Will Venable | San Diego Padres | (1.0%) – Venable could make a cheap pickup for speed and run production, and possibly power in deeper leagues this week.  He starts off his week against the Cardinals.  Against Cardinals pitching Venable is hitting .500 in 32 career at-bats.  In 31 at-bats at Busch Stadium Venable is hitting .484 with a 1.127 OPS.  Venable then takes on the Mets staff.  Against the Mets pitchers Venable is hitting .302 in 33 career at-bats.  Half of those at-bats have come at Citi Field where he has a .313 career batting average.

Mike Trout | Anaheim Angels | (93.9%) – Mike Trout has been living up to the hype with his recent play.  In the last week he’s 12 for 27 (.444 avg.) with 2 homeruns and 4 stolen bases.  Trout’s been accomplishing this thanks to his domination of right-handed pitchers. He’s hitting .375 against righties, while only hitting .188 against lefties.  This week he’ll face 4 right-handed pitchers to demolish.  Ride him while he’s hot or at least make him feel welcome on your team and pick him up from waivers.

Hitters to Sit

Cameron Maybin | San Diego Padres | (90.4%) – Cameron Maybin suffers from one of the worst home/road splits in the majors.  Away from spacious Petco Park Maybin is hitting .167 with a .226 OBP.  Unfortunately for Maybin owners, this week the Padres play entirely on the road.  First series of the road trip takes place against the St. Louis Cardinals.  Maybin only has one career hit in the 11 at-bats against the Cardinals starters that he’ll face.  In 32 career at-bats at Busch Stadium Maybin has only 7 hits, equating for a .219 average and .242 OBP.  May has also been a horrid month for Maybin historically.  During the last three years in the month of May Maybin has been hitting .231 with a .301 OBP making May the worst month for Maybin in terms of hitting for average and on-base percentage.

Kyle Seager | Seattle Mariners | (61%) – Kyle Seager has been the lone bright spot in the anemic Mariners offense all season long.  Lately he’s been a solid free agency pick-up in most fantasy leagues for those of you who have been in need of a third baseman (see Youkilis, Longoria, Sandoval, Bonifacio, etc.).  Unfortunately for Seager owners the Mariners face a week-long home stand this week.  Seager’s performance at Safeco leaves a lot to be desired.  At home he is hitting 65 points lower than on the road and has an OBP 68 points lower than his road split.  Only 1 of his 4 homeruns has come at the abyss that is Safeco Field.

Two-Start Pitchers to Start

Jaime Garcia |St. Louis Cardinals| (92.6%) – Jaime Garcia gets to start his week off against one of the league’s worst hitting teams when facing left-handed pitchers.  The Padres are hitting .227 against lefties this year.  In 20 innings pitched against the Padres, Garcia has pitched a 1.35 ERA.  Garcia then takes off the Phillies to close out his week.  This is another team that he’s dominated historically.  In 30 innings against the Phillies Garcia has a 1.20 ERA and a BAA of .178.  In 81 career at-bats against Garcia the Phillies are hitting a collective .198.

Clayton Richard |San Diego Padres| (0.6%) – Richard is coming off a great start and hopefully can bring that momentum with him on this week-long road trip.  He starts first against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.  Current Cardinals hitters are hitting a collective .121 against Richard in 33 at-bats.  Richards then takes on the Mets at Citi Field.  In 3 starts against the Mets Richard has earned a 2.41 ERA and magnificent .225 BAA.

Two-Start Pitchers to Sit

Matt Cain | San Francisco Giants | (100%) – Matt Cain is one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball, but this week I’m not going to have to go out on a limb to recommend you bench him.  His first start of the week takes place in Milwaukee against the Brewers.  Cain has one of the worst groundball/flyball ratios in the majors, which is why AT&T Park is critical to his success.  It has the worst homerun ratio out of any park in baseball.  However, Miller Park has the second-best homerun ratio in baseball, which combined with Cain’s high flyball ratio creates more opportunities for balls to fly out of the park.  This could help explain why his career ERA at Miller Park is 5.67 in 27 innings.  Cain and the Giants then travel to Miami to take on a team that has hit homeruns against Cain at nearly twice his career rate (1 every 7.5 innings as opposed to 1 ever 13.5 innings).  Also, the heart of the Marlins order historically dominates Cain.  Reyes, Stanton and Ramirez are hitting .380 with 4 homeruns in 50 at-bats against Cain.

Felix Hernandez | Seattle Mariners | (100%) – King Felix will be pitching against two of his worst enemies this home stand.  Felix starts off the week against the Rangers.  Keep in mind he’s already coming off several poor starts.  Over the last three years against Texas Hernandez has a 3.71 ERA and a losing 6-8 record.  Hernandez also has some historic troubles in the month of May. Over the course of his career Hernandez has compiled a 4.73 ERA and 9-19 win-loss record in the month of May.  That’s a point and a half higher than his career ERA.  After the series against the Ranger, Hernandez and the Mariners cap the week off against the Rays and look to escape the month of May in a hurry.

Written by James Bryce (@BoltLife4meexclusively for TheFantasyFix.com

Follow The Fantasy Fix on Twitter @thefantasyfix

or for Free Fantasy Sports Advice use our Quick Fix to get help with your team!

(May 15, 2012 – Source: Denis Poroy/Getty Images North America)