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Fantasy Baseball Weekly Planner: Week 20

Fantasy Baseball Weekly Planner: Week 20

There are only two teams saddled with the dreaded five-game week next week. There’s also only one doubleheader next week, but the maximum number of games played by a team is seven. There are 12 teams playing the full complement of seven games next week.

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Notable Matchups

Diamondbacks vs. Angels (2), vs. Mariners (3)
The Snakes are one of the two teams with only five games scheduled for next week. On the plus side, the pitching matchups are extremely favorable. Only Marco Gonzales stands out as a tough-ish matchup. Furthermore, while the humidor has significantly reduced scoring in Arizona this year, the Diamondbacks have been better at home than on the road this year and play all five of their games in their home digs next week.

Angels @ Diamondbacks (2), vs. Astros (3)
The Angels are the other team with five games next week, and two of them will be spent in a National League park to start the week. That means no designated hitter, and it means Shohei Ohtani can be glued to fantasy benches in leagues with weekly lineup changes. They also draw the trio of Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander, and Gerrit Cole when hosting the Astros, which is another blow to their offensive outlook next week.

Cubs @ Tigers (2), vs. Reds (4)
The Cubs will be able to utilize the designated hitter for their first two games next week in Detroit. They’re slated to face five righties and one lefty, and the inconsistent duo of Matt Harvey and Luis Castillo are arguably their toughest pitching matchups.

Rockies vs. Padres (3), vs. Cardinals (3)
Here’s your weekly check-in on where the Rockies are playing. They’re home for a pair of three-game series, so their bats get a huge lift in value. The pitching matchups are non-threatening, and the handedness of opposing starters is split evenly, three lefties and three righties. Carlos Gonzalez has crushed either handedness of pitchers at home this year, so feel free to fire him up in all league types.

Brewers vs. Reds (3), vs. Pirates (3)
The Brewers also call a hitter-friendly park home, and they’re home for both of their three-game series next week. Additionally, the pitching matchups are soft. They’re facing all right-handed starters, so that’s a value boost to the likes of left-handed hitters Christian Yelich, Travis Shaw, Mike Moustakas, and Eric Thames. In order to get all of their slugging infielders in the lineup against righties, the Brewers have occasionally played Jonathan Schoop at shortstop recently, so don’t necessarily ding him value due to the all-righty matchups next week.

Yankees @ Marlins (2), @ Orioles (4)
The Yankees are one of the two teams playing a doubleheader next week. They’ll play two next Saturday against the Orioles. As always, I’d advise treating the doubleheader as a cherry on top as opposed to a clean additional game since it’s unlikely all of the regulars from both teams will play in both games. The Yankees will be without the services of a designated hitter for their two games in Miami, but with key boppers on the shelf, that’s not as big of a deal. The Yankees face a collection of bad hurlers — all righties — next week, and the offense should feast on them.

Phillies @ Nationals (3), @ Blue Jays (3)
The Phillies have been the opposite of road warriors this year. They’ve tallied a respectable .316 wOBA at home while watching their wOBA crater to just .299 on the road, per FanGraphs. Tanner Roark has been in good form and is one of the pitchers they’ll face next week, and Max Scherzer is, well, a stud. The offense will get a slight boost from having a designated hitter in the lineup for their last three games of the week, though.

Padres @ Rockies (3), @ Dodgers (3)
The Padres offense gets a lift from three games at Coors Field. It’s worth mentioning the trio of pitchers they’ll face in Colorado — Tyler Anderson, Jon Gray, and Kyle Freeland — have all pitched better at home than on the road this year, but that’s unlikely to remain the case long term with Coors Field’s park factors. I’ll roll the dice on the offense eventually beating down those home/road splits. With five lefties and just one righty on tap for San Diego next week, Hunter Renfroe makes for a top-shelf stream. In 244 plate appearances against southpaws in his career, he’s a .288/.369/.604 hitter with 16 homers. Teammate Jose Pirela also makes for a deep-league streamer with a .296/.350/.475 slash in 280 plate appearances against lefties in his career.

