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So our good friend and usual Weekly Planner author, Nate Miller is celebrating the birth of his third child as you would expect any father of three to celebrate. Mrs. Miller is resting comfortably while our boy Nate is up to his eyeballs in baby poop, talcum powder and bottles of formula all the while getting no sleep while his other two boys run him ragged. The next time you message or email Nate, be sure to have some sort of diaper joke prepared. In the meantime, I've taken on the Planner this week and here's how I see it:
GAME BREAKDOWN
| Team | # Games | Home | Away |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| San Francisco Giants | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Colorado Rockies | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Washington Nationals | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| San Diego Padres | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Boston Red Sox | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Cleveland Indians | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Detroit Tigers | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Texas Rangers | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Chicago White Sox | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Houston Astros | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Kansas City Royals | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Miami Marlins | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| New York Mets | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| New York Yankees | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Atlanta Braves | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Chicago Cubs | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Minnesota Twins | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Oakland A's | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Seattle Mariners | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 6 | 0 | 6 |
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Seven teams play a full seven games this week, so you’ll want to check both your lineups and your benches. If it’s possible, without upsetting the balance of your team, to have a hitter or two available from one of the seven teams, you can probably gain a few extra at-bats here and there.
The Diamondbacks play all seven of their games at home which is a huge if you have a few shares. As a team, Arizona is slashing .327/.386/.555 at home, all of which rank first in the majors.
The Giants, who also have all seven games at home, are not so fortunate offensively in their own ballpark. We’re talking about a .290 OBP and a .610 OPS which rank 26th and 27th, respectively. They’ve homered every 112.5 at-bats at home this season which, you guessed it, ranks dead last.
You’d like to think something about seven games this week would benefit the Padres, but they’re on the road for all seven and have posted just a .279 wOBA with a 73 wRC+ and 24.3-percent strikeout rate on the road this year.
Start them Nationals this week as you get four games of Coors Field exposure here. As a team, they’re posting a .768 OPS with a .332 wOBA on the road and you know those totals are going to get crazy juiced up this week.
The Red Sox play all six games at home this week, but did you know they have just five home runs in 314 at-bats at home this year? That ranks just 29th in the league.
The Cardinals don’t seem to be enjoying the home games as much this season either as they’ve posted a .207 average with just a .603 OPS at Busch Stadium.
We all get nervous about pitchers facing the Brewers in hitter-friendly Miller Park, but so far this season, the Brewers have posted just a .308 wOBA at home and have a nightmarish 32-percent strikeout rate.
The Cubs and Reds play all six games on the road and that suits their hitters just fine apparently. The Cubbies have posted a .341 wOBA with a 113 wRC+ away from Wrigley while the Reds have an even more impressive .354 wOBA with a 121 wRC+ away from the Great American Smallpark.
INTERLEAGUE BREAKDOWN
| Away Team | Home Team | # Games | DH | Players Impacted |
| Toronto Blue Jays | St. Louis Cardinals | 3 | No | Kendrys Morales, Justin Smoak |
| Chicago Cubs | Boston Red Sox | 3 | Yes | Javier Baez, Albert Almora |
Not much to love about this week’s interleague offerings. Those who own Kendrys Morales are likely to lose him for a couple of games in St. Louis, unless the Jays want to try him at first base and sit Justin Smoak. It seems unlikely, but given the way the team has been hitting they might try to keep his bat in the lineup as much as possible. Plan to be without him though.
As for the Cubs heading to Boston, manager Joe Maddon won’t have to do much shifting around to keep Javier Baez’ bat in the lineup. He may rest a couple of guys from the field while he does it, but chances are we’ll see the usual suspects in there for all three games. If someone gets hurt or needs a full day off from the outfield, they could get creative with Alberto Almora and/or Jon Jay. If they’re looking for defense, a move to DH for Kyle Schwarber is obviously a possibility, but that would just move Ben Zobrist to the outfield.
TOP 50 SP RANKINGS
You’ve got quite a number of really nice two-start options this week, so take advantage where you can. Some of them are no-brainers you can leave in no matter what, but some, if you can move them in and out, have one start you can get behind and another that’s just meh. For those guys – Rick Porcello, Marco Estrada and Joe Ross, for example – take it on a case-by-case basis.
This is going to be a very telling week for rookie Amir Garrett. He’s looked fantastic this year but heads to Milwaukee for his first start and then travels to St. Louis. Noted above are some of the struggles at home we’ve seen from both teams at home, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some veteran bats you want to watch out for this week. I’ll say I’m nervous, but I’m still going with him for both starts in leagues where I can only make weekly lineup changes.
I had some reservations about Ervin Santana this week, but then I looked at the Rangers at home and they’re almost as unexciting as the Brewers. They rank 21st in the league with a .307 wOBA and are sporting a 23.9-percent strikeout rate. If he cruises by them, that second start in Kansas City should be a breeze.
Some might balk at my placement for Vince Velasquez, but I’m viewing him as a work in progress here. His strikeout rate for his first two starts was fantastic, but his ratios got smoked. In his last outing, he threw a solid quality start with a poor K-rate. Facing the Marlins in Miami where they’ve posted just a .311 wOBA with a 24.3-percent strikeout rate makes me think he can find the happy medium. How about a quality start with roughly a strikeout per inning? The second start shouldn’t be too bad, though you almost have to concede the win facing Clayton Kershaw.
Keeping my fingers crossed on the Jose Quintana turnaround here. This every-other-start he gets abused (or tosses a quality start for you glass-is-half-full people), should come to a close against the Royals this week. While it’s tough to bank on run support from these White Sox, the Royals, on the road, rank 29th with a .254 wOBA and are sitting on a wRC+ of just 63 this year.
THE REST OF THE SPs
While Robert Gsellman has a pair of tough match-ups this week and is facing some of the best in the league, I like for him to elevate his game. If he can stifle the long ball against the likes of Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy while maintaining these solid ground ball rates, I like for him to stay competitive and at least provide you with a couple of quality starts. No guarantees, obviously, but a girl can dream, can’t she?
Not gonna lie – a little piece of me hates myself for ranking Marcus Stroman so low. I almost didn’t even have him crack the top-75, but if I was going to have guys like Matt Cain and Patrick Corbin listed here as long-shot two-start pitchers, then Stroman had to find a home. The Rays have been crushing it at home this season with a .350 wOBA and 138 wRC+, but maybe we catch a little bit of a break here with their 23.5-percent strikeout rate at the Trop.
Best of luck to you all this week.