2015 MLB Fantasy Baseball Weekly Preview: Week 13

The DFS Playbook PRO is finally here!! It has been years in the making but we’ve finally built the most robust, convenient and winning daily fantasy sports tool ever. The DFS Playbook PRO for MLB features specialized hitting & pitching coaches, optimal daily lineups, daily fantasy baseball rankings, daily projections, access to our brand new Stats City tool, a live DFS scoreboard to track your players and SO MUCH MORE!! If you want to win at daily fantasy baseball isn’t it about time that you GO PRO?

BONUS: If you create a new account with our boys at Fantasy Aces, you will receive two MONTHS FREE of the DFS Playbook PRO! Just follow the link and the directions to redeem the free two month offer!! 

Week 13 is full of players returning from injury, as well as some emotional returns. Jose Fernandez makes his highly anticipated return from Tommy John surgery on Thursday against the Giants. Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore will also be returning from Tommy John surgery at some point in the middle of the week. While the surgery fixed his UCL, let’s see if Dr. James Andrews put anything in Moore’s elbow to help lower his career 4.3 BB/9. Ervin Santana returns from his 80-game suspension for the Twins and the Giants will get Matt Cain and Jake Peavy back from the disabled list.

Anthony Rendon went back on the DL. Ugh. Almost a 20/20 guy last year to one of the biggest disappointments this year. His knee injury wasn’t expected to affect his Opening Day status. Well, that was a lie. He didn’t play until the 53^rd game of the season and it only took him 18 days to go back to the DL. Huge disappointment and huge loss for fantasy owners and the Washington Nationals. Danny Espinosa will now hold down second base for the Nationals. Another huge loss in week 12 was Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton's 27 home runs lead all of baseball and he was one of fantasy's top performers. His .265 average, 27 homers and 67 RBI will spend the next four to six weeks on the disabled list with a left wrist hamate fracture. Huge loss. Ichiro Suzuki figures to be the Marlins right fielder during Stanton's absence.

There is still plenty of time left in the fantasy season, so owners who aren’t exactly where they want to be at this juncture, don’t fret. This guide will break down the upcoming week, showing you what you need to know to help get the “W” this week.

Let’s run through another edition of the MLB Weekly Preview for MLB Week 13:

GAME BREAKDOWN GRID

Let’s cut to the chase. Here is what you need to know for the upcoming week.

1. The Rangers still can’t hit lefties.
2. The White Sox can’t either.
3. Detroit has the second highest batting average at home. They have six home games this week.
4. Oakland’s 13 triples at home are the third highest in all of baseball.
5. Jon Lester has allowed 20 stolen bases, which is just two away from the career high 22 that were swiped against him in 2010. Although the Mets don’t run much, Juan Lagares and Curtis Granderson are great value plays that day.
6. Matt Moore has a career walk rate of 4.3 BB/9 and he will be shaking off some rust in this first start of the season. Cleveland leads all of baseball in walks. See what I’m getting at?
7. Marco Estrada has allowed just three hits in his last 15 2/3 innings, striking out 16 batters in the process. However, he faced Boston a few starts ago and he was tagged for five earned runs on seven hits in just five innings.
8. Nolan Arenado hit three home runs in a three game set with the Diamondbacks in week 12. Arenado and the Rockies have a four game series at the end of the week with Arizona.
9. Pittsburgh has surrendered the most stolen bases in 2015. They draw the Indians and Tigers this week, who have stolen the 17th and sixth most bases respectively.
10. Owners of Joey Gallo may want to try to trade him quickly, because a demotion seems imminent for the young prospect.

INTERLEAGUE OUTLOOK

Kennys Vargas typically serves as the team’s designated hitter, but with the team traveling to Cincinnati, expect him to be on the bench for at least two of the three games. He could spell Joe Mauer for one game, but Vargas will be spending the majority of his time in Cincinnati on the bench.

The Pirates don’t actually have a designated hitter, but they use it as a chance to rest some regulars. Last week against the White Sox, Andrew McCutchen and Corey Hart saw the starts at DH. However, Hart is now on the DL, so Pedro Alvarez will likely gather one start at the designated hitter role. McCutchen should get one start at DH as well in the series, opening some at-bats for Sean Rodriguez and Jose Tabata.

The Mariners head to San Diego for two games and Mark Trumbo will likely find himself on the bench for both of those games. Trumbo is hitting just .159 since being traded to Seattle and Nelson Cruz figures to play the outfield, relegating Trumbo to the odd-man-out role.

STARTING PITCHER RANKINGS

Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale and Max Scherzer continue to be the top three that open this list almost every week. Well, that big three might be turning into a four-headed monster. Jacob deGrom of the Mets has quietly been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. In his last 7 starts, he has allowed just seven earned runs on 27 hits in 52 2/3 innings, good for a sparkling 1.20 ERA. He has also accumulated an astounding 57:5 K/BB ratio and 0.61 WHIP in that span. It is very possible that the impressive deGrom becomes a stalwart in that fourth spot.

On Tuesday, it is a streaking sevens day in St. Louis. Chris Sale boasts a seven-game streak of double-digit strikeouts, while Jaime Garcia has seven straight quality starts. Neither teams particularly hit lefties well, so don’t be surprised if both streaks continue past Tuesday.

Jose Fernandez is expected to make his 2014 debut this week on Thursday against the San Francisco Giants. Fantasy owners have been waiting for this time for a while and the wait seems to be over. Fernandez is capable of carrying a fantasy staff and his return should boost the Marlins as a whole. While he will be on a pitch count, the matchup is salivating, making him more than a viable option this week.

Ervin Santana will also make his return in week 13. He served his 80-game suspension for PEDs but his matchup on Sunday will be in a familiar venue. He will face the Royals in Kansas City on Sunday, the team he played for in 2013. He went 14-10 in 2014 with a 3.95 ERA and 1.31 WHIP for the Braves in 2014. He will likely shake off some rust in his first start, but there is some potential to be a back-end fantasy starter the rest of the way.

What’s the Verdict?

Last week, predictions were made at the end of this article. However, week long predictions don’t have the same significance that DFS now has on us fantasy owners. Here is the verdict on a few players in week 13 and whether or not you should play them:

Ivan Nova—Tue-@Angels (Heaney): Nova threw 6 2/3 shutout innings against the light-hitting Phillies in his first start back from Tommy John surgery. The Angels boast a much tougher lineup than the Phillies making this an interesting situation. Despite being 3-1 against the Angels from 2012-2014, his 6.23 ERA in that span is worrisome, along with the fact that it is just his second start of the year, leaves me worried. VERDICT: NO

Jose Fernandez—Thu-Giants (Peavy): The Giants are without Norichika Aoki and Hunter Pence, two of their better hitters in an otherwise unimpressive lineup. He will be limited by a pitch count, but come on, the strikeout potential is enticing and we have been waiting for this guy all season. Hey, it’s Jose Fernandez. VERDICT: YES

Josh Hamilton—Hamilton is expected to return early on this week, conveniently just in time for a weekend series with you guessed it, the Los Angeles Angels. While the emotions will be high in this one, there is no telling whether it will positively affect his performance. Also, the Rangers will be facing two southpaws against the Angels and Hamilton is slashing .263/.300/.456 against lefties from 2012-2014. Those marks are well below his numbers against righties. He won’t be in any of my lineups. VERDICT: NO

Best of luck in week 13!