This Week in Fantasy Baseball: Little-Owned Matt Adams Can Carry Your Team

Here is a look at intriguing matchups and storylines heading into the week of May 30 - June 5 in fantasy baseball:

One to Watch

• 1B Matt Adams, Cardinals: Matt Adams, owned in just 13 percent of leagues, is hitting .327/.382/.574 this season and has been scorching hot over the past couple of weeks. Despite modest success versus lefties this season, they have been his Achilles heel in his career. Luckily, he will face zero southpaws this week, making him a great add in any format.

Two-Start Studs

• RHP Ervin Santana, Twins (at A's, vs. Rays): Santana has a career 4.16 ERA and has been solid back-end starter in 12 big league seasons. This year, his ERA sits at 4.17, but he will face two lackluster offenses. The A's and Rays rank 15th and 11th, respectively in the AL when it comes to OBP. He is owned in just 16 percent of leagues.

• RHP Tyler Duffey, Twins (at A's, vs. Rays): Duffey will face the same mediocre offenses that his teammate will get to face. While he has struggled in his last two starts, he still has an ERA of 3.93 with nearly a strikeout per inning. He is available in 90 percent of leagues.

• RHP Matt Andriese, Rays (at Royals, at Twins): Apparently they grow starting pitchers on trees in the Rays farm system. Andriese, 26, has a 2.63 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP this season. The Royals and Twins rank 13th and 15th in runs in the AL. Two wins could easily be had for Andriese, who is owned in just 39 percent of leagues.

Must-Starts (Daily Fantasy)

• 2B Robinson Cano, Mariners (Tuesday): Dating back to Cano's time with the Yankees and James Shields' time with the Rays, they have squared off numerous times. Cano clearly has the upper hand with a .411 average and five homers in 90 at-bats.

• 1B/C Victor Martinez, Tigers (Sunday): V-Mart somehow still has catcher eligibility on some DFS sites, and is enjoying one of his best seasons at age 37. Opposing Chris Sale makes him a great contrarian, but the switch-hitter has always hit better right-handed and is 16-for-34 with four round-trippers against the tough lefty.

• OF Melky Cabrera, White Sox (Sunday): Tigers RHP Anibal Sanchez is enduring his worst major league season, sporting a 6.04 ERA. The switch-hitting Cabrera is having his typical season, hitting near the .300 clip with plenty of RBIs. The Melk Man is a career .500 hitter off Sanchez in 30 at-bats, and has always fared better batting from the left-side.

Must-Fades (Daily Fantasy)

• OF Ryan Braun, Brewers (Wednesday): Braun has been popular DFS play as he's enjoying a fantastic season. The Hebrew Hammer is especially a strong play against lefties, which will lead to high-ownership on Wednesday against LHP Jaime Garcia. The former MVP has a .441 OPS in 49 at-bats against Garcia and isn't worth the hefty price tag.

• OF Jose Bautista, Blue Jays (Tuesday): Bautista is also a hot commodity in DFS circles these days. He has excelled in his newly-minted leadoff role. However, the two-time home run champ is a career .118 hitter in 34 at-bats against CC Sabathia.

• SS Alcides Esobar, Royals (Sunday): Escobar's "swing at the first pitch" mentality usually leads to low strikeout totals, but that hasn't been the case against Indians right-hander Corey Kluber. The Klubot has whiffed Escobar 14 times in 39 at-bats and has held the free-swinger to just eight hits.

Fantasy Matchups of the Week

• Cardinals at Brewers (Tuesday): Tuesday's game between the Red Birds and the Brew Crew could be the highest scoring matchup of the week. Wily Peralta has a 6.62 ERA and Mike Leake has a 5.06 ERA in seven starts at Miller Park. St. Louis is the second-highest scoring team this season, and Milwaukee has the fourth-best home OPS this year.

• Royals at Indians (Thursday): If you plan on attending Thursday's game between the Royals and Indians, bring a fire extinguisher, because there will be plenty of heat. Yordano Ventura and Danny Salazar rank second and third in the AL in fastball velocity according to PITCHf/x, per FanGraphs. One might assume there will be plenty of whiffs, but KC is so good at putting the ball in play and Ventura doesn't have an out-pitch.