2017 Fantasy Baseball Weekly Planner: Week 22

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 22 of the MLB campaign is shaping up.

MLB Schedule (8/28 - 9/3)

News From the Mound

There are plenty of news updates to cover on the pitching front this week, so let’s get right to them.

Clayton Kershaw (LAD) - Kershaw (back) has been on the DL dating back to July 23, but the three-time Cy Young Award winner declared himself ready to return to the Dodgers rotation following a 64-pitch rehab outing at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday night. If the club’s front office sees it as their ace does, Kershaw could be back on the bump next weekend in San Diego, or possibly even as soon as Thursday afternoon at Arizona.

Alex Wood (LAD) - Another injured L.A. All-Star looking to get back on a big-league mound by next weekend in San Diego, Wood (shouldr) was placed on the DL following a six-inning outing in Pittsburgh back on August 21. That move by the Dodgers brass certainly seemed to be one just to give Wood extra rest here late in the campaign. That’s simply a luxury a team enjoys when it all but wraps up a division crown with more than month to go in the season.

Jhoulys Chacin (SD) - This past Wednesday, Chacin put up one of his worst efforts of the last three months, as he drilled four different batters over 4.2 innings in St. Louis. After the start, it was reported that Chacin is dealing with some swelling in his pitching hand. He is still tentatively slated for home starts against the Giants and Dodgers this week, but the situation should be monitored by fantasy owners. Chacin sports an impressive 1.86 ERA across 82.1 innings in San Diego this year.

Jon Lester (CHC) - Lester (shoulder) was absolutely shelled in his most recent start for the Cubs, allowing nine runs (seven earned) over just 1.2 innings against the Reds on August 17. The veteran lefty was placed on the DL after that beating, but is now hoping to return to the Cubs staff next weekend following a simulated game on Monday. Lester threw 42 pitches in a side session this past Friday and reports were positive.

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

Interleague Outlook

SP Rankings

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.