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 the upcoming week of the MLB campaign is shaping up.

MLB Schedule Breakdown

TEAM

# GAMES

HOME

AWAY

OPPONENTS

Braves

6

6

0

vs CHC (3), vs MIA (3)

Marlins

6

3

3

vs NYM (3), at ATL (3)

Mets

6

3

3

at MIA (3), vs WAS (3)

Phillies

5

2

3

at WAS (2), vs MIN (3)

Nationals

5

2

3

vs PHI (2), at NYM (3)

Cubs

6

0

6

at ATL (3), at MIL (3)

Reds

7

3

4

vs MIL (3), at PIT (4)

Brewers

6

3

3

at CIN (3), vs CHC (3)

Pirates

6

6

0

vs STL (2), vs CIN (4)

Cardinals

5

3

2

at PIT (2), vs SD (3)

Diamondbacks

6

3

3

at SD (3), vs BOS (3)

Rockies

6

3

3

at TB  (3), vs LAD (3)

Dodgers

6

3

3

vs SGF (3), at COL (3)

Padres

6

3

3

vs ARI (3), at STL(3)

Giants

6

3

3

at LAD (3), vs TB (3)

Orioles

6

3

6

at TOR (3), vs NYY (3)

Red Sox

7

0

7

at OAK (4), at ARI (3)

Yankees

6

3

3

vs DET (3), at BAL (3)

Rays

6

3

3

vs COL (3), at SFG (3)

Blue Jays

7

3

4

vs BAL (3), at CLE (4)

White Sox

5

3

2

at CLE (2), vs SEA (3)

Indians

6

6

0

vs CHW (2), vs TOR (4)

Tigers

6

3

3

at NYY (3), vs KC (3)

Royals

5

2

3

vs MIN (2), at DET (3)

Twins

5

3

3

vs KC (2), at PHI (3)

Astros

6

3

3

at TEX (3), vs OAK (3)

Angels

6

2

4

at SEA (2), vs TEX (4)

Athletics

7

4

3

vs BOS (4), at HOU(3)

Mariners

5

2

3

vs LAA (2), at CHW (3)

Rangers

7

3

4

vs HOU (3), at LAA (4)

 

Who’s Hot

Most of the Seattle Mariners- Domingo Santana , Tim Beckham , and Ryon Healy are all crushing the ball to start the season. Santana is is taking full advantage of full-time opportunities. People slept on him early in draft season after a disappointing 2018 led him to losing playing time in Milwaukee. However, with a full time role in Seattle, there is no reason to think that he can’t get close to duplicating his 2017 season when he hit 30 home runs and stole 15 bases. With Kyle Seager on the IL for the foreseeable future, Healy will get full run at third base. Healy has always had some power upside, but has been capped by poor plate discipline and a lack of full-time chances. While the playing time situation now favors him, he still shows poor plate discipline and will likely lose that time once Seager is back. He is worth a pick up for now, but he isn’t a long-term solution. Speaking of a short-term solution, Tim Beckham has been making his case for March MVP considerations. So far, Beckham has shown an improved approach, swinging outside the zone less and being more selective at the plate. This is obviously a small sample size, but something to monitor as we move through the early part of the season. Of course regression will slow him down, but if he continues with this approach, we could be looking at a mixed league worthy play for the duration of the year. For now, ride him while he is hot.

Joc Pederson - Pederson is hitting .583/.688/1.417 with three home runs in three games. Pederson has always had a ton of upside, but he has never run in the way the many thought he would coming from the minors and he has struggled versus left-handed pitching. In spite of hitting two home runs in the first game of the season, He sat versus a lefty in Game 2, which is indicative of the challenges he will face in terms of getting enough at-bats to make a serious impact this season.

Who’s Not

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. - Gurriel has started off the season with no hits and only one walk in eight plate appearances. While it is too early to bail on him yet, he will need to turn it around quickly as Vlad Guerrero Jr. will be ready soon and that will move Brandon Drury off of third base. If Gurriel doesn’t improve, he could find himself replaced by Drury and back into a utility role.

Alex Bregman - Bregman has only one hit and no walks in his first 12 plate appearances. His one hit is a home run, but one has to wonder if the injury in Spring is having an effect on him. At this point, there is nothing you can do, but if he continues to struggle, the Astros may give him a couple extra days of rest.

Ramón Laureano - One of the narratives floating around on Laureano during draft season was that his defense was so good that he could sustain any slumps. That is being put to the test right now after an 0-for-17 start with zero walks in his first five games. Dexter Fowler plays pretty good defense and had a great Spring Training, so he could be brought back up from Triple-A if Laureano continues to struggle.

 

Interleague Outlook

AWAY TEAM

HOME TEAM

GAMES

DH?

