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

3

3

vs ARI (3), at CLE (3)

Marlins

6

6

0

vs CHC (3), vs WAS (3)

Mets

6

0

6

at PHI (3), at STL (3)

Phillies

7

3

4

vs NYM (3), at COL (4)

Nationals

6

3

3

vs SF (3), at MIA (3)

Cubs

6

3

3

at CHC (3), vs ARI (3)

Reds

7

0

7

at LAD (3), at SD (4)

Brewers

7

7

0

Vs STL  (3), vs LAD (4)

Pirates

5

3

2

at DET (2), vs SF (3)

Cardinals

6

3

3

at MIL (3), vs NYM (3)

Diamondbacks

6

0

6

at ATL (3), at CHC (3)

Rockies

6

2

4

at SD (2), vs PHI (3)

Dodgers

7

3

4

vs CIN (3), at MIL (4)

Padres

6

6

0

vs COL (2), vs CIN (4)

Giants

0

0

6

at WAS (3), at PIT (3)

Orioles

7

3

4

at BOS (1), at TB (3), vs MIN (3)

Red Sox

6

1

5

vs BAL (1), at NYY (2), vs at TB (3)

Yankees

6

6

0

vs BOS (2), vs KC (4)

Rays

6

6

0

vs BAL (3), vs BOS (3)

Blue Jays

7

0

7

at MIN (7), at OAK (3)

White Sox

7

3

4

vs KC (3), at DET (4)

Indians

6

3

3

at SEA (3), vs ATL (3)

Tigers

6

6

0

vs PIT (2), vs CHW (4)

Royals

7

0

7

at CHW (3), at NYY (4)

Twins

7

4

3

vs TOR (3), at BAL (4)

Astros

5

0

5

at OAK (2), at TEX (3)

Angels

7

4

3

at TEX (3), vs SEA (4)

Athletics

5

5

0

vs HOU (2), vs TOR (3)

Mariners

7

3

4

vs CLE (3), at LAA (4)

Rangers

6

6

0

vs LAA (3), vs HOU (3)

 

Who’s Hot

Austin Meadows - After a slow start, Meadows is hitting .632/.708/1.368 with four home runs and a stolen base over the last week. Meadows is a former top prospect and being given not only full run, but hitting at the top of the lineup versus right-handed starters.

Jurickson Profar - What a difference a week makes. Last week, Profar was in the “ Who’s Not” section of this piece and I told you not to freak out and that he would turn it around. Since then he is hitting .421/.429/.789 with two home runs and a stolen base. He obviously won’t keep that up, but he is hitting now at least. This is further proof why we don’t freak out over early numbers.

Caleb Smith - Smith has been fantastic to start the season. He has a ton of great skills, but struggles with giving up home runs. Thankfully, he plays in Miami where the park nullifies a lot of those worries, but as we saw in his second start, when he is on the road he will have problems.

 

Who’s Not

Jung Ho Kang - Kang is mired in a season long slump, hitting .105/.190/.237 with one home run. After a fantastic spring that reminded many that he was once a very good player, Kang can’t seem to hit anything.  If he cannot turn it around soon, he will find himself on the bench in favor of Colin Moran or possibly top prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes, who has started off hot in Triple-A.

Carlos Carrasco - Carrasco has been awful in two of his first three starts and the other start wasn’t good by any means. Carrasco has had incrementally decreasing velocity the last six seasons, but now the fastball is 93 instead of 96. The main issue is the secondary offerings haven’t been as good and he isn’t throwing them as much. Hopefully there isn’t an injury being hidden, but I am very concerned.

José Ramírez - J-Ram is struggling at the plate, but this is one that doesn’t worry me in the slightest. He still is hitting the ball hard and putting it in the air. Right now it seems like he is just pressing and that will resolve itself in time in the same way it did last year for Paul Goldschmidt . Right now is the time to buy low or hold tight.

 

Interleague Outlook

AWAY TEAM

HOME TEAM

GAMES

DH?

Player(s) Impacted

Braves

Indians

3

Yes

Johan Camargo , Matt Joyce , Charlie Culberson

Pirates

Tigers

2

Yes

Pablo Reyes , JB Shuck , Colin Moran

 

Top-25 SP Rankings

Rank

Pitcher

Team

Game 1

Game 2

1

Max Scherzer

WAS

at MIA

 

2

Jacob deGrom

NYM

at STL

 

3

Justin Verlander

HOU

at TEX

 

4

Trevor Bauer

CLE

at SEA

vs ATL

5

Gerrit Cole

HOU

at TEX

 

6

Blake Snell

TB

vs BOS

 

7

Aaron Nola

PHI

vs NYM

at COL

8

Chris Sale

BOS

at NYY

 

