Welcome to the newest edition of the Weekly MLB Preview!

GAME BREAKDOWN GRID FOR WEEK 13 (7/4 to 7/10)

TEAM# GAMESHOMEAWAYVS LEFTVS RIGHT
Orioles63306
Yankees70716
Red Sox66024
Blue Jays77016
Rays74316
Tigers70716
Royals74325
White Sox66015
Indians77025
Twins73425
Angels70734
Mariners70725
Athletics70725
Rangers74325
Astros77043
Nationals73416
Marlins63333
Mets77025
Braves70725
Phillies73416
Cardinals74325
Pirates73416
Brewers63315
Reds60615
Cubs74343
Dodgers77016
Giants66042
Padres70725
Rockies74316
Diamondbacks63306

Analysis: Looking for statistics which will influence your upcoming lineup? Check out these tidbits:

  • Remember when Gollum and Sam had an argument discussion the meaning of what a tater was in "Lord of the Rings?" I’ll put it in simpler terms – taters are what the Toronto Blue Jays hit when they play at home. In bunches. And thankfully for their owners, they happen to have a seven-game home stand at the Rogers Centre. Not only does this team hit well at home, but they are second in the major leagues (behind the Baltimore Orioles) for home runs hit during the month of June with 46. Start your Blue Jays this week.
  • So if the Blue Jays are one of the hottest teams in all of baseball, which team has been struggling recently? Look no further than the Pittsburgh Pirates, who collectively are batting .230 during the month of June. Just how bad has it been? The Oakland Athletics have hit two more home runs than the Pirates during the month of June, despite playing in three less games. And the Athletics are terrible. Mercifully, the Pirates at least get to face six RHP in Week 13, and they are still a top-10 team against them. Surely their struggles can’t continue much longer.
  • The good news for the Houston Astros? Over their last 10 games they have won nine, and are starting to gain ground on the Texas Rangers in the AL West. The bad news? They face four LHP next week. The Astros as a team bat just .231 against southpaws, which is 28th in all of baseball. They are also fourth worst in strikeouts against LHP with 194. For a team that relies on the long ball, this upcoming stretch may pose a problem.

INTERLEAGUE OUTLOOK

AWAY TEAMHOME TEAM# GAMESDH?PLAYER(S) IMPACTED
OriolesDodgers2No (2)Pedro Alvarez
BravesWhite Sox3Yes (3)Jeff Francoeur

Analysis: Mercifully for fantasy owners, this week features an extremely light slate of interleague action, as we inch ever closer towards the All-Star Break. Only two matchups are penciled into Week 14, and of the players affected by the DH rules changing, none truly bare fantasy impact in mixed league formats. We’ve dodged a bullet folks!

STARTING PITCHER RANKINGS

PITCHERMATCHUP 1MATCHUP 2
Max ScherzerBrewers (Guerra)@Mets (Harvey)
Carlos MartinezPirates (Niese)@Brewers (Anderson)
Carlos CarrascoNationals (Zimmerman)Yankees (Pineda)
Kyle HendricksReds (Reed)@Pirates (Niese)
Steven MatzMarlins (Chen)Nationals (Gonzalez)
Zack GreinkePadres (Johnson)@Giants (Peavy)
Danny SalazarTigers (Norris)Yankees (Tanaka)
Matt HarveyMarlins (Koehler)Nationals (Scherzer)
Lance McCullersMariners (Miley)Athletics (Manaea)
John LackeyReds (Finnegan)@Pirates (Taillon)
Aaron SanchezRoyals (Volquez)Tigers (Norris)
A.J. Griffin@Red Sox (Price)Twins (Milone)
Taijuan Walker@Astros (Keuchel)@Royals (Young)
Matt MooreAngels (Lincecum)@Red Sox (Undecided)
Kenta MaedaOrioles (Tillman)Padres (Friedrich)
Masahiro Tanaka@White Sox (Shields)@Indians (Salazar)
Sean Manaea@Twins (Nolasco)@Astros (McCullers)
Daniel Norris@Indians (Salazar)@Blue Jays (Sanchez)
Junior Guerra@Nationals (Scherzer)Cardinals (Leake)
Jerad EickhoffBraves (De La Cruz)@Rockies (Butler)
Jake OdorizziAngels (Weaver)@Red Sox (Porcello)
Jameson Taillon@Cardinals (Leake)Cubs (Lackey)
Gio GonzalezBrewers (Davies)@Mets (Matz)
Dallas KeuchelMariners (Walker)Athletics (Graveman)

Analysis: Week 14 is light for two-start options, especially with the most recent news about Steven Matz pitching through a seemingly serious elbow injury. I still have him ranked within my top five options, but am needless to say concerned about his long-term outlook and prognosis.

