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 | 7 | 4 | 3 | at COL (3), vs NYM (4) |
Marlins | 6 | 3 | 3 | at CIN (3), vs PHI (3) |
Mets | 6 | 2 | 4 | vs MIN (2), at ATL (4) |
Phillies | 6 | 3 | 3 | vs WAS (3), at MIN(3) |
Nationals | 6 | 3 | 3 | at PHI (3), vs PIT (3) |
Cubs | 6 | 6 | 0 | vs PIT (3), vs LAA (3) |
Reds | 5 | 5 | 0 | vs MIL (3), vs STL (2) |
Brewers | 6 | 0 | 6 | at LAA (3), at LAD (3) |
Pirates | 6 | 0 | 6 | at PIT (3), at WAS (3) |
Cardinals | 6 | 4 | 2 | vs LAD (4), at CIN (2) |
Diamondbacks | 6 | 6 | 0 | vs TEX (2), at SD (4) |
Rockies | 7 | 3 | 4 | vs ATL (3), at SF (3) |
Dodgers | 7 | 3 | 4 | at STL (4), vs MIL (3) |
Padres | 7 | 0 | 7 | at SF (3), at ARI (4) |
Giants | 7 | 7 | 0 | vs SD (3), vs COL (4) |
Orioles | 7 | 4 | 3 | vs OAK (4), at BAL (3) |
Red Sox | 5 | 5 | 0 | vs TOR (2), vs BAL (3) |
Yankees | 6 | 3 | 3 | at HOU (3), vs CHW (3) |
Rays | 6 | 0 | 6 | at CHW (3), at TOR (3) |
Blue Jays | 5 | 2 | 3 | at BOS (2), vs TB (3) |
White Sox | 6 | 3 | 3 | vs MIA (3), at NYY (3) |
Indians | 6 | 0 | 6 | at DET (3), at KC (3) |
Tigers | 6 | 3 | 3 | vs CLE (3), at MIN (3) |
Royals | 7 | 7 | 0 | vs SEA (4), vs CLE (3) |
Twins | 5 | 3 | 2 | at NYM (2), vs DET (3) |
Astros | 6 | 3 | 3 | vs NYY (3), at SEA (3) |
Angels | 6 | 3 | 3 | vs MIL (3), at CHC (3) |
Athletics | 7 | 0 | 7 | at BAL (4), at TEX (3) |
Mariners | 7 | 3 | 4 | At KC (4), vs HOU (3) |
Rangers | 5 | 3 | 2 | at ARI (2), vs OAK (3) |
Who’s Hot
Cody Bellinger - Bellinger has started off the season with an absolute torrid start, hitting six home runs in nine games while posting a .425 batting average. More impressively, he has a 20% O-Swing rate and a 6.2% swinging strike rate, both of which are career lows. If Bellinger can continue in his plate discipline gains, we could be talking about a career season for the 23-year-old slugger.
Yoán Moncada - Moncada has started off the season hot, hitting .379 with two home runs in seven games this season. He is sporting a career low 18.8% strikeout rate with a career high 82% contact rate. Moncada has always had the tools to be a star, but has yet to put it all together. The early season work is impressive, but too small of a sample to believe quite yet.
Carlos Rodón - Rodon has started off his season fast as well. He has a sub 2.00 ERA, a sub 1.00 WHIP, and a 32% strikeout rate. He is doing this on the backs of career high swinging strike and O-Swing percentages. Rodon’s velocity is down, but not enough to be overly alarmed as he has been impressive through two games, but they have been versus lackluster offenses in Kansas City and Cleveland. That being said, the AL Central is filled with lackluster offenses and this could be the start of something special.
Who’s Not
Jurickson Profar - Profar has only five hits and one walk in his first 45 plate appearances. On the plus side, he is not striking out a ton and he is making a ton of contact, but is suffering through an extremely lower BABIP of .139. Profar appears to mostly be getting unlucky at the plate to start the season and should turn it around soon. With the injuries in the infield to the A’s there isn’t a ton of risk of Profar being sat, so he should be able to hit his way out of this slump.
