It’s virtually impossible to see some things coming, but by preplanning for each and every week of the Fantasy Baseball season, you can often get a jump on the trends that are brewing around the league. Let’s take a look at how the upcoming week of the MLB campaign is shaping up.

 

MLB Schedule Breakdown

TEAM

# GAMES

HOME

AWAY

OPPONENTS

Braves

6

3

3

at CIN (3), vs COL (3)

Marlins

6

0

6

at CLE (2), at PHI (4)

Mets

6

6

0

vs PHI (3), vs MIL (3)

Phillies

7

4

3

at NYM (3), at MIA (4)

Nationals

6

3

3

vs SF (3), at MIA (3)

Cubs

6

3

3

vs LAD (3), at ARI (3)

Reds

6

3

3

vs ATL (3), at STL (3)

Brewers

6

0

6

at STL (3), at NYM (3)

Pirates

7

4

3

vs ARI (4), at LAD (3)

Cardinals

6

6

0

vs MIL (3), vs CIN (3)

Diamondbacks

7

3

4

at PIT (4), vs CHC (3)

Rockies

6

3

3

vs WAS (3), at  ATL (3)

Dodgers

6

3

3

at CHC (3), vs PIT (3)

Padres

5

2

3

vs SEA (2), at WAS (3)

Giants

5

3

2

at TOR (2), vs NYY (3)

Orioles

6

3

3

vs CHW (3), at MIN (3)

Red Sox

7

7

0

vs DET (4), vs vs TB (3)

Yankees

7

0

7

at LAA (4), at SF (3)

Rays

6

3

3

vs KC (3), at BOS (3)

Blue Jays

5

5

0

vs SF (2), vs OAK (3)

White Sox

6

3

3

at BAL (3), vs DET (3)

Indians

6

2

4

vs MIA (2), at HOU (4)

Tigers

7

0

7

at BOS (4), at CHW (3)

Royals

6

3

3

at TB (3), vs LAA (3)

Twins

6

3

3

at HOU (3), vs BAL (3)

Astros

7

7

0

vs MIN (3), vs CLE (4)

Angels

7

4

3

vs NYY (4), at KC (3)

Athletics

6

3

3

vs TEX (3), at TOR (3)

Mariners

6

2

4

at SD (2), vs TEX (4)

Rangers

7

0

7

at OAK (3), at SEA (4)

 

Who’s Hot

Marcell Ozuna - Over the last two weeks, Ozuna is hitting .286/.400/.905 with eight home runs and two stolen bases. Clearly, he is fully healed from the should issues that plagued him last season and benefiting from an improved lineup with Paul Goldschmidt in tow. Ozuna is a top 15 outfielder rest of the way.

 

Eddie Rosario - Rosario is hitting .393/.414/1.214 with seven home runs over the last week. Obviously it helps to play the Orioles and Blue Jays, but Rosario was an overlooked commodity in fantasy during draft season because he lost so much time and power to injury last year. He is healthy now and is a top 15-20 outfielder rest of the way.

 

Caleb Smith - Smith has been fantastic to start the season. He has a ton of great skills, but struggles with giving up home runs. Thankfully, he plays in Miami where the park nullifies a lot of those worries, but as we saw in his second start, when he is on the road he will have problems. He has a road start in Philly this week, so pay close attention.

 

Who’s Not

Corey Kluber - Kluber has struggle to start the season and is beginning to tumble down ranks. However, this seems to be a common issue early in the season with him. I expect him to rebound and while I dropped him down my starting pitcher ranks, he is still a top 20 starter for me right now.

 

Mallex Smith - Mallex is in a dreadful slump right now hitting .125/.192/.167 over the last week with only one stolen base and one extra base hit. He is getting unlucky on balls in play and striking out too much. I am not worried long term as he should bounceback, but if he doesn’t turn it around quickly, he could find himself getting moved out of the leadoff spot which would be very bad for his fantasy value.

 

José Peraza - Peraza has been really struggling this season. He only has two extra base hits and two stolen bases thus far. Luckily for him, the injuries to Scooter Gennett and Nick Senzel have helped him stay in the lineup, but as players start getting healthy, he may find himself the odd man out of the lineup if he doesn’t turn it around quickly.

 

Interleague Outlook

AWAY TEAM

HOME TEAM

GAMES

DH?

