Fantasy Baseball: 5 Shrewd Plays For May 23

This fellow has cooled off a bit lately, but maybe a matchup against one of his favorite pitchers can get him rolling again. The Rays host the Boston Red Sox this evening, and Joyce has a .318 average in 22 at-bats against Boston starter John Lackey with two HRs. Joyce is also hitting a robust .359 in home games this year, so the ingredients are there for a nice night at the dish.

The No. 8 catcher on ESPN's player rater has a nice matchup himself. He should be well rested after a day off Thursday, and should have some success against Bartolo Colon and the New York Mets. Not only is Montero's average 102 points higher against right-handed pitching this season, but Colon owns an ugly 5.34 ERA in nine starts.

His 15 RBIs and 14 runs scored are pretty low for this far into the season, but with a .314 average, those numbers are likely to spike sooner than later. Adams should continue swinging a hot stick tonight against the Cincinnati Reds, as their starter Homer Bailey has been a massive disappointment so far with a 5.44 ERA and 1.58 WHIP. Adams has five hits in just seven tries in his career off Bailey with a HR and a double.

Few people predicted this rookie would be so good this soon. He's the No. 6 third baseman on ESPN's player rater, and those who plucked him off the wire earlier this year are surely enjoying his .310 average and 24 RBIs. He'll face one of the worst starters statistically in baseball tonight in Hector Noesi of the Chicago White Sox. He owns an embarrassing 7.31 ERA and 1.73 WHIP in 28.1 innings pitched.

My third and final Matt on this list has had plenty of success against Cincinnati starter Homer Bailey, just like teammate Matt Adams. He has 13 hits in 22 career at-bats off of him, which is good for a sky-high .591 average. Carpenter is t-13th in baseball in runs scored, which is even more impressive when you consider his team ranks just 24th in runs per game. He is likely to improve upon that number today.