Fantasy Baseball Weekly Planner: August 26 - September 1

It’s the last full week for 25-man rosters as on Sunday they expand to 40 per team and you will see a ton of new relievers and offensive guys come up to see how they can do in the majors. It will look like spring training at times except that the games count, and for playoff spots for some teams. With the NFL season kicking off in a week and a half, many of your league-mates will be focused on the drafts and setting lineups for the first week while you are outwitting them for the last bit of the MLB season.

League Schedule

Interleague Schedule

Who’s Hot

Jonathan Villar , 2B BAL – As of the writing of this midday Sunday, Villar joined the 20-20 club capping off a great week. Prior to Sunday’s game, where he reached the 20-20 marks, he had a .400/.500/.920 slash line with four homers, six runs, five RBI, and two steals leading to an impressive .520 ISO and .558 wOBA. It’s easy to forget the Orioles actually have good offensive players on the roster with how bad they’ve been all year, record-wise, but Villar and a few others still have fantasy value and the second baseman is at the top of that list given his power-speed combo which is harder to find these days, especially in the middle infield.

Adam Eaton , OF WAS – Eaton was one of three Nationals’ hitters that rank in the top-15 this week along with Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto . However, those two haven’t been flying under the radar like Spanky, his Player’s Weekend nickname, has been. In 35 plate appearances across seven games, he slashed .357/.486/.786 with three home runs, 10 runs, seven RBI, and more walks than strikeouts. Washington has been on a tear of late, and last weekend between the Brewers and Pirates series scored 60 runs in five games, with Eaton setting the table in the two-hole, it’s no wonder why they’ve been that successful.

Willie Calhoun , OF TEX – Calhoun has been very good since getting the call to rejoin Texas a few weeks ago and this past week slashed .353/.353/.706 while tying for the lead in homers this week with four to go along with seven RBI and six runs. That’s solid production for a Rangers offense that has needed it of late and matches some of the skillset he brings to the table over the course of the season. The only thing missing is the speed element he can show from time-to-time. He’s in a good hitter’s park the rest of the way so more counting stats should come his way.

Who’s Not

Cheslor Cuthbert , 1B/3B KC – I would put Cuthbert’s slash line and stat line in general in here but it’s perfectly described with one number…zero. As in he didn’t do anything of value all week with a zero for a triple-slash line and zero counting stats. The only part of the stat line that wasn’t a zero was his 18.8-percent K-rate (and yes his walk rate was zero as well). The Royals offense, in general, has been hit-and-miss all season, despite the recent success against Cleveland on Sunday, and so Cuthbert’s line is indicative of most of the hitters for Kansas City this year.

Eduardo Escobar , 3B ARI – Escobar has been powering the Diamondbacks offense in the resurgent year he’s put together, but this week it was far from that. He hit .130/.167/.304 in 24 PA over six games last week with three runs and two RBI in the counting stats department. He still managed just a 12.5-percent K-rate so it was just a matter of not making great contact rather than getting robbed as shown by the .150 BABIP and .194 wOBA. The Diamondbacks are still hovering around the .500 mark and Escobar should find the stroke again shortly as he gets the benefit of some great hitter’s parks in that division.

Ozzie Albies , 2B ATL – The Braves might be holding onto the lead in the NL Central by several games at this point, but it’s no thanks to Albies this week, who, despite a cushy spot in the batting order, hasn’t had a great week. He slashed .111/.143/.259 in 28 PA with a .091 BABIP and .168 wOBA. He did, however, still manage a homer, three runs, an RBI and two steals from the few times he was successful in the batter’s box. It’s likely just a matter of time before he gets back to his surging August numbers in which he’s hit .292 with four homers, 16 runs, 11 RBI, and five steals, including the bad week last week. If he keeps hitting in the second spot of the order behind Ronald Acuña Jr. and in front of Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson , he’ll keep getting pitches to hit.

Justin Upton , OF LAA – Upton’s cold return continued this week as he slashed .200/.300/.240 with four RBI and two runs scored and a nasty 36.7-percent K-rate in 30 PA. The Angels offense is doing what it does: hope for enough firepower around Mike Trout to make a few wins happen. Upton hasn’t been part of that plan most of the time since returning from Turf Toe earlier this year. At this point, it’s hard to count on Upton for much fantasy value in the closing five weeks of the season.

Weekly Match-Up Breakdown

The teams listed on the left are showing stats for away games and the teams on the right are showing stats for home guys.

Early Week Match-Ups (Monday/Tuesday – Wednesday/Thursday)