NL East Fantasy News: Mets' Conforto won't play every day
Our divisional notes will appear every Monday and Friday during the season.
Atlanta Braves
Adonis Garcia is expected to bat cleanup Monday for the Braves. Garcia hit 10 home runs in 198 plate appearances last season, and is owned in 0.6 percent of FOXSports.com leagues. Garcia is a 30-year-old minor-league journeyman who might flame out, but if you need a corner infielder, he's in a good spot to drive in some runs.
The Braves sent likely fifth starter Mike Foltynewicz to the minors to gain stamina. Look for Folty to debut with the big club sometime around April 22. He's got good stuff, deep-mixed league owners.
Jhoulys Chacin is expected to be the Braves' fifth starter the first time they need one, on April 12. Zzz ...
Miami Marlins
Wei-Yin Chen will start the Marlins' opening game on Tuesday in Detroit, with ace Jose Fernandez set to follow on Wednesday. If the now-smaller Marlins Park continues to be pitcher-friendly, the flyballing Chen could repeat last season's 3.34 ERA with an improved strikeout rate.
The Marlins will be looking for increased power from new No. 3 hitter Christian Yelich. Hitting fewer than 62.5 percent of his batted balls on the ground would help. OK, that was mean - Yelich did cut that rate in the second half of 2015, while batting .342 and posting an .865 OPS. He won't become a slugger anytime soon, but he might hit a dozen homers with 20 stolen bases.
New York Mets
Matt Harvey allowed eight hits â all singles â against the Royals on Sunday night. I think I'd rather get attacked by a swarm of gnats than pitch against those guys.
The Mets will apparently use Yoenis Cespedes in center field with Michael Conforto in left versus righthanded pitchers, and play Juan Lagares in center with Cespedes in left against southpaws. Smart in real life, but not so great for the talented Conforto's fantasy value unless manager Terry Collins decides to sit Curtis Granderson instead of Conforto.
Philadelphia Phillies
Cedric Hunter projects to be one of the Phillies' regular outfielders, along with Odubel Herrera and Peter Bourjos, and will bat sixth on Opening Day. The 28-year-old Hunter has generally struggled upon promotions to Triple-A, so his MLB outlook is obviously cloudy. However, he did bat .283 with 12 homers and 11 steals for the Braves Triple-A affiliate last season. As much as I'd like to recommend Hunter beyond NL-only leagues ... I can't.
With Andrew Bailey off to the minors, David Hernandez is the leading candidate to be the Phils' closer, but Dalier Hinojosa is also a possibility. We might not find out what manager Pete Mackanin will do until he hands the ball to someone with a ninth-inning lead. Considering the Phillies' talent, don't hold your breath waiting for that.
Washington Nationals
Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg will start the Nats' first two games. No surprise there.
Under the category of better late than never, here's a March Washington Post article about how new first base coach Davey Lopes might have a positive impact on the Nats' base stealing. Ben Revere was going to run already, but the guys to watch on this front are Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon. If Rendon's legs are back under him, he could return to fantasy stardom.
