Welcome to the hitting streamers column for the week of 5/20 - 5/26. [...]

Washington Nationals first baseman Howie Kendrick (neck) will return to the starting lineup for Wednesday's game against the New York Mets. He missed a few games due to neck stiffness, but was available to take an at-bat off the bench on Tuesday. He'll bat fifth and play first base against righty Wilmer Font. Kendrick has hit very well this season, so he's a reliable fantasy option for this one.

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Washington Nationals infielder Howie Kendrick (neck) is out of the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the New York Mets. Kendrick hasn't played since Friday due to neck stiffness. Gerardo Parra will play first base and bat fifth versus righty Noah Syndergaard. Parra has been awful with the bat, so go ahead and avoid him going forward.

With roughly a quarter of the season in the books, you may be running out of patience with your current fantasy squad. That's okay! [...]

Washington Nationals outfielder Victor Robles is getting Sunday off against the Dodgers, while infielder Howie Kendrick is also resting with a stiff neck. It's a routine day off for Robles and in his place in center will be Michael Taylor, who will bat eighth against lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu. Taylor is batting just .175, with three runs scored, and a stolen base through 20 games. He doesn't move the DFS needle on Sunday and you could do better, even on a small slate.

Washington Nationals infielder Howie Kendrick had another great day at the plate Thursday, going 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBI. Kendrick went deep off Los Angeles Dodgers starter Rich Hill for his sixth long ball of the season. The veteran infielder is hitting .325 with a .971 OPS this season and is a reliable contact hitter. As long as he continues to receive steady playing time, you could do much worse than having Kendrick in your everyday lineup.

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Washington Nationals infielder Howie Kendrick is not in the starting lineup on Wednesday. Adrian Sanchez draws into the lineup and will start at first base while hitting seventh against Brewers starting pitcher Brandon [...]

Baseball is neither fair nor consistent, this much we all know. It is however, predictable. Not in the sense that we know what will happen with each player taking each individual AB, but in the sense that based on the complete picture of performance formed by a player's peripheral figures, we can typically feel a certain degree of confidence that a player will either sustain their current level of play or gradually drift closer to their baseline of true ability. That's why it is beyond maddening[...]