It’s Sunday, so you know what that means! It’s time to take a look at the interleague matchups for the upcoming week and determine how it will affect our fantasy lineups. Obviously, with the National League not adding the designated hitter spot, we’ll have to examine American League teams that lose that luxury for a series. On the other hand, when a National League team travels, what fantasy players stand to gain some value? You’ll find that and more here at Fantasy Alarm!
This week, we have a hefty schedule of interleague matchups across the entire week! The Angels’ and Yankees’ primary designated hitters are most impacted, but there are a couple of other situations worth monitoring as well. Without further ado, let’s jump in!
Marlins @ Red Sox (6/7)
Just a one game series here, as this is a makeup from an earlier postponement. The most likely outcome here is that Garrett Cooper serves as the team’s designated hitter, as he’s done it half of the time this year.
Winners: Garrett Cooper
Losers: None
Diamondbacks @ Athletics (6/8-6/9)
Arizona has yet to experience the luxury of having the designated hitters in its lineup yet this season! Will Madison Bumgarner be the team’s DH? While he could, he won’t. Carson Kelly seems to get the DH tag for one of these games, so that Arizona can keep his bat in the lineup without the rigors of catching, but for the other game, it’s likely to be Pavin Smith or Christan Walker.
Winners: Christian Walker
Losers: None
Mets @ Orioles (6/8-6/9)
In three games this year when the Mets had the designated hitter, Jeff McNeill operated in that capacity twice, with backstop James McCann getting the other nod. McCann should DH one of these contests, with either Dom Smith or Pete Alonso likely garnering the other start as the team’s DH.
Winners: None
Losers: None
Indians @ Cardinals (6/8-6/9)
Since Franmil Reyes went on the injured list with his oblique issue, it’s been a revolving door at the DH spot for the Indians. Bradley Zimmer has emerged as the regular center fielder in recent days, whereas Owen Miller, Josh Naylor and Harold Ramirez battle it out for right field and the designated hitter role. St. Louis is scheduled to throw two righties, and Naylor has the best numbers versus right-handers. Look for him to be a lock in the team’s lineup, and he gains some value in deeper formats.
Winners: Josh Naylor
Losers: Owen Miller
Giants @ Rangers (6/8-6/9)
The Giants could let Evan Longoria be the team’s designated hitter for a game or go with Wilmer Flores or one of their seven outfielders. However, Buster Posey should get a day as the team’s DH, and with Texas throwing two righties in the series, Mike Tauchman will spend the majority of the series on the bench, as he’s a preferred guy for San Fran when a southpaw is on the bump.
Winners: No Major Winners
Losers: Mike Tauchman
Nationals @ Rays (6/8-6/9)
Given how the Nationals have deployed their lineup given the handedness of the opposing pitcher, this one should be relatively straight forward. Typically, Josh Bell plays first base when a righty is on the bump, and Ryan Zimmerman gets the nod when a southpaw is pitching for the opposition. Well, the Nationals could use both bats in the lineup, so look for Zimmerman to start both games at first base while Bell is the team’s DH.
Winners: Ryan Zimmerman
Losers: None
Angels @ Diamondbacks (6/11-6/13)
Well, at least for this series in a National League stadium, we won’t be deprived of Shohei Ohtani . He’s slated to throw one of the games, so he’ll be out there for that one, but the other two games likely find Ohtani on the bench, relegated to just pinch-hitting duties. Unless you have a better option, you might be forced to leave Ohtani in your lineup and hope that he makes the most of his pinch-hit appearances.
Winners: None
Losers: No Major Losers
Rangers @ Dodgers (6/11-6/13)
Willie Calhoun typically acts as the team’s designated hitter, but when they went to Colorado and had to forego the DH spot, Calhoun played left field twice, and Khris Davis even got a start out there. Davis could find himself out there for the series opener with Calyton Kershaw on the mound, but he’ll return to the bench when two righties head out there to close out the series. Davis doesn’t really gain a ton of value here, considering this only potential start is one of the best pitchers of our era.
Winners: Willie Calhoun
Losers: Khris Davis
Yankees @ Phillies (6/12-6/13)
Giancarlo Stanton has struggled since returning from injury and it’s been nearly two years since he last played in the field! For this two-game series in Philadelphia, it seems as if Stanton will be the primary pinch-hitter for the Yankees. Even those in deeper formats might be hard-pressed to start Stanton this week, especially if you have other options.
Winners: None
Losers: Giancarlo Stanton
Player News
David Bednar threw a scoreless inning of relief for Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday, striking out two.
Bednar has only allowed one hit in five innings at Triple-A while striking out seven and walking nobody. If the Pirates wanted a reset, it’s happened. There’s no reason for Bednar to remain in Triple-A any longer, and we’d be stashing him in fantasy leagues if you need saves.
Matt Mervis is not in the starting lineup for the Marlins on Thursday against the Diamondbacks.
Mervis has homered in four of his last five games but will take a seat with left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound. The Marlins will hope that his bat stays hot on Friday against Zack Wheeler and the Phillies. Eric Wagaman will start at first base and bat cleanup on Thursday. Wagaman has some intriguing batted ball data this season and could be an interesting deep league fantasy option with Jonah Bride no longer in Miami, but with Jesus Sanchez and Connor Norby now off the IL, it’s unclear how Miami will set their lineup against right-handed pitching.
Mariners optioned RHP Will Klein to Triple-A Tacoma.
Klein was called up on Wednesday to take Gregory Santos’ place in the bullpen, but he’s now being sent down to make room on the active roster for Emerson Hancock. Klein did not appear in a game for Seattle and will continue to serve as organizational bullpen depth.
Mariners recalled RHP Emerson Hancock from Triple-A Tacoma.
The move was announced on Wednesday night, but now it’s official. Hancock will start against the Reds on Thursday, but is not a recommended streaming option after he gave up six runs in 2/3 of an innings in his only start of the season.
Reds recalled INF Noelvi Marte from Triple-A Louisville.
Marte was just optioned back to Triple-A on Tuesday when Matt McLain was activated off the IL, but he’ll return now with Christian Encarnacion-Strand landing on the IL. However, we saw last week that Marte being up in Cincinnati does not mean they’ll play him. Austin Hays being off the IL means that Gavin Lux will need to play third base more often, which makes it hard to envision regular playing time for Marte.
Reds placed 1B Christian Encarnacion-Strand on the 10-day injured list with lower back inflammation.
Now we have a bit more clarity on why Encarnacion-Strand is out of the lineup on Thursday. He didn’t seem to suffer any injury in last night’s game, but Encarnacion-Strand is also hitting just .158/.183/.298 in 60 plate appearances this season, so perhaps the Reds can use this time as a bit of a reset. Noelvi Marte was called up to take his place, but this should mean more playing time at first base for Jeimer Candelario, but Santiago Espinal has also been taking reps at first base in practice and could get some extra starts.