Welcome to the newest edition of the Weekly MLB Preview!

This article is an invaluable tool for the hardcore fantasy baseball owner, as it will assist you with mapping out the week ahead, pointing out tips for roster construction and matchups to exploit. Below you’ll find a wealth of information, ranging from a game breakdown grid to an interleague matchup preview. We’ve done all the leg work so you can sit back and focus on the most important thing – winning!

GAME BREAKDOWN GRID FOR WEEK 3 (4/18-4/24)

TEAM# GAMESHOMEAWAYVS LEFTVS RIGHT
Orioles63306
Yankees60633
Red Sox74325
Blue Jays73407
Rays60624
Tigers63306
Royals66015
White Sox77025
Indians63315
Twins72516
Angels73443
Mariners60615
Athletics60615
Rangers63333
Astros63324
Nationals73425
Marlins74307
Mets60606
Braves66033
Phillies63306
Cardinals63315
Pirates60633
Brewers75216
Reds70725
Cubs70725
Dodgers60615
Giants77016
Padres66024
Rockies63324
Diamondbacks73434

Analysis: At this point in the season we have small sample sizes to draw definitive conclusions from, but the following are some statistics which owners should be made aware of off the bat.

  • The San Francisco Giants currently lead the majors with 50 runs scored and 17 home runs, and have a seven-game homestand during Week 3. Additionally, the two staffs which they face (Arizona and Miami) are both underperforming compared to expectations. The Diamondbacks and Marlins are currently 10th and 17th in runs scored, respectively.
  • The Houston Astros lead the majors with nine stolen bases. They take on Cole Hamels next week, who finished seventh worst in baseball last season with 24 stolen bases allowed. Expect them to get the green light early and often against the lanky lefty.
  • The Atlanta Braves are second worst in the majors against LHP with a .153 AVG, and face three lefties next week in Alex Wood, Clayton Kershaw and Steven Matz. Expect their struggles to continue.
  • Although reasoning suggests otherwise, the Chicago Cubs scored more runs in away games (363) than home games (326) last season. They clearly aren’t bothered by being on the road, and face a seven-game stretch away from Wrigley. The Cubs also face the backend of the St.Louis Cardinals staff, and the Cincinnati Reds. Don’t downgrade them.

INTERLEAGUE OUTLOOK

AWAY TEAMHOME TEAM# GAMESDH?PLAYER(S) IMPACTED
Twins (2), Brewers (2)Brewers (2), Twins (2)4Yes (2), No (2)Byung-ho Park, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Ramon Flores
Twins (3)Nationals (3)3No (3)Byung-ho Park, Matt den Dekker, Stephen Drew

Analysis: The Minnesota Twins draw the short end of the stick this upcoming week, losing their DH for five of the next seven games. Already off to an incredibly slow start, this team can ill-afford to lose one of its most powerful hitters. While Byung-Ho Park is batting just .143 with one HR to his credit, his presence will surely be missed. The Brewers and Twins gain a DH, but none of the options are particularly appealing from either season-long or DFS purposes as an addition.

STARTING PITCHER RANKINGS

Note: I’ve broken down the rankings below into two separate tables, which is a change from last season. The first table will contain rankings for the top 25 two-start pitchers of the week, and the following table will rank the top 35 one-start pitchers of the week. Enjoy!

RANKPITCHERMATCHUP 1MATCHUP 2
1Noah SyndergaardPhillies (Eickhoff)Braves (Wisler)
2Stephen StrasburgMarlins (Conley)Twins (Santana)
3Francisco LirianoPadres (Rea)Diamondbacks (Ray)
4Jose FernandezNationals (Roark)Giants (Peavy)
5J.A. Happ Red Sox (Buchholz)Athletics (Gray)
6Carlos RodonAngels (Santiago)Rangers (Holland)
7Michael PinedaAthletics (Graveman)Rays (Smyly)
8Jerad Eickhoff Mets (Syndergaard)Brewers (Peralta)
9Tanner RoarkMarlins (Fernandez)Twins (Hughes)
10John Lackey Cardinals (Leake)Reds (Simon)
11Carlos CarrascoMariners (Miley)Tigers (Greene)
12Marcus StromanOrioles (Jiminez)Athletics (Graveman)
13Hector SantiagoWhite Sox (Rodon)Mariners (Iwakuma)
14Chase AndersonTwins (Hughes)Phillies (Morton)
15Phil HughesBrewers (Anderson)Nationals (Roark)
16Ervin SantanaBrewers (Peralta)Nationals (Strasburg)
17Drew SmylyRed Sox (Kelly)Yankees (Pineda)
18Alex WoodBraves (Wisler)Rockies (De La Rosa)
19A.J. GriffinAstros (Feldman)White Sox (Latos)
20Mat LatosAngels (Shoemaker)Rangers (Griffin)
21Mike LeakeCubs (Lackey)Padres (Rea)
22Jake PeavyDiamondbacks (De La Rosa)Marlins (Fernandez)
23Raisel IglesiasRockies (De La Rosa)Cubs (Hammel)
24Shane GreeneRoyals (Ventura)Indians (Carrasco)
25Matt ShoemakerWhite Sox (Latos)Mariners (Miley)