Perhaps one of the most under-the-radar pitching options this season has been St.Louis Cardinals ace Carlos Martinez. While I still don’t have him as a SP1 for the remainder of 2016, he’s a solid SP2 with upside. Consider this – over his past five starts, Martinez has allowed one earned run or less in four of them. His season ERA stands in at 2.83 with a solid 1.11 WHIP. His strikeouts have only been middling, but that is due to a spike in his ground ball rate. A positive effect of inducing so much weak contact is that he’s been able to stay deep into games this year. I’m a fan.

Further down my list is Lance McCullers of the Houston Astros, who is making his return to the team’s starting rotation after missing a start due to a blister. While his ERA remains bloated at 3.91 and his WHIP isn’t stellar at 1.67, he’s been pitching much better of late. During the month of June his ERA is 3.20, while he has averaged over a strikeout per inning. McCullers faces the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners, and neither team has a particularly potent offensive lineup.

The best way to sum up Aaron Sanchez? Enjoy his remaining starts while you can. The Blue Jays have already confirmed that they will move him to the bullpen at some point later this season in an effort to keep his workload down. This is rather unfortunate news for his owners, who are enjoying the immense amount of value that he has generated for them. That being said, he is already 10 innings past his total of 93 from 2015, so I doubt that he’ll make it past the month of July in the team’s rotation. Sanchez faces the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers next week. Both teams come in hot, tied for second place in the league during the month of June with a .287 AVG. I have enough faith in the youngster to rank him higher than most. Don’t expect him to last past the sixth inning in either outing, but he will generate enough strikeouts to provide value.

PITCHERMATCHUP 1
Jake ArrietaBraves (Norris)
Jose FernandezReds (Straily)
Chris SaleBraves (Wisler)
Jacob deGromMarlins (Undecided)
Noah SyndergaardNationals (Giolito)
Julio Teheran@Phillies (Hellickson)
Jon Lester@Pirates (Liriano)
Cole HamelsTwins (Gibson)
Tanner RoarkBrewers (Garza)
Julio UriasPadres (Perdomo)
Madison BumgarnerRockies (Anderson)
Drew Pomeranz@Dodgers (Kazmir)
Trevor BauerYankees (Nova)
Rich Hill@Astros (Fister)
Danny DuffyMariners (Paxton)
Jason HammelReds (DeSclafani)
Corey KluberYankees (Sabathia)
Lucas Giolito@Mets (Syndergaard)
Jose QuintanaBraves (De La Cruz)
Adam ConleyReds (Lamb)
Chris Tillman@Dodgers (Maeda)
Michael Fulmer@Indians (Tomlin)
Sonny Gray@Twins (Santana)
Johnny CuetoRockies (De La Rosa)
Joe RossMets (Colon)
CC Sabathia@Indians (Kluber)
Martin Perez@Red Sox (Wright)
Ian Kennedy@Blue Jays (Stroman)
Blake SnellAngels (Santiago)
Justin Verlander@Blue Jays (Estrada)
Bartolo ColonNationals (Ross)
Matt Shoemaker@Orioles (Wilson)
Vince Velasquez@Rockies (Gray)
Carlos RodonYankees (Pineda)

Analysis: It seems like I can’t complete an additional sentence in this article without another top-tier pitcher being placed on the DL. Ordinarily Clayton Kershaw would be my de-facto first selection, but he was just sidelined with a herniated disc in his back. Ouch. In his stead we still have a fantastic trinity between Jake Arrieta, Jose Fernandez, and Chris Sale. Keeping up with the injury note, I’ve kept Noah Syndergaard high in my rankings, despite the news about the bone spur in his throwing elbow. Until Thor descends, he’ll keep atop Asguard.. er.. my rankings.

Julio Urias has climbed nicely through my rankings each week, and he makes his debut inside the top 10 with a matchup against the San Diego Padres. Outside of his one rough outing against the Chicago Cubs in his second start, he’s allowed two earned runs or less, while striking out at least seven batters in each outing. His talent is truly insane. Don’t let the bloated 4.09 ERA fool you – as long as the Los Angeles Dodgers can afford to let him take the mound, he’ll be a top-tier ace. The only question is how much longer of a leash they will afford him, as he is already quickly approaching his career high in innings pitched.

Hey, remember Rich Hill? He hasn’t taken the mound since May 29, but he finally returns to action next Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. As I hinted at earlier, the Pirates team has been slumping heavily, while Hill was in peak form prior to his groin injury. I’m not sure the Athletics will allow him past the sixth inning in his return, but be prepared for at least seven strikeouts.

Speaking of rookie aces, Lucas Giolito was FINALLY recalled by the Washington Nationals last week, and looked relatively sharp in his debut against the New York Mets, surrendering just one hit over four innings. He faces another subpar offense in the Cincinnati Reds, and I’m curious to see how he fares. All signs point towards his plus fastball/curveball combination wreaking havoc on that squad.