2014 Fantasy Baseball: 5 Shrewd Plays For July 18

The man who spells his name wrong was quite productive heading into the All-Star break, as he posted a strong .359 average with three HRs and eight RBIs in his past 10 games. The Cardinals will host the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dan Haren in the first game back from the break, and that should bode well for Peralta. Haren has been lit up in three of his past four outings, and is allowing right-handers to bat .297 against him this season.

This fellow was picking up the pace himself heading into the break, as he's batting an impressive .385 over his last seven contests, including four multi-hit efforts. Utley loves hitting off right-handed pitchers, and will face one Friday that really struggles vs. lefties. Ervin Santana will start for the Atlanta Braves against the Phillies in this one, and he's allowed left-handed bats to hit a lofty .319 against him to this point.

It's been a successful campaign for Weaver to this point despite some ups and downs. He's certainly been up of late, as he's posted a 3-0 record to go along with a solid 2.77 ERA over his past five starts. Expect another excellent outing in his first start after the break vs. the struggling Seattle Mariners. Seattle limped into the break with a 4-6 record, and managed to put up a lowly 1.90 runs per contest over those 10 games.

The Kung-Fu Panda has slowed down a bit since his torrid May, but he looks to be kicking his bat into high gear once again. Sandoval is batting a robust .417 over his past six games, and should keep the good times rolling on Friday. The Giants will face starter Nathan Eovaldi in this one, and not only is he allowing lefties to bat .302 on the season, but Sandoval has smoked six hits off of him in eight career at bats, good for a .750 average.

It was an impressive first half for this slugger, as he posted a solid .295 average to go along with 21 HRs and 63 RBIs. Look for him to kick off the second half in fine fashion as the Marlins take on the San Francisco Giants. Starter Madison Bumgarner sports a smelly 7.10 ERA over his past four starts, and in 11 career at bats, Stanton has mashed him to the tune of a .636 average, including five doubles.