Eduardo Rodríguez - Rodriguez has struggled through his first two starts of the season. While some of the underlying numbers are intact from last year, there are some troubling things in his profile. His velocity is down almost a full mph and a half from last year. This may be a cold weather/early season struggle though. E-Rod struggled out of the gate last year, but rebounded, putting up a 3.33 ERA and an almost 26% strikeout-rate after May 10th last year. I would stay patient for now, especially with a home start versus Baltimore coming this week, but keep an eye on whether that velocity starts to creep up over his next few starts.
Interleague Outlook
AWAY TEAM | HOME TEAM | GAMES | DH? | Player(s) Impacted |
Rangers | D-Backs | 2 | No | |
Angels | Cubs | 3 | No | |
Twins | Mets | 2 | No |
Top-25 SP Rankings
Rank | Pitcher | Game 1 | Game 2 |
1 | vs MIN | at ATL | |
2 | vs PIT |
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3 | vs NYY | at SEA | |
4 | at DET |
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5 | vs NYY |
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6 | at CHW | at TOR | |
7 | vs WAS |
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8 | vs TOR |
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10 | at KC |
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9 | at DET | at KC | |
11 | at STL |
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12 | at CHC | at WAS | |
13 | vs MIN |
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14 | at KC |
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15 | vs LAD |
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16 | at HOU |
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17 | vs ATL | at SF | |
18 | vs WAS |
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19 | vs MIA |
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20 | at PHI |
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21 | vs DET |
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22 | at ATL |
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23 | vs BAL |
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24 | vs TEX |
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25 | vs SD | vs COL |
On the Rise
Trevor Bauer (SP #4, CLE)
German Márquez (SP #17, COL)
On the Decline
Corey Kluber (SP #9, CLE)
Zack Greinke (SP #24, ARI)
SP Rankings 26-50
Rank | Pitcher | Game 1 | Game 2 |
26 | vs LAD | at CIN | |
27 | at CHW |
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28 | vs ATL | at SF | |
29 | at HOU | vs CHW | |
30 | vs PIT |
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31 | vs LAA |
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32 | at ARI |
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33 | vs TEX |
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34 | at CHC |
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35 | at STL | vs MIL | |
36 | vs TOR |
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37 | at STL | vs MIL | |
38 | at WAS |
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39 | vs PIT | vs LAA | |
40 | vs LAA |
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41 | at DET |
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42 | at SEA |
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43 | vs CHW |
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44 | at SF |
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45 | at STL |
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46 | vs WAS |
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47 | vs PIT |
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48 | at BOS |
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49 | at LAA |
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50 | at NYM | vs DET |
On the Rise
Hyun-Jin Ryu (SP #35, LAD)
Aaron Sanchez (SP #48, TOR)
On the Decline
Nick Pivetta (SP #46, PHI)
Kyle Gibson (SP #50, MIN)
SP Rankings 51-75
Rank | Pitcher | Game 1 | Game 2 |
51 | vs BAL |
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52 | vs CHW |
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53 | vs CLE |
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54 | vs COL |
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55 | at CHW |
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56 | at COL | vs NYM | |
57 | at LAA | at LAD | |
58 | at SF | at ARI | |
59 | Marco Gonzalez | at KC | vs HOU |
60 | vs TB | at NYY | |
61 | Urias, Julio | vs MIL |
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62 | vs NYM |
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63 | vs SD |
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64 | Richards, Trevor | at CIN |
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65 | at MIA |
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66 | at CIN |
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67 | at CIN |
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68 | vs NYY |
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69 | at CHC |
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70 | at BAL |
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71 | at COL |
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72 | at ARI |
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73 | vs CLE |
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74 | vs BAL |
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75 | at BOS |
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On the Rise
Matthew Boyd (SP #53, DET)
Caleb Smith (SP #67, MIA)
On the Decline
Eduardo Rodríguez (SP #51, BOS)
Rick Porcello (SP #61, BOS)