2017 Fantasy Baseball Weekly Planner: Week 17

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 16 of the MLB campaign is shaping up.

Analysis (Noteworthy information to keep in mind headed into the week)

• First things first, there are zero five-game slates to be aware of this week while a dozen teams will take the field in each of the next seven days. Just three of those 12 will go to work on its home field seven times.

• One of the clubs that will take its home diamond every single day of the week leading into the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline is the Cardinals. For the first time since 2007, which was the last year in which the team finished with a losing record, the Cardinals could end up being sellers this summer. Their results during this seven-game homestand will certainly weigh heavily on the decision that the St. Louis front office ultimately makes. A couple of promising factors for the Cardinals heading into this all-important stretch is their pitching staff’s incredibly impressive 3.30 ERA at Busch Stadium on the season. You’ll find all five members of the Cardinals’ rotation in the SP Rankings below.

News From the Mound

• After racking up 43 wins over the past three seasons for the Astros, Collin McHugh (elbow) did not make his 2017 debut until this past Saturday. The 30-year-old righty was clearly not at top form for that outing in Baltimore, as he surrendered four runs on four hits and two walks while striking out four acros 4.2 innings. The Astros rotation could see some more shuffling over the course of the week, but for now, it appears that McHugh will return to the mound Friday evening in Detroit.

• Why could the Astros soon be making some additional adjustments in their starting rotation? Ace lefty Dallas Keuchel, who has been out since June 2 due to a neck issue, made his second rehab start Saturday, delivering 62 pitches across five innings. The next step in Keuchel’s progression is yet to be determined, but expect to see him either work one more rehab start in the minors to increase that pitch count even further or possibly be activated for a weekend start against the Tigers.

• Another hurler that has been out of big-league action since the first week of June, Kyle Hendricks (hand) has been announced as Monday afternoon’s starter against the White Sox at Wrigley Field. That should set up a two-start week, which would finish with an outing in Milwaukee on Saturday, for the third-place finisher in 2016 N.L. Cy Young Award balloting.

***None of the SP above will be in this week’s rankings (below).

Top-50 SP

Analysis

• With a quick glance at the Top-5 SP for this week, you can see that James Paxton has surged back up into the land of the elite. Paxton missed most of May due to injury then posted an ugly 7.20 ERA over five June starts. However, since the calendar flipped to July, the 28-year-old southpaw has regained the ace form he flashed back in the first few weeks of the season. Across 26.1 innings so far this month, he has turned in a terrific 2.05 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 9.6 K/9. Paxton will take on both the Red Sox and Mets this week in Seattle where he owns a 2.67 ERA on the campaign.

• Back to the Astros briefly, Brad Peacock, particularly on a two-start week, has earned his spot near the top tier of starters with a sensational 1.83 ERA and 11.8 K/9 over his last six starts. Now, take a second look back at the news regarding Dallas Keuchel above. If the Astros make the decision to activate Keuchel from the DL for a start in Detroit during the upcoming weekend, that could push back Peacock’s turn in the rotation, leaving him with just one start for the week.

• Dropping down the rankings a bit, it may be surprising to see Patrick Corbin all the way up at No. 33 given his overall stats on the season. Do yourself a favor and zoom in on his last seven starts. Corbin finally seems to be regaining the steady, frontline form of his early big-league days, as he has worked to a nice 2.81 ERA and 45-to-9 K/BB ratio across his last 41.2 innings.

Next-25 SP

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.