Wednesday's schedule features one fewer game that its usual full slate, with the Diamondbacks and Angels receiving the day off. The Braves gain a designated hitter as they travel to Toronto. However, the Orioles (Nationals), Tigers (Reds) and Athletics (Padres) lose their DH in trips to National League parks.
Of course, one of these trips to the senior circuit stadium could help one of my favorite pitcher rentals.
Pitching
Pitchers to stream
Frankie Montas (R), rostered in 35.5 percent of ESPN leagues, Oakland Athletics at San Diego Padres: The right-hander has a mere 6.5 percent swinging-strike rate in his first four starts of the season. The Padres are in fine position to help Montas, though, as they have the second-highest strikeout rate (25.9 percent) against righties. Of course, Petco Park always boosts the outlook of any hurler.
Jose Urena (R), 7.7 percent, Miami Marlins at San Francisco Giants: Dominating the Padres and Orioles over his past two starts (1.93 ERA, nine strikeouts, one walk in 14 innings) probably doesn't guarantee Urena should be a mixed-league pickup, but that pair of gems helped get more from intriguing underlying stats (7.13 K/9, 1.94 BB/9, 53.1 groundball percentage). AT&T Park is a welcoming stadium for pitchers, and the Giants are tied for the second-worst BB/K (0.30) against RHPs.
Jakob Junis (R), 45.4 percent, Kansas City Royals vs. Texas Rangers: It was a matter of time before the contact-centric Junis faltered after a too-sparkling start to the season. He's matched his futility in each of the past two starts with six runs allowed in 5.1 frames. Luckily, Texas has a mere 74.9 contact percentage overall and a .304 wOBA against RHPs, both ranking in the bottom third of the league. Those outweigh Junis' 4.84 ERA at his spacious Kauffman Stadium home.
Pitchers to avoid
Jake Arrieta (R), 96 percent, Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals: Arrieta's 1.69 ERA at home will convince many to roll with him, but have you noticed his first three June outings? That 7.98 ERA, 9:5 K:BB and .906 opponents' OPS looks like the start of a harsh correction of his overachievement to start 2018. The Cardinals are getting Jose Martinez back in the fold this week, which deepens an erratic but often lethal order that should give Arrieta issues.
Bullpen
The Nationals acquired Kelvin Herrera from the Royals on Monday for a trio of minor-leaguers. While he'll jump instantly into a high-leverage setup role, the right-hander will settle for backup duty behind dominant closer Sean Doolittle.
For speculating from the Royals bullpen, meanwhile ... good luck. They're not exactly a club rushing to define bullpen roles, especially while holding a league-worst 5.71 ERA and looking toward the future.
But we're here to prognosticate, right? Kevin McCarthy doesn't strike out many guys. Side-arming southpaw Tim Hill has intriguing skills but falters when facing RHBs. Justin Grimm, Wily Peralta and Burch Smith don't jump out.
Brandon Maurer does: The former Padres closer, who was called up from Triple-A Omaha recently, has 35 career saves and, despite a 5.48 ERA, had saved five games with the Storm Chasers. (Too bad Brad Keller was moved into the rotation, though. He was killing it as a late-innings arm.)
Maurer and Hill are your best shots when it comes to skills, though they're probably limited because of the potential for matchup duty. McCarthy gets the bronze.
Projected game scores
GS is the projected game score for the pitcher. The "*" symbol means the pitcher lacks requisite career major league data to produce an accurate rating; these are the author's ratings.
Hitting
Catcher
Tyler Flowers (R), 4 percent, Atlanta Braves at Toronto Blue Jays (LHP J.A. Happ): Keep an eye on whether Flowers or Kurt Suzuki (34.6 percent) starts behind the dish. Happ has struggled at home (4.18 ERA) and against righty bats (.291 wOBA, nine of his 10 homers allowed). Flowers (.469/.595/.781, three homers, 42 plate appearances) and Suzuki (.279/.340/.512) have rekindled their excitement to face lefties.
