2017 Fantasy Baseball Weekly Planner: Week 18

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 Week 18 of the MLB campaign is shaping up. 

• Right off the bat, the Padres are the one team looking at a short, five-game slate during the week while exactly half of the clubs in the league will hit the diamond seven times. Of those 15 teams, the Orioles, Red Sox, and Astros will play exclusively on their respective home turfs.
• The Red Sox pitching staff has been outstanding from the mound at Fenway Park, as it enters play on Sunday boasting a 3.34 ERA through 453.0 innings at home so far this season. Chris Sale comes in at the top spot in the rankings below, but it seems fitting to highlight his sensational 2.07 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 12.0 K/9 over nine starts in Boston here.

News From the Mound

• With the July 31 Non-Waiver Trade Deadline coming up Monday, there are obviously several names being swirled around the rumor mill. Though the trade deadline often sees at least one or two surprise trades that seem to come out of left field at the last minute, there are always those players for whom a move to a new club is almost a certainty. This year, that list includes headliners Sonny Gray and Yu Darvish. In addition, Jaime Garcia, who has already been dealt once during the past week, is rumored to be on the move to the Yankees. All three of these hurlers would have been included in this week’s SP Rankings, but given this particular situation, there is simply no way to know where they will be or who they will face at the time of writing.
• Reports regarding Stephen Strasburg (elbow) are positive after he worked a bullpen session Saturday. There has not been an announcement of a timetable for his return to the Nationals’ rotation, but it seems possible he could be back for a start at Wrigley Field over the upcoming weekend.
• Arizona southpaw Robbie Ray was gruesomely struck in the head by a 108 mph line drive during the second inning of his start in St. Louis this past Friday. Given the situation, the signs fortunately suggest that he avoided serious injury, but he has understandably been placed on the 7-day Concussion DL. If everything proceeds smoothly for the 2017 All-Star, there is a possibility, albeit slight, that he could return to the mound as soon as next Saturday (8/5) or Sunday (8/6) in San Francisco. 

Interleague Outlook

Top 50 Starting Pitchers

• Does Mike Foltynewicz really belong as high as No. 16? Well, take a look at how the Braves young fireballer has fared since mid-June. Over his last seven starts, Folty has gone 5-0 while turning in an excellent 2.95 ERA and 9.7 K/9 across 42.2 innings. The matchups are fairly favorable for the up-and-coming righty this week.
• Rolling with pitchers at Coors Field always comes with risk, but after going on the road and dominating the vaunted Nationals on Saturday evening, German Marquez has pretty much solidified himself as the Rockies ace. Over five outings in July, the 22-year-old Venezuelan went 4-0 with a 3.51 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 39-to-7 K/BB ratio across 33.1 innings.
• Sticking with the “come on, really?” theme, Jhoulys Chacin might even belong a little higher than 44th. The ninth-year veteran has quietly been about as steady as it gets during the past two months, as he has worked at least 6.0 innings in 8-of-10 starts since the calendar flipped from May to June and not given up more than three earned runs in any of those outings. Overall during that stretch, Chacin has put up solid numbers across the board, including a 2.77 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 7.6 K/9. It is also worth pointing out that he has gone 6-2 with a stellar 2.05 ERA over 11 starts in San Diego this season. 

Nate Miller is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and has been an analyst in the industry since 2013. You can follow him on Twitter @Miller_RotoDad, where he is always up for fielding any Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Football or DFS questions.