Analysis: There is a strong chance that owners will be seeing plenty of Syndergaard and Strasburg atop the pitching ranks, as they continue to feast on the Phillies and Braves. I selected “Thor” as the top choice this week, mainly in part since Strasburg faces the Marlins, who occasionally provide spurts of offense.

Look for Jose Fernandez to start returning to form in Week 3, especially if the team stops babying him so much with watching his pitch count with an eagle eye. Carlos Rodon’s matchups aren’t particularly stellar, but the young lefty has enough upside to post six-plus strikeouts per game, while the White Sox offense has shown signs of life.

RANKPITCHERMATCHUP 1
1Clayton KershawBraves (Perez)
2Matt HarveyBraves (Norris)
3Max ScherzerMarlins (Koehler)
4Jake ArrietaReds (Finnegan)
5Chris SaleAngels (Richards)
6Madison BumgarnerDiamondbacks (Grienke)
7David PriceRays (Odorizzi)
8Gio GonzalezTwins (Gibson)
9Michael WachaPadres (Erlin)
10Gerrit ColePadres (Pomeranz)
11Luis SeverinoAthletics (Hill)
12Aaron SanchezAthletics (Bassitt)
13Jon LesterReds (Moscot)
14Steven MatzBraves (Jhoulys Chacin)
15Felix HernandezAngels (Tropeano)
16Adam WainwrightPadres (Cashner)
17Aaron NolaBrewers (Davies)
18Hisashi IwakumaAngels (Santiago)
19Vince VelasquezMets (Verrett)
20Danny SalazarMariners (Walker)
21Jeremy HellicksonMets (Colon)
22Chris ArcherRed Sox (Porcello)
23Cole HamelsAstros (Fister)
24Jose QuintanaAngels (Weaver)
25Johnny CuetoDiamondbacks (Miller)
26Dallas KeuchelRangers (Perez)
27Jeff SamardzijaMarlins (Cosart)
28Masahiro TanakaRays (Moore)
29Garrett RichardsWhite Sox (Sale)
30Taijuan WalkerIndians (Salazar)
31Jordan ZimmermannRoyals (Kennedy)
32Bartolo ColonPhillies (Hellickson)
33Ross StriplingBraves (Teheran)
34Jimmy NelsonTwins (Milone)
35Drew PomeranzPirates (Cole)
36Zack GreinkeGiants (Bumgarner)
37Rich HillYankees (Severino)
38James ShieldsPirates (Locke)
39Justin VerlanderIndians (Tomlin)
40Patrick CorbinPirates (Niese)
41Nick TropeanoMariners (Hernandez)
42Andrew CashnerCardinals (Wainwright)
43Matt MooreYankees (Tanaka)
44Sonny GrayBlue Jays (Happ)
45Corey KluberTigers (Sanchez)
46Mike FiersRed Sox (Kelly)
47Jhoulys ChacinMets (Matz)
48Juan NicasioDiamondbacks (De La Rosa)

Analysis: There are no large surprises amongst the top 10 selections this week, but the 11-20 tier is filled with pitchers who have raised a few eyebrows this season, namely Aaron Sanchez and Vince Velasquez. Sanchez has provided a wonderful complimentary piece in the Blue Jays rotation and has a plus matchup against the Oakland Athletics, who currently rank in the bottom five of most offensive categories. Velasquez has been on fire to start the season, having pitched 15 innings without allowing a run while striking out 25 batters in the process. He faces the Mets for the second time this season, and looks to have a repeat performance against the struggling NL champions. The third tier is filled with above-average pitchers facing difficult matchups (such as Chris Archer against the Red Sox, or Cole Hamels against the Astros), while the fourth has elite talent who has started slow at the beginning of the season (Grienke and Kluber).