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I’ll be honest with you folks mostly because I know no other way. I don’t like nor understand weekly lineup leagues in fantasy baseball. A decade ago, sure. But with all of the advancements we have in technology and the surge of DFS, I just don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to have the ability to swap players in and out of their lineup.
As much as I do not like this I do recognize that many of you still play fantasy baseball that way and thus I’ve still got your back. Each week I will be previewing the upcoming week in fantasy baseball by going over the teams and players that are playing the most games, breaking down the interleague matchups, sorting out the lefty/righty matchups and ranking all of the starting pitchers for the upcoming week.
So, lay out the bunting and roll out the red carpet for this is the opening week edition of The Week Ahead:
GAME BREAKDOWN GRID
This is most likely the only place on earth where you will find a complete volume report for each and every major league club for the week ahead. Not only will we tell you how many games each team will play but also whether they will be at home, on the road, versus a left handed pitcher or a right handed pitcher. These matchups are vital in considering before you set your weekly fantasy baseball lineups and even in leagues where you can switch players out daily.
TEAM | # GAMES | HOME | AWAY | VS LEFT | VS RIGHT |
Orioles | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Yankees | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Red Sox | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
Blue Jays | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
Rays | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Tigers | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Royals | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
White Sox | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
Indians | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
Twins | 6 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
Angels | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
Mariners | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
Athletics | 7 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
Rangers | 7 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
Astros | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Nationals | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Marlins | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Mets | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
Braves | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Phillies | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Cardinals | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
Pirates | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Brewers | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Reds | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Cubs | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Dodgers | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
Giants | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 |
Padres | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
Rockies | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Diamondbacks | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
INTERLEAGUE OUTLOOK
There are only two interleague series being played in the first week of the MLB regular season and both are to be played at National League ballparks. The Red Sox and Phillies will do battle and the Red Sox will not be able to use David Ortiz much other than some late inning pinch hitting duty. The Rays and Marlins series will not have that big of a fantasy impact other than for those who drafted John Jaso in OBP leagues.
AWAY TEAM | HOME TEAM | # GAMES | DH? | PLAYER(S) IMPACTED |
Red Sox | Phillies | 3 | No | |
Rays | Marlins | 3 | No |
STARTING PITCHER RANKINGS
This is where we will rank the top 60 starting pitchers for the upcoming week and give you a complete breakdown of the matchup each is facing. This week has gotten more confusing with the Diamondbacks trade of Trevor Cahill to the Braves and Twins right hander Ervin Santana's suspension for performing enhancing drugs. Make sure you check back here throughout the week as we will update these rankings and the matchups throughout the week.
RANK | PITCHER | MATCHUP 1 | MATCHUP 2 |
1 | Padres (Shields) | @Diamondbacks (Anderson) | |
2 | Mets (Colon) | @Phillies (O’Sullivan) | |
3 | Twins (Hughes) | @Indians (House) | |
4 | Pirates (Liriano) | Cardinals (Martinez) | |
5 | Angels (Weaver) | @Athletics (Hahn) | |
6 | Padres (Ross) | @Diamondbacks (Collmenter) | |
7 | @Diamondbacks (Collmenter) | @Padres (Shields) | |
8 | @Marlins (Alvarez) | Mets (Colon) | |
9 | @Astros (Keuchel) | Tigers (Undecided) | |
10 | @Cubs (Lester) | @Reds (Iglesias) | |
11 | Mets (Harvey) |
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12 | Red Sox (Buchholz) | Nationals (Fister) | |
13 | Blue Jays (Hutchison) | Red Sox (Kelly) | |
14 | Rangers (Gallardo) | Mariners (Walker) | |
15 | @Royals (Ventura) | Twins (Milone) | |
16 | @Reds (Cueto) | @Brewers (Lohse) | |