First base
Greg Bird (L), 36.2 percent, New York Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners (RHP Felix Hernandez): Hernandez has looked better lately yet still struggles away from Safeco Field (7.72 ERA, compared to 3.83 at home) and has surrendered a .350 wOBA to lefty opponents. Bird can often be the word with his short porch at home and when staring down righties.
Second base
Josh Harrison (R), 44.6 percent, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Milwaukee Brewers (LHP Brent Suter): Stats haven't shown it yet in his abbreviated 2018, but Harrison typically succeeds against southpaws (.286/.375/.482 with six homers in 128 plate appearances last year). Suter has allowed 10 of his 12 homers, a .334 wOBA and a .482 slugging percentage to righty sticks in 2018.
Third base
Jeimer Candelario (B), 32.7 percent, Detroit Tigers at Cincinnati Reds (RHP Tyler Mahle): Though Candelario typically prefers to face southpaws, Mahle has sustained the fourth-highest wOBA (.391) from opposing RHBs. The switch hitter is 4-for-29 in his past eight games, but this could be a cure for that slide.
Shortstop
Marcus Semien (R), 42 percent, Oakland Athletics at San Diego Padres (LHP Joey Lucchesi): Semien has good pop when facing southpaws, sporting a career .193 ISO with the platoon edge. Semien is in a good spot against Lucchesi, fresh off the disabled list after rehabbing a strained right hip. Before the injury, Luccesi was pitching well, with the only wart being the eight homers he allowed in his 47.1 innings.
Corner infield
Dominic Smith (L), 1.4 percent, New York Mets at Colorado Rockies (RHP Chad Bettis): The Colorado righty, unsurprisingly, holds a 7.76 ERA this year at the perilous Coors Field. All 10 of Smith's major-league homers have tagged right-handed pitching, and he'll at least net platoon starts while fighting for his short- and long-term role with the club, who has Peter Alonso lurking at Triple-A.
Middle infield
Jonathan Villar (B), 15.5 percent, Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates (RHP Chad Kuhl): Kuhl is tied for the second-most homers allowed to lefty batters (eight) and has coughed up a .344 wOBA against them. Typically known for his stolen-base potential, Villar has performed better against southpaws but looks to be winning at least a majority share of time at second base and has left the yard three times in a productive start to June (.289 clip, .511 slugging percentage in 12 games).
Outfield
Michael Taylor (R), 28.5 percent, Washington Nationals vs. Baltimore Orioles (RHP Andrew Cashner): Casher is tied for the highest wOBA allowed to right-handed batters (.404). While he's started just nine of 13 games he's played this month, Taylor has woken up in the batter's box (.412/.474/.588 with a homer, five RBIs and eight steals in 38 plate appearances).
Carlos Gonzalez (L), 24.8 percent, Colorado Rockies vs. New York Mets (RHP Seth Lugo): Lugo is no slouch (especially with his curveball), but Coors Field humbles most hurlers. I'd be shocked if CarGo weren't starting against a RHP, and his home-road splits are almost more exaggerated than ever (.328/.366/.627 in Denver, .232/.290/.321 elsewhere).
Denard Span (L), 31.2 percent, Seattle Mariners at New York Yankees (RHP Jonathan Loaisiga): Since his first game with the M's on May 28, the 34-year-old has new life (.320/.382/.500 with two homers in 55 plate appearances). Loaisiga looked solid in his first start but also walked four batters, so the OBP-inclined veteran could pester him.
Hitter matchup ratings
Hitter ratings account for the opposing starting pitcher's history (three years' worth) as well as ballpark factors. "LH" and "RH" ratings account only for left- and right-handed batters, respectively.
Weighted on-base average (wOBA) is the primary statistic used in the calculation. Ratings range from 1 to 10, with 10 representing the best possible matchup, statistically speaking, and 1 representing the worst. For example, a 10 is a must-start rating, while a 1 should be avoided (if possible); a 1-2 is poor, 3-4 is fair, 5-6 is average, 7-8 is very good and 9-10 is excellent.