June 30-July 6 Fantasy Baseball Expert Picks: Best Matchups, Waiver Wire Pickups and More

Well, we have reached the end of June. July 4 can act as something of a mid-point of the summer (depending on where you live), often signaling the downhill stretch before getting back into school mode and preparing for the fall and inevitable winter.

There is good and bad to it: summer is the time to get away from work and school and have fun, and seeing it come to an end is a real bummer. The end of summer means the beginning of football, though, and that is the best time of the year for the majority of sports fans if we go strictly by viewing numbers.

The baseball season keeps chugging along though, not stopping for anyone, summer lover or not. The experts at FantasySP are here to help you prepare in the fantasy baseball world. Morgan Rode and Daniel Hepner answered five questions in advance of the first week of baseball in July (after Monday's June 30).

1. Which team has the best matchups this week and could be in line for a nice run?

Daniel: I had the Giants here last week because of series against the Marlins and White Sox, and they are back again this week against the Diamondbacks and Athletics. Arizona is .500 as of the end of Saturday, but the A's are 34-51, holding the second-worst record in the American League and third worst in all of baseball.

Morgan: The Braves have the Angels and the Orioles this week, so this is a chance for Atlanta to maybe make a little push. The Mariners have the Royals and the Pirates, so it's a big week potentially for Seattle as well.

2. Give us a few hitters who are probably available in fantasy leagues and could excel given the matchups.

Daniel: Let's go back to San Francisco. They are on the road all week, which means seven games in Arizona and Sacramento (against the A's). Those are two of the most hitter-friendly parks in the league, setting up Giant hitters for a little extra pop against two losing teams.

Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and first baseman/DH Wilmer Flores are two guys who stand out as being in the lineup often and who are widely available in fantasy leagues.

Morgan: Tampa Bay's Chandler Simpson is owned in about 50% of leagues, and has matchups against the Athletics and Twins this coming week. I like the matchups for the Yankees - Giancarlo Stanton could get rolling this week as a result.

3. How about a pitcher (or a few) who could be in line for a good start or two against weaker offensive teams?

Daniel: The Atlanta Braves play three games apiece against the Los Angeles Angels and Baltimore Orioles this week, two of my teams to target with fantasy pitchers due to their place among the bottom 10 offensive teams in the league.

Rookie Didier Fuentes is currently in line to make a start against each team, and he is available in pretty much every league. Bryce Elder will start against the Angels and is widely available, while Grant Holmes is owned in over half of leagues but still has some availability and is scheduled to start against LA.

Morgan: Arizona's Ryne Nelson has favorable matchups against the Giants and Royals, so he could be in for some strong fantasy showings. Miami's Edward Cabrera has the Twins and Brewers on the schedule this week, so he could be a sneaky good option. 

4. Who are the newly minted major leaguers recently called up from the minors who stand out as possible fantasy forces in the second half of the season?

Daniel: I always like going with pitchers here, and we have a few names who had big starts recently. You probably heard of Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski, who outdueled Paul Skenes for a win last week, but I'll let Morgan talk more about him (he's a Brewers fan).

Instead, I'll go with another young guy in Cincinnati's Chase Burns, who made his first career start last Tuesday against the Yankees and struck out eight in five innings, including the first five batters he faced. The second overall pick in 2024, Burns will probably face the Red Sox and Phillies this week, tougher teams, but will then get one against the Rockies in Cincinnati before the All-Star break if rotations hold.

Morgan: Misiorowski has been a fantasy stud since joining the big leagues. He's been nearly unhittable over three starts, and looks to have an incredibly bright future. He's owned in nearly every fantasy league already, and is a top-end fantasy pitcher already.

His fantasy value is rising rapidly, but now is still a time to buy low on Miz. He's going to regress a little from his early big league outings, but he will have a sky high fantasy ceiling for every start, and there's only a few other fantasy pitchers you can say that about. You should be all in on Misiorowski.

5. Give us some advice or what you're watching for or inklings you're having or anything else that comes to mind as we enter the fourth month of the season.

Daniel: We're halfway through the season, so it's probably time to stop hanging onto hope for guys to break out if they've been struggling hard. Baseball has a long season, and the first half and second half can sometimes feel like different seasons for both teams and players, but someone like Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox just isn't finding it, and I'm done waiting for him.

Morgan: With no NFL or NBA season right now, the MLB is the center of attention. Oddly, this is the time when fantasy baseball owners can slack off.

You can really make up ground in your fantasy league during this stretch of the season if you stay locked in. Be watching the latest waiver wire moves, drop candidates, trade assets and more and you can turn a so-so fantasy baseball season into a good one.