9

Corey Kluber

CLE

vs ATL

 

10

Walker Buehler

LAD

vs CIN

 

11

Jameson Taillon

PIT

at WAS

vs SF

12

Noah Syndergaard

NYM

at PHI

at STL

13

Patrick Corbin

WAS

vs SF

 

14

Jack Flaherty

STL

at MIL

 

15

James Paxton

NYY

vs BOS

 

16

German Márquez

COL

vs PHI

 

17

Clayton Kershaw

LAD

vs CIN

at MIL

18

Luis Castillo

CIN

at LAD

at SD

19

Carlos Carrasco

CLE

at SEA

 

20

Stephen Strasburg

WAS

vs SF

at MIA

21

José Berríos

MIN

at BAL

 

22

David Price

BOS

at TB

 

23

Charlie Morton

TB

vs BOS

 

24

Madison Bumgarner

SF

at PIT

 

25

Zack Wheeler

NYM

at PHI

 

 

On the Rise

Patrick Corbin (SP #13)

Clayton Kershaw (SP #17)

 

On the Decline

Carlos Carrasco (SP #19, CLE)

Zack Wheeler (SP #25, NYM)

 

SP Rankings 26-50

Rank

Pitcher

Team

Game 1

Game 2

26

Shane Bieber

CLE

at SEA

 

27

Robbie Ray

ARI

at ATL

at CHC

28

Kyle Freeland

COL

vs PHI

 

29

Masahiro Tanaka

NYY

vs BOS

 

30

Kyle Hendricks

CHC

vs ARI

 

31

Chris Paddack

SD

vs CIN

 

32

Miles Mikolas

STL

vs NYM

 

33

Tyler Glasnow

TB

vs BAL

 

34

Ross Stripling

LAD

at MIL

 

35

Chris Archer

PIT

vs SF

 

36

Cole Hamels

CHC

at MIA

 

37

Yusei Kikuchi

SEA

vs CLE

at LAA

38

Matthew Boyd

DET

vs PIT

 

39

J.A. Happ

NYY

vs KC

 

40

Zack Greinke

ARI

vs CHC

 

41

Kenta Maeda

LAD

vs MIL

 

42

José Quintana

CHC

at MIA

vs ARI

43

Aaron Sanchez

TOR

at MIN

at OAK

44

Tyler Skaggs

LAA

at TEX

 

45

Brandon Woodruff

MIL

vs STL

vs LAD

46

Matt Shoemaker

TOR

at MIN

at OAK

47

Jeff Samardzija

SF

at WAS

 

48

Brad Keller

KC

at CHW

 

49

German, Domingo

NYY

vs KC

 

50

Jon Gray

COL

at SD

 

 

On the Rise

Shane Bieber (SP #26, CLE)

Tyler Glasnow (SP #33, TB)

 

On the Decline

Zack Greinke (SP #40, ARI)

Jon Gray (SP #50, COL)

 

SP Rankings 51-75

Rank

Pitcher

 

Game 1

Game 2

51

Julio Teheran

ATL

at CLE

 

52

Nathan Eovaldi

BOS

at NYY

 

53

Reynaldo López

CHW

vs KC

at DET

54

Nick Pivetta

PHI

vs NYM

at COL

55

Jhoulys Chacín

MIL

vs LAD

 

56

Joey Lucchesi

SD

vs COL

at CIN

57

Marco Gonzalez

SEA

at LAA

 

58

Carlos Rodón

CHW

at DET

 

59

Urias, Julio

LAD

at MIL

 

60

Caleb Smith

MIA

vs WAS

 

61

Sean Newcomb

ATL

at CLE

 

62

Zack Godley

ARI

at ATL

 

63

Richards, Trevor

MIA

vs CHC

vs WAS

64

Yu Darvish

CHC

at MIA

ARI

65

Jake Arrieta

PHI

vs NYM

 

66

Eduardo Rodríguez

BOS

at TB

 

67

Collin McHugh

HOU

at OAK

at TEX

68

Joe Musgrove

PIT

at DET

 

69

Frankie Montas

OAK

vs HOU

 

70

Kyle Gibson

MIN

vs TOR

at BAL

71

Rick Porcello

BOS

at TB

 

72

Rodriguez, Dereck

SF

at WAS

at PIT

73

Kevin Gausman

BAL

vs ARI

 

74

Fried, Max

ATL

vs ARI

 

75

Pablo Lopez

MIA

vs CHC

 

 

On the Rise

Caleb Smith (SP #60, MIA)

Max Fried (SP #74, ATL)

 

On the Decline

Nathan Eovaldi (SP #52, BOS)

Yu Darvish (SP #64, CHC)

Rick Porcello (SP #71, BOS)