sound like he believes he is, which means the worst case scenario would be he
actually is and he's just not noticing. Right. That would be the worst case scenario. Anyway,
I think he invested too much in Lazardo to sit him for a two-star week, but he's not in the must-star
category. What about Aaron Nola? He has been a mixed bag so far, same matchups at the Cubs at the
Braves. Yeah, I don't think the upside is enough for you to start him in a Roto League. I'm not saying
you can't with those matchups, but preferably you'd leave Nola for the points leagues. Jack Flaherty is
coming off his best start of the season. He is at the Red Sox and at the Reds. It was a great start,
but he'd look pretty bad before then. These matchups are not the greatest. I would probably not
start Flaherty.
All right.
Who are some two-star pitchers to add and stream for next week?
Well, my favorite is Mick Abel, who is coming off his best start.
A true gym, seven shutout innings, 10 strikeouts, I believe, and the fastball has looked
phenomenal all season.
Walks have been his biggest issue.
But I think after that start, you hope he's trending up, lines up for two.
I suppose he might be making another start over the weekend.
and that could change the thinking,
but it's not a great week for streamers
and Abel with two starts has the most upside.
Bryce Elder is also in line for two starts
at Washington and versus Philadelphia.
So the Philadelphia matchup is a little scary,
but elders look great so far.
The slider, he's been leaning on it,
and it seems to have made a leap in terms of how effective it is.
So I think with an extra start, he's advisable.
Ronaldo Lopez has those same two matchups, Washington and Philadelphia.
A little more skeptical of him and his most recent start against the Marlins wasn't very good.
But overall, he's done a good job of limiting damage.
Rhett Louder gets the Rays and the Tigers.
I think he's just a stable innings eater type who in points leagues.
You can always look to Louder with two starts.
Chad Patrick, the strikeouts have been down this year,
shown ability there in the past
and has generally kept runs off the board.
One of his two matchups against the pirates,
which I still think is a favorable one,
even though they've been hitting well of late.
I think in the long run,
they're going to be worse than that.
And then Max Meyer,
who hasn't really given us that good of a start yet,
but the slider is playing up
and his matchups,
Cardinals and Giants are pretty good.
So in a points league,
you consider using Max Meyer.
Who are some one-star streamers that you like for next week?
Reid Demmers at the Royals, struggling offense,
and he just had a great start last time out.
Ryan Nelson probably just shouldn't be eligible.
You need to get that roster rate up, I think.
I think he's pretty reliable, particularly as a WIPP specialist,
and obviously in points leagues you get to take advantage of the relief pitcher eligibility.
The matchup is San Diego, which is not the best, but he's just under-roastered, bottom-line.
Ryan Nelson.
Kodi, Sanga, I'm surprised he qualifies for this list, too.
He gets the twins who sort of like the pirates.
I think even more so than the pirates have been playing over their heads offensively.
I think you can take advantage of that matchup with Senga.
Spencer Erragherty coming off that impressive season debut.
That was against the Rockies, but he gets another weak lineup this time out at Cleveland.
Got to do a better job controlling his pitches, four walks and two hit batters in that start.
but missed a ton of bats with that curveball
and Cleveland I think is a good matchup for him.
That's Spencer Argeti.
All right, let's take a quick break
and we'll be back right after this.
Welcome back in FBT Express.
We're helping you set your lineups for week five
and the best hitter matchups for next week.
The Mariners, White Sox, Tigers, Rockies, and Marlins.
The worst hitter matchups,
Giants, Orioles, Pirates, A's, and the Rays.
Who are your favorite sleeper hitters?
for week five.
Real quick, I've got to call an Audible here.
Okay.
Talking through Chad Patrick, I'm not sure I convinced myself that I actually want to use them.
So I'm going to substitute Eduardo Rodriguez as a one-start option against the White Sox.
Don't totally bind him.
His change-up looked worse last time out, but good match-up.
And he'd been good for the most part this year.
Okay, as for the hitters, let's start with Anhele Martinez,
who has been red-hot for the Guardians, very low strikeout rate.
It has some high exit velocity readings from time to time.
And he's a switch hitter who is especially good from the left side of the plate.
Guardians are in line to face nothing but Rides this week.
So I'm hopeful Martinez with his dual eligibility will remain useful.
You mentioned the Tigers have the third best hitter matchups.
They're one of the scenes with seven games.
Still waiting on that first home run for Colt Keith as of the time we record this.
still waiting on that first home run, but
swinging with a lot more intent
this year.
Better bat speed, impacting the ball
well, a bunch of doubles.
I think Colt Keith is someone
who could take advantage of those favorable matchups.
And I'm going to put Spencer Torkelson on here
as well. It's been a very slow start.
But he was a impactful
power hitter last year, and I think
he's going to get going here sooner than later.
Glaibre Torres also for the Tigers.
he's been picking up some multi-hit games recently
and batting high in the lineup sometimes.
I think he's a good choice to take advantage.
If you want to take advantage of those favorable matchups for the Tigers,
the seven-game week with the favorable matchups,
I think Labor Torres is a good choice to do that.
We also have Maricio Dubon on here.
The Braves play seven games, three against lefties.
He has been much better against lefties than righties over the course of his career.
And it's off to a hot start anyway.
Eligible at a ton of different positions.
I like DuBond for this week.
Otto Lopez has been playing well for the Marlins and they have the fifth best hitter matchups.
You mentioned the Mariners have the best hitter matchups.
Luke Rayleigh has been one of the hottest hitters on the planet.
But he does not play against lefties.
Like, I think he has two of bats against them all year.
and there are two of those on the schedule for the Mariners.
So while I do have Luke Rayleigh among the sleeper pitchers
with those favorable matchups as hot as he is,
likely to start just four games.
So keep that in mind.
Cole Young makes the list tier two for the Mariners.
And finally, Sam Antanachi for the White Sox's recent call-up.
I liked that he was in the lineup against a left-hander on Thursday.
Started at first game at second base,
game in left field looks like he's going to be an everyday player or something close to it.
Good speed, good on base skills.
Hopefully he'll take advantage of those second best hitter matchups for the White Sox this
week.
All right.
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Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball Today Express, and we will be back again next week.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.