Adam's Weekly Baseball Forecast: Week of May 9th

Introduction: Welcome back, as I hope you all are doing well! The following is yet another edition of my weekly series, where I give my thoughts and opinions for the week ahead in baseball! Last week, the majority of my predictions were wrong, as Dylan Bundy was lit up against the Orioles and Michael Lorenzen did not pitch well against the Nationals. With that said, I hope to be more accurate this week.

As always, my "Two-Start" pitchers article will be included along with my other articles that highlight hitters, starting pitchers, and relievers who have been performing well over the last seven days or have favorable matchups coming up this week. Most importantly though, I hope you all enjoy reading my article!

Two-Start Pitchers: Two weeks ago, I added in my "Two-Start Pitchers article, as I feel like it is the most important topic that I write on in these posts. By definition, a "Two-Start Pitcher" is simply a starting pitcher who pitches twice in a week. As a result, this is significant to fantasy baseball teams and major league teams alike, as getting a chance to win twice in a week from the same pitcher is huge.

The following are the majority of the "Two-Start Pitchers" for this week. To make things easier, I have broken them down into tiers and have also added in their opponents and also which days they will be on the mound.

Must-Starts:

Carlos Rodon: 5/9 vs. COL, 5/15 @STL

Julio Urias: 5/9 @PIT, 5/14 vs. PHI

Justin Verlander: 5/10 vs. MIN, 5/15 @WAS

Lucas Giolito: 5/10 vs. CLE, 5/15 vs. NYY

Frankie Montas: 5/10 @DET, 5/14 vs. LAA

Solid Starts:

Joe Ryan: 5/10 @HOU, 5/15 vs CLE

Aaron Nola: 5/10 @SEA, 5/15 @LAD

Kyle Wright: 5/10 vs. BOS, 5/15 vs. SD

Carlos Carrasco: 5/10 @WAS, 5/15 vs. SEA

Noah Syndergaard: 5/9 vs. TB, 5/14 @OAK

Michael Kopech: 5/9 vs. CLE, 5/14 vs. NYY

Questionable Starts:

Tarik Skubal: 5/10 vs. OAK, 5/15 vs. BAL

Tony Gonsolin: 5/10 @PIT, 5/15 vs. PHI

Nestor Cortes: 5/9 vs. TEX, 5/15 @CWS

Luis Castillo: 5/9 vs. MIL, 5/14 @PIT

Paul Blackburn: 5/9 @DET, 5/14 vs. LAA

Michael Pineda: 5/9 vs. OAK, 5/14 vs. BAL

Hitters: The following hitters have been performing well at the plate over the last week and as a result, I could see them carrying over their success into this week.

Franmil Reyes: Cleveland Guardians:

Finally!!! The one player that I drafted in all three of my fantasy leagues this season is starting to heat up. Reyes to begin the season was ice cold, at one point hitting close to .160 over the first month or so. As a result, he has been on my bench the last two weeks, but will be in my starting lineup for this upcoming week.

Franmil decided to begin his recent run of success against the Blue Jays and their rotation of aces including Jose Berrios and Kevin Gausman. Going 11-18 over the past week, "The Franimal" hit a home run in Saturday's doubleheader and had a flurry of hits to get his average above the .200 mark.

A full slate of games this week should bring plenty more opportunities for Reyes to be successful. Patience was needed for the first few weeks with the Guardians slugger, but now that he is seeing and hitting the ball a lot better, I think he could get back on track to hit close to or over 30 home runs by season's end.

Rowdy Tellez: Milwaukee Brewers:

Rowdy has been getting it done at the plate for the Brewers over the last week or so. Anyone who is looking for an under the radar type of player who produces power, Tellez right now is the man to watch. Very quietly, the former Blue Jays first baseman is having a great start to the season. Prior to his last two games where he went a combined 0-8, Tellez had put up four home runs in his last six games. Driving in an impressive 24 RBI, along with a total of seven home runs, he is a solid play this week as he goes up against the struggling Reds for a four game set to begin the week.