Player(s) Impacted

Marlins

Indians

2

Yes

Rosell Herrera

Yankees

Giants

3

No

Luke Voit , Mike Ford

Mariners

Padres

2

No

Dan Vogelbach

Giants

Blue Jays

2

Yes

Pablo Sandoval , Yangervis Solarte

 

Top-25 SP Rankings

 

Rank

Pitcher

Team

Game 1

Game 2

1

Max Scherzer

WAS

vs SD

 

2

Justin Verlander

HOU

vs HOU

 

3

Trevor Bauer

CLE

at HOU

 

4

Blake Snell

TB

  

5

Gerrit Cole

HOU

vs CLE

 

6

Aaron Nola

PHI

vs MIA

 

7

Chris Sale

BOS

vs DET

vs TB

8

Walker Buehler

LAD

at CHC

 

9

Jameson Taillon

PIT

vs ARI

 

10

Noah Syndergaard

NYM

vs MIL

 

11

Clayton Kershaw

LAD

vs PIT

 

12

Patrick Corbin

WAS

at COL

vs SD

13

Carlos Carrasco

CLE

vs MIA

at HOU

14

Corey Kluber

CLE

at HOU

 

15

Luis Castillo

CIN

at STL

 

16

James Paxton

NYY

at SF

 

17

German Márquez

COL

vs WAS

 

18

David Price

BOS

vs TB

 

19

José Berríos

MIN

vs BAL

 

20

Jack Flaherty

STL

vs MIL

vs CIN

21

Stephen Strasburg

WAS

vs SD

 

22

Charlie Morton

TB

at BOS

 

23

Shane Bieber

CLE

at HOU

 

24

Tyler Glasnow

TB

at BOS

 

25

Cole Hamels

CHC

vs LAD

 

 

On the Rise

Clayton Kershaw (SP #11)

Tyler Glasnow (SP #24)

Cole Hamels (SP #25)

 

On the Decline

Corey Kluber (SP #14)

Stephen Strasburg (SP #21)

 

SP Rankings 26-50

 

Rank

Pitcher

Team

Game 1

Game 2

26

Robbie Ray

ARI

vs CHC

 

27

Chris Paddack

SD

vs SEA

 

28

Kyle Freeland

COL

vs WAS

 

29

Madison Bumgarner

SF

vs NYY

 

30

Kyle Hendricks

CHC

vs LAD

 

31

Mike Foltynewicz

ATL

  

32

Masahiro Tanaka

NYY

at LAA

 

33

Chris Archer

PIT

at LAD

 

34

Matthew Boyd

DET

at CHW

 

35

Domingo Germán

NYY

at LAA

at SF

36

Kevin Gausman

ATL

at CIN

vs COL

37

Carlos Rodón

CHW

at BAL

 

38

Zack Greinke

ARI

at PIT

 

39

Ross Stripling

LAD

at CHC

 

40

Joe Musgrove

PIT

vs ARI

at LAD

41

Miles Mikolas

STL

vs CIN

 

42

Collin McHugh

HOU

vs CLE

 

43

Zack Wheeler

NYM

vs PHI

 

44

Caleb Smith

MIA

at PHI

 

45

Sonny Gray

CIN

vs ATL

 

45

Marco Gonzales

SEA

vs TEX

 

47

José Quintana

CHC

vs LAD

at ARI

48

Trevor Richards

MIA

at PHI

 

49

Aaron Sanchez

TOR

vs OAK

 

50

Kenta Maeda

LAD

vs PIT

 

 

On the Rise

Domingo Germán (SP #35)

Kevin Gausman (SP #36)

Collin McHugh (SP #42)

 

 

On the Decline

Madison Bumgarner (SP #29)

Miles Mikolas (SP #41)

 

 

SP Rankings 51-75

 

Rank

Pitcher

 

Game 1

Game 2

51

Frankie Montas

OAK

vs TEX

 

52

Brad Keller

KC

at TB

 

53

Trevor Williams

PIT

vs ARI

at LAD

54

Julio Teheran

ATL

at CIN

 

55

Jon Gray

COL

at ATL

 

56

J.A. Happ

NYY

at LAA

at SF

57

Mike Minor

TEX

at OAK

at SEA

58

Yusei Kikuchi

SEA

vs TEX

 

59

Mike Soroka

ATL

  

60

Brad Peacock

HOU

vs MIN

vs CLE

61

Zack Godley

ARI

at PIT

vs CHC

62

Jake Arrieta

PHI

at NYM

vs MIA

63

Jeff Samardzija

SF

at TOR

 

64

Dereck Rodríguez

SF

vs NYY

 

65

Max Fried

ATL

vs COL

 

66

Pablo Lopez

MIA

at CLE

 

67

Reynaldo López

CHW

vs DET

 

68

Brandon Woodruff

MIL

at NYM

 

69

Yonny Chirinos

TB

  

70

Jordan Lyles

PIT

vs ARI

 

71

Marcus Stroman

TOR

vs OAK

 

72

Zach Eflin

PHI

at NYM

vs MIA

73

Matt Strahm

SD

at WAS

 

74

Hyun-Jin Ryu

LAD

vs PIT

 

75

Kyle Gibson

MIN

vs BAL

 

 

On the Rise

Frankie Montas (SP #51)

Trevor Williams (SP #53)

 

On the Decline

Brandon Woodruff (SP #68)

Kyle Gibson (SP #75)