Mariners vs. Astros (3), @ Diamondbacks (3)
It’s mostly bad news for Seattle’s hitters next week. First, they have some tough pitching matchups that include Gerrit Cole, Charlie Morton, and Zack Greinke. The other two listed probable starters (with one still unclear), Robbie Ray and Zack Godley, could also pose problems, though, they’ve been inconsistent this season. Additionally, three games in Arizona means no designated hitter. That means Nelson Cruz is likely to be relegated to pinch-hitter duties since he hasn’t played the field at all this season. He should be benched in all but the deepest of leagues with weekly lineup changes.

Cardinals @ Dodgers (3), @ Rockies (3)
The Red Birds are the other visitors to the thin Rocky Mountain air in Colorado next week. That’s a boost for their lineups’ value. They also luck out avoiding Clayton Kershaw in their three-game set in Los Angeles.

Rangers @ Athletics (3), @ Giants (3)
I’ve routinely pointed out the road woes of the Rangers this year in this piece, and they’re on the road in a pair of pitcher-friendly parks next week — one a National League park in San Francisco. Texas ranks tied for 21st in wOBA (.300) on the road this year, and losing the designated hitter for three games at AT&T Park is unlikely to help them improve that ugly road wOBA.

Braves @ Pirates (3), @ Marlins (4)
Atlanta’s offense has been notably better on the road (.179 ISO and .330 wOBA) than at home (.156 ISO and .319 wOBA), but PNC Park and Marlins Park are both pitcher-friendly venues. In fact, Marlins Park has the second lowest park factor for runs (0.879). They’re projected to face six right-handed pitchers and just one southpaw. Nick Markakis is hitting southpaws quite well this year, but his track record isn’t as favorable against them, and he’s also mashing righties this year — against whom he has a track record of being an above-average hitter. His stock is up next week due to the heavy righty slant of matchups.

Mets vs. Giants (4), vs. Nationals (3)
Which offense is dead last in home wOBA (.278) and tied for last in wRC+ (80) at home? If you guessed the Mets, you’re correct. They’re home for all seven of their games next week. Woof. But wait, it gets worse! The Mets also rank in the basement in wOBA (.278) and wRC+ (75) against southpaws and face five in seven games next week.

Hitter Notes

Tommy Pham (TB)
Pham was activated from the disabled list yesterday and immediately inserted into the cleanup spot for the Rays. He showcased no rust and rattled off a pair of hits (one double) while also walking in four plate appearances. He’s failed to duplicate his excellent 2017, but he’s still managed to reach double digits in homers (14) and steals (10) without being a massive AVG (.248) or OBP (.336) liability. The 30-year-old outfielder can be inserted back into starting fantasy lineups.

Ronald Acuna (ATL)
Matt Carpenter (STL)
Both Acuna and Carpenter were hit by pitches Wednesday night, but both were also back in their respective clubs’ lineups last night. It won’t hurt to make sure neither suffers from any lingering effects or a setback in advance of the weekend, but both seem to have dodged a bullet and should remain major fantasy assets down the stretch.

Pitcher Notes

James Paxton (SEA)
Paxton was drilled by a comebacker on his left forearm. X-rays were negative, but he’s on the disabled list and will miss at least his next start. Gamers will want to pay attention for updates over the weekend, as the southpaw was originally slated to be a two-start pitcher and could get the ball Sunday, August 26 if he’s forced to miss just one start. If there are no updates over the weekend, gamers in leagues with weekly lineup changes would probably be best served exercising caution and to keep him on the bench or in a disabled list spot.

Eduardo Rodriguez (BOS)
E-Rod successfully threw 47 pitches through four simulated innings and ran through some defensive drills Wednesday, per Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. He’ll embark on a rehab assignment starting Monday, and Abraham speculates the southpaw could be back as soon as late next week. Rodriguez is rostered in 62% of Yahoo! and 63% of ESPN leagues and he’s an excellent addition in leagues as shallow as 12-team mixers with the potential to play his way into universal ownership worthiness.

Kenley Jansen (LAD)
The initial expectation was that Jansen would miss about a month. Now, there’s a possibility he’ll be back Monday. Stay tuned over the weekend and act accordingly.

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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.

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