Player(s) Impacted

Twins

Phillies

3

No

Nelson Cruz

Rockies

Rays

3

Yes

Mark Reynolds , Raimel Tapia

Rays

Giants

3

No

Brandon Lowe , Ji-Man Choi

Red Sox

D-Backs

3

No

J.D Martinez, Andrew Benintendi

 

Top-25 SP Rankings

Rank

Pitcher

Game 1

Game 2

1

Max Scherzer

vs PHI

 

2

Jacob deGrom

at MIA

 

3

Justin Verlander

at TEX

 

4

Chris Sale

at OAK

at ARI

5

Gerrit Cole

at TEX

 

6

Corey Kluber

vs TOR

 

7

Aaron Nola

vs MIN

 

8

Blake Snell

vs COL

 

9

Trevor Bauer

vs TOR

 

10

Carlos Carrasco

vs TOR

 

11

Walker Buehler

at COL

 

12

Jameson Taillon

vs STL

 

13

Noah Syndergaard

vs WAS

 

14

James Paxton

at BAL

 

15

Jack Flaherty

vs SD

 

16

Mike Clevinger

vs CHW

vs TOR

17

Zack Greinke

at SD

 

18

Patrick Corbin

at NYM

 

19

Stephen Strasburg

at NYM

 

20

José Berríos

at KC

 

21

Zack Wheeler

vs WAS

 

22

David Price

at OAK

at ARI

23

German Márquez

at TB

 

24

Luis Castillo

at PIT

 

25

Madison Bumgarner

at LAD

 

 

On the Rise

German Márquez (SP #23, COL)

Madison Bumgarner (SP #25, SF)

On the Decline

Chris Sale (SP #4, BOS)

Zack Greinke (SP #17)

 

SP Rankings 26-50

Rank

Pitcher

Game 1

Game 2

26

Miles Mikolas

at PIT

 

27

Charlie Morton

vs COL

 

28

Nick Pivetta

vs MIN

 

29

Kyle Freeland

at TB

 

30

Masahiro Tanaka

vs DET

 

31

Yu Darvish

at MIL

 

32

Kyle Hendricks

at ATL

at MIL

33

Chris Paddack

at STL

 

34

Robbie Ray

at SD

 

35

Tyler Skaggs

vs TEX

 

36

Nathan Eovaldi

at OAK

 

37

Ross Stripling

vs SF

 

38

Chris Archer

vs STL

vs CIN

39

Jon Lester

at ATL

 

40

Cole Hamels

at MIL

 

41

Yusei Kikuchi

at CHW

 

42

J.A. Happ

at BAL

 

43

Jon Gray

vs LAD

 

44

Kyle Gibson

at KC

at PHI

45

Shane Bieber

vs CHW

 

46

Eduardo Rodríguez

at OAK

 

47

José Quintana

at ATL

 

48

Jeff Samardzija

vs TB

 

49

Brandon Woodruff

vs CHC

 

50

Kenta Maeda

at COL

 

 

On the Rise

Kyle Freeland (SP #29, COL)

Ross Stripling (SP #37, LAD)

On the Decline

Yu Darvish (SP #31, CHC)

Eduardo Rodríguez (SP #46, BOS)

 

SP Rankings 51-75

Rank

Pitcher

Game 1

Game 2

51

Hyun-Jin Ryu

vs SF

 

52

Reynaldo López

vs SEA

 

53

Julio Teheran

vs CHC

 

54

Tyler Glasnow

at SF

 

55

Dylan Bundy

vs NYY

 

56

Michael Wacha

vs SD

 

57

Rick Porcello

at ARI

 

58

Jhoulys Chacín

at CIN

 

59

Joey Lucchesi

vs ARI

 

60

Joe Musgrove

vs CIN

 

61

Carlos Rodón

at CLE

 

62

Aníbal Sánchez

vs PHI

at NYM

63

Sean Newcomb

vs CHC

at MIA

64

Zack Godley

vs BOS

 

65

Luke Weaver

at LAD

vs BOS

66

Jake Arrieta

vs MIN

 

67

Pablo Lopez

at ATL

 

68

Matthew Boyd

at NYY

 

69

Collin McHugh

vs OAK

 

70

Marco Gonzalez

vs LAA

 

71

Jake Junis

at DET

 

72

Kevin Gausman

vs MIA

 

73

Aaron Sanchez

at CLE

 

74

Matt Strahm

vs ARI

at STL

75

Matt Shoemaker

vs BAL

 

 

On the Rise

Matthew Boyd (SP #68, DET)

Matt Shoemaker (SP #75, TOR)

On the Decline

Carlos Rodón (SP #61, CHW)

Dylan Bundy (SP #55, BAL)