2015 MLB Fantasy Baseball Weekly Preview: Week 25

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What an exhilarating, emotional, joyous, frustrating, and/or troubling fantasy baseball season it’s been, depending on your team’s situation, of course. Titles, both real-life division and fantasy, will be won this week as the baseball season comes to a close. The more players you have on contenders is great for your fantasy team, because players on non-contending teams may be less motivated to produce down the stretch. If you have a stud on a bad team, that doesn’t mean sit him whatsoever, so don’t misinterpret the previous statement. Do your homework one last time for the fantasy baseball season, because the last thing you want is to sit around all offseason think to yourself, “What could have been?”

Without further ado…

Let’s run through another edition of the MLB Weekly Preview for MLB Week 25:

GAME BREAKDOWN GRID

For week 25, here are the cold hard facts that you need to know and consider. These are applicable to both your seasonal leagues and daily lineups.

Shin-Soo Choo is hitting .422 during the month of September, with nine extra-base hits and 16 RBI.

Despite hitting only .232 this month, Andrew McCutchen has walked 23 times in as many games.

Need average and speed during championship week? Look at Ketel Marte, who has swiped four bases while hitting .291 this month.

Kevin Pillar is also a solid option, hitting .381 while swiping five bases in the past six games.

Jay Bruce may only have five hits over the past week, but four of them have sailed over the fence.

When looking at the league leaders in triples, you see a bunch of speedsters, and then you see that Evan Gattis has the fourth most in the league.

Number of players BEFORE the All-Star break who had double-digit homers and steals: 12

Number of players AFTER the All-Star break who have double-digit homers and steals: 0

INTERLEAGUE OUTLOOK

Kendrys Morales will likely find himself on the bench for the team’s first game in this scoring week. With the team heading to a National League venue, it’s unlikely that Morales will be on the bench, seeing as he hasn’t played the field in the team’s previous five interleague contests. Morales doesn’t lose any fantasy value overall, because he is jeopardy of missing just one game this week. Six games out of Morales in week 25 is still plenty, so don’t let his likely benching in one game keep him out of your lineup.

With the Astros heading to Arizona to conclude their 2015 season, Evan Gattis will likely find himself in a pinch-hitting role for the majority of that weekend. Gattis has played recently in interleague contests, but George Springer wasn’t an option at that time. Springer is always in the lineup for the Astros, so the team will likely decide between Gattis and Colby Rasmus for the available spot. With the team slated to face three right-handers, expect Rasmus to get the majority of the starts, while El Oso Blanco serves as the team’s top pinch-hitting option.

STARTING PITCHER RANKINGS

As the week progresses on, monitor your starters very closely. Contrary to what you think, MLB managers don’t give a damn about your fantasy team. Cole Hamels being ready for the wild-card game or Game 1 of the ALDS is much more important than him making his Sunday start to help your fantasy team. It’s just the way it is. This final week could be the most frustrating for owners a plenty, especially those who need their ace to give them a quality start in the championship round.

Erasmo Ramirez hasn’t been getting the attention that he deserves. He’s 11-6 with a .365 ERA, but many can’t seem to get over the fact that his opening month of the season was flat out horrendous. However, since that disastrous April, he hasn’t had a month with a losing record or an ERA above 4.00. He isn’t a fantasy game changer, but he is a solid back of the rotation option. He has lowered his ERA from 3.96 to 3.65 over his past four starts and he will draw the Marlins in his 2015 finale. Have him active because his final start of the year should be another good one.

What’s the Verdict?

Here is the verdict on a few players in week 25 and whether or not you should play them:

Rich Hill— Wed - @NYY (Sabathia)

Hill made his first start with the team on Sept. 13, but prior to that, his last start in the big leagues was 2006. Well, the southpaw waltzed into the Boston rotation and has done nothing but dominate. He’s thrown 23 innings in his three starts, has allowed three earned runs on 10 hits, while striking out 30 batters and walking two. He’s flat out dominant right now, there’s no other way to put it. However, is this the Hill we are going to see on Wednesday in lefty-friendly Yankee Stadium, or do we see the vintage Hill who has a career ERA of 4.55? It’s hard to say, but given the work of late, I’m going with the first option.

VERDICT: Yes.

Adam Conley— Tue – @TB (Moore)

Conley is pitching well of late, including impressive performances against the Phillies and Mets. He is 4-1 on the year with a 3.93 ERA and 1.31 WHIP, but he is going to need another solid start to leave a good taste in the organization’s mouth. He goes up against the Rays who are hitting .273 this month, which puts them in the top-10 for September. Rays have done much better against lefties (.261) than right-handers (.247), but given his recent success and likely low price tag, I’m rolling with Conley as a No. 2 starter on Tuesday.

VERDICT: Yes.

Best of luck in week 25.