Manuel Margot: Tampa Bay Rays:

Hitting three home runs in three straight games last week, including a grand slam on Sunday, Margot has seemed to find his offensive stride for the time being. Hitting well over .300 headed into this week's games, he would be a player I would be playing in fantasy leagues if you are in need of offensive production. Although he may not be as productive this week, I would still expect solid numbers across the board.

Yadiel Hernandez: Washington Nationals:

Currently on a seven game hit streak, Hernandez is currently one of the hottest hitters in the league. Of course, I predict for him to soon cool off, although Washington will take anything they can get out of their rebuilding young team. Hitting .371 is spectacular considering we have just hit the one month mark.

Upcoming for Hernandez and the Nationals are series at home against the Mets and Astros. Although Yadiel will not matchup against Max Scherzer or Chris Bassitt in the Mets series, the rest of the New York rotation is great, as I predict that it will present a challenge for all Washington hitters. Houston is just as tough with Justin Verlander back in ace form, as Houston will travel to Washington over the weekend.

A Few More to Consider:

Brandon Drury: Cincinnati Reds

Juan Yepez: St. Louis Cardinals

Starting Pitchers: Similar to the hitters above, the following starting pitchers either have favorable matchups this week or are simply performing well as of late.

Jake Odorizzi: Houston Astros:

Odorizzi has posted three straight quality starts while only giving up one run in 17.2 IP over that span. Jake gets another favorable matchup this week in my opinion even though the majority of fantasy sites would tend to disagree.

Before I go on about Odorizzi, when I type Jake into the article, my mind goes immediately to Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets or Jake as he is known around the baseball world. Having not written about him since March, I thought I would add him in here as I think every baseball fan misses watching him make opposing hitters look foolish with his amazing pitching ability. As a result, I look forward to watching him "deGrominate" when he returns from a right scapula injury in the next few months.

Getting back to the other Jake, Odorizzi faces the Nationals over the weekend in a favorable matchup. Aside from Juan Soto and Josh Bell, I feel as if he could go down this lineup in relatively short order. Run support should be there for him as he most likely will only need to go the five inning minimum to qualify for his third win on the young season.

Aaron Ashby: Milwaukee Brewers:

Ashby reminds me a bit of Dodgers pitcher Tony Gonsolin in terms of how they are both used during a game. Going barely five innings or so for the majority of his starts, Ashby draws a solid matchup against Miami over the weekend on Friday. Of course, similar to Gonsolin, is the risk of him not going the full five innings to qualify for a win. Manager Craig Counsel has even used Ashby out of the bullpen for holds a few times this season as well.

The Brewers offense has put up big time power numbers so far this season. Anyone from shortstop Willy Adames, to former MVP Christian Yelich, and the aforementioned Tellez, the Brewers can hit the ball out of the park with the best of them. To sum it up, if you play Ashby this week, keep in mind how long he will pitch in the game, as his pitching stats as a whole have been solid this far, as the only complaint would be his 1.45 WHIP.

Reliever Report:

Jhoan Duran: Minnesota Twins:

Although in a closer's committee, I feel Duran may have the upper-hand when it comes to save chances. If nothing else, Duran is a reliable option for holds, as he has an ERA of 3.68 a month into the season, including a WHIP of 0.89.

Phillies Bullpen: This last paragraph refers to the late-inning arms of the Phillies. After Corey Knebel blew Thursday's game in miserable fashion against the Mets last week, this has given me cause for concern moving forward. Although he bounced back with a scoreless ninth on Sunday, I could see either Brad Hand or Jose Alvarado receiving a few chances to close out games for Joe Girardi's club.

Final Thoughts: I hope you all have enjoyed reading my forecast for the week ahead in baseball! As always, baseball seems to have me on the edge of my seat every day, as I seem to enjoy this game way too much!

See you at the Ballpark!!!

Adam