17 | White Sox (Samardzija) | @Angels (Wilson) | |
18 | Orioles (Tillman) | @Marlins (Haren) | |
19 | Cardinals (Wainwright) | @Rockies (Kendrick) | |
20 | Mets (DeGrom) |
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21 | @Dodgers (Greinke) | Giants (Peavy) | |
22 | Twins (Hughes) |
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23 | @Rays (Archer) | Blue Jays (Hutchison) | |
24 | @Phillies (Williams) |
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25 | @Dodgers (Kershaw) | Giants (Bumgarner) | |
26 | @Yankees (Tanaka) | @Orioles (Tillman) | |
27 | @Reds (Leake) |
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28 | Orioles (Chen) | @Marlins (Alvarez) | |
29 | @Reds (Marquis) |
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30 | @Nationals (Strasburg) |
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31 | @Marlins (Cosart) |
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32 | @Mariners (Hernandez) | Royals (Guthrie) | |
33 | Braves (Miller) |
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34 | @Tigers (Price) | @White Sox (Sale) | |
35 | @Astros (Feldman) |
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36 | @Mariners (Paxton) | Royals (Ventura) | |
37 | Braves (Teheran) | Rays (Odorizzi) | |
38 | @Athletics (Gray) |
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39 | Indians (Kluber) | @Rangers (Lewis) | |
40 | Angels (Shoemaker) |
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41 | @Nationals (Zimmermann) |
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42 | @Phillies (Hamels) | @Yankees (Warren) | |
43 | Blue Jays (Dickey) |
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44 | Rockies (Kendrick) | Pirates (Liriano) | |
45 | @Phillies (Hamels) |
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46 | Pirates (Locke) |
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47 | Rangers (Lewis) | Mariners (Hernandez) | |
48 | @Marlins (Latos) |
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49 | Mariners (Happ) |
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50 | Twins (Unknown) |
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51 | Cardinals (Lynn) |
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52 | Astros (McHugh) |
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53 | @Phillies (Harang) |
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54 | @Cubs (Arrieta) |
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55 | Rangers (Detwiler) |
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56 | Giants (Bumgarner) | Dodgers (Greinke) | |
57 | @Dodgers (McCarthy) |
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58 | Giants (Hudson) |
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59 | @Reds (DeSclafani) |
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60 | @Nationals (Scherzer) | @Braves (Teheran) |
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Player News
Paul Sewald was removed from Monday’s relief appearance against the Twins with right shoulder inflammation.
Shoulder issues tend to require lengthy absences, so it certainly sounds like a potential injured list situation. Sewald was lifted from Monday’s relief appearance against the Twins and will likely undergo further imaging to determine whether he’s dealing with any structural damage.
Ezequiel Tovar (hip) is progressing towards a minor league rehab assignment.
Tovar told MLB.com’s Thomas Harding on Monday that he’s feeling better, but has only progressed to jogging as he works his way back from a left hip contusion that put him on the injured list back on April 19. He’ll need to advance to sprinting and running the bases at full speed before he’s cleared for a rehab assignment.
White Sox sent INF Nick Maton outright to Triple-A Charlotte.
Maton has the ability to elect free agency, but might end up sticking around with Chicago as emergency infield depth. The 28-year-old went unclaimed on waivers after being removed from the White Sox’ 40-man roster over the weekend.
Paul Sewald left Monday’s relief appearance against the Twins with a trainer.
Sewald appeared to be in some discomfort after delivering a fifth-inning pitch and was lifted from the contest following a visit from Cleveland’s training staff. He’ll head for further evaluation. There should be an update on his status following Monday’s series opener.
Jake Fraley was scratched from Monday’s lineup with a right quad contusion.
It doesn’t sound like a serious concern. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that Tyler Glasnow is “likely” headed to the injured list.
Roberts added that the club hasn’t made a final decision prior to Monday’s series opener against the Marlins. He also noted that Glasnow is currently being evaluated for general body soreness in addition to the shoulder discomfort that cut short Sunday’s start against the Pirates. He expressed confidence that Glasnow isn’t dealing with any structural issues in his right shoulder, which is encouraging. It seems like a virtual lock that Glasnow will land on the shelf at some point this week. It’ll likely be some combination of Tony Gonsolin, who is expected to return this week from the injured list, and Ben Casparius filling the void.