2015 MLB Fantasy Baseball Weekly Preview: Week 24

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Owners will remember Week 23 for one unfortunate reason. Jung-Ho Kang. The rookie shortstop/third baseman was having an excellent rookie campaign before a Chris Coghlan slide ended Kang’s season. He suffered a torn MCL and fractured tibia on the play, an incident that most likely won’t go unpunished when these teams meet again this upcoming weekend. Pittsburgh wasn’t happy about it –obviously—and will likely retaliate in some fashion. Not only was the Kang injury a huge blow to the Pirates, but it also sent many fantasy owners scurrying to free agency.

The Kang news hit a lot of people hard, but Giancarlo Stanton owners will have to wait a bit longer for the slugger. His rehab program was put on hold after discovering an abnormal amount of scar tissue where the hamate bone was removed. Anyways, enough about injuries, let’s get to it.

Without further ado…

Let’s run through another edition of the MLB Weekly Preview for MLB Week 24:

GAME BREAKDOWN GRID

For week 24, here are the cold hard facts that you need to know and consider. These are applicable to both your seasonal leagues and daily lineups.

1. Jackie Bradley’s August: .354, five home runs and 23 RBI. Great.

2. And his September: .231, two home runs, 10 RBI. Not to mention that he is 1-for-24 over his last seven games.

3. Anthony Rendon is hitting .394 over the last week with one home run, four RBI and seven runs scored.

4. J.P. Arencibia is hitting .385 with five home runs and 14 RBI in September. He has eligibility behind the plate and at first base in most formats.

5. Need some cheap speed? Kelby Tomlinson has five stolen bases in 15 September games thus far.

6. The Rockies play seven games at home this week, with the Pirates and Dodgers coming into town.

7. What could possibly be better than that? Well, how about this: The Rockies aren’t even scheduled to face Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, Clayton Kershaw or Zack Greinke.

INTERLEAGUE OUTLOOK

The Orioles are one of a few teams around the league who tends to go with the mix-and-match approach at designated hitter. Jimmy Paredes leads the team in starts at the position, but it’s been Steve Clevenger of late who has seen the starts at DH. However, with that being said, Clevenger has the most to lose, because when he doesn’t DH, he catches, but the team is going to run Matt Wieters out there during their stay in Washington. It’s tough to really predict what will happen here, but Clevenger has the most to lose.

San Francisco’s DH approach this season is to play the guy who is the farthest from completely healthy. Marlon Byrd could end up in the DH role, or the team could put Brandon Crawford or Buster Posey there as a “half-day” off. Blanco is dealing with a concussion and hasn’t played since Sept. 9 and is in jeopardy of missing the rest of the season. It’s almost like throwing a dart blindfolded here, but all indications point to either Crawford, Posey or Byrd in the DH slot.

STARTING PITCHER RANKINGS

Is there an imposter wearing No. 22 in San Francisco or is Jake Peavy regaining the dominant version of himself? In August, Peavy was 2-2 with a 4.67 ERA. September rolls around, and Peavy is 3-0 with a 2.89 ERA. In his last 13 innings, he has allowed just three earned runs on nine hits while posting a 10:1 K/BB ratio. He is in a groove and pitching well for the Giants when they desperately need it. However, can this continue? Sure it can. He isn’t the strikeout pitcher he once was, so him striking out eight batters in his last outing was an aberration, not a normality. He will face the Padres on Wednesday, a team he beat on Sept. 11 by allowing just one earned run on two hits over seven innings. There’s a lot to like here and it’s worth exploiting across the fantasy spectrum.

If it weren’t for Felix Hernandez and Dallas Keuchel having 17 wins to their name, Colby Lewis would be tied for the most wins in the American League. Yes, the pitcher in Texas. His 4.41 ERA is the highest among pitchers with 14 or more wins, but nonetheless, he will help your team in the wins column for sure. Over his last two starts (2-0), he has allowed just two earned runs on nine in 15 innings, while striking out seven and walking zero during that span.

What’s the Verdict?

Here is the verdict on a few players in week 24 and whether or not you should play them:

Drew Smyly— Wed - @BOS (Porcello)

Yes, Smyly was knocked around by the Orioles last night, allowing five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings pitched. Yes, he watched two balls sail over the fence and needed 107 pitches to get his 17 outs. However, this matchup is favorable to him. In two starts against the Red Sox this year, Smyly has a 0.75 ERA and a 17:4 K/BB ratio. Sure, he is 0-1, but he has allowed just one run on six hits in 12 innings pitched. His best numbers on the season have come against the Red Sox and he should be able to do the same in week 24.

VERDICT: Yes.

Lance McCullers— Tue – LAA (Heaney)

There is a lot to like about McCullers’ season to date. Since not making it out of the first inning against the Rangers in his first August start, he has fired four quality starts out of his last five outings. The right-hander does a good job of keeping the ballpark, but walks tend to get him in some trouble. He has walked 11 batters over his last 24 innings, while striking out 20 batters. He goes up against an Angels squad who is familiar with him, but they haven’t been able to solve the puzzle of late. This will be his third start against the Angels in under two months, but he has done well in each. On Wednesday, McCullers will get the best of the Angels again.

VERDICT: Yes.

Best of luck in week 24.