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All eyes are on the beleaguered New York Mets' rotation, which is expected to welcome ace Jacob deGrom (side, 10-day IL) back on Tuesday, setting him up for a two-start week. deGrom was brilliant in what was a three-inning, 41-pitch rehabilitation start for Class A St. Lucie on May 20, striking out eight batters while registering 102 mph on the radar gun, and he's on regular rest for his projected Tuesday return. His assignment against the Colorado Rockies is an overwhelmingly favorable matchup even if he's on a pitch count -- I'd project 75-80, based on a typical ramping-up pattern -- and even accounting for the risk of reinjury (it's a definite factor). A non-capped, two-start week with home starts against the Rockies and Atlanta Braves, whom deGrom would face on Sunday if he stays on a four-days'-rest pattern -- which, by the way, he has done in only 4-of-10 starts all year (spring training included), would earn deGrom 75 and 71 Game Score projections, which would be the Nos. 1 and 2 numbers by anyone in all of Week 8, but a pitch-capped, single-start Rockies matchup would earn him a low-end projection of 64. Amazingly, that'd still merit a top-10 overall pitcher ranking (seventh, to be exact). That's how supremely talented deGrom is.
Rotation implications, beyond just the Mets and deGrom, are a big storyline of Week 8. The Arizona Diamondbacks' projected rotation includes only five starters, but the team has sprinkled Riley Smith in recently and welcomed Taylor Widener back on May 23, then saw Widener leave that return outing with an aggravation of the same injury, potentially sending him back to the injured list. Merrill Kelly (96.3% available in ESPN leagues) and Madison Bumgarner (29.8% available) are their only medium-graded starters, and Bumgarner's Game Score would get a three-point bump if he pitched during their week-opening, two-game series against the San Francisco Giants (which is highly unlikely), but the bigger takeaway is the impact on the St. Louis Cardinals' -- they're the Diamondbacks' weekend opponent -- hitting matchups. The Cardinals, meanwhile, welcomed Carlos Martinez (ankle) and Miles Mikolas (shoulder) back into their rotation on May 21 and 22, and like the Diamondbacks, the Cardinals saw Mikolas leave his outing early and return to the injured list. The Forecaster grid projects a five-man rotation for the Cardinals accordingly, but as the team is in the midst of an 17-games-in-17-days stretch, of which this begins the road portion as well as days 4-10 of those 17, the team could toss a sixth, spot starter into the mix at some point. Martinez, incidentally, has the team's worst Game Score projection, beneath what's considered "average."
While the Oakland Athletics haven't yet found their groove at RingCentral Coliseum, where they are 14-13 entering Week 8, they'll get a chance to fatten up their hitting statistics at that pitching-leaning venue when they battle the struggling Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels pitching staffs. They are bottom-seven staffs in terms of ERA in May (Mariners 5.01, 24th; Angels 5.21, 25th). Athletics lefties (and switch-hitters) are especially aligned for success, and there are two you can readily add in most ESPN leagues: Seth Brown (97.8% available) and Jed Lowrie (53.4%), who typically bat second and sixth for the team.
The Cleveland Indians might have been on the wrong side of two of the season's six official no-hitters already this season, each of them authored by a left-handed pitcher, but they're in about the best weekly hitting matchups scenario they could ask entering Week 8. Sure, they'll face Spencer Turnbull, who threw the season's fifth no-hitter in his most recent start, on Monday, as well as four lefty starters in their seven games, but the Forecaster grades bode well for a better week for their hitters. Amed Rosario (93.2% available) has taken over the team's regular shortstop duties and is a .309/.355/.483 hitter against lefties since the beginning of 2019.
Speaking of those no-hitter pitchers, each of the past two, Turnbull of the Detroit Tigers and Corey Kluber of the New York Yankees, are lined up for two starts during Week 8. A fun aside: If either team juggles its rotation, more likely with the Tigers dropping in a sixth starter midweek, they might even square off in their second starts since their respective no-nos. Turnbull's opening matchup against Cleveland is extremely favorable, but after he set a career high with 117 pitches in his no-hitter, he might be on a stricter pitch count that neutralizes his matchups appeal and explains his modest Forecaster pitching ranking. Kluber, meanwhile, has a middling opening matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays -- most of his generous projection is skills-driven -- and, if he stays on turn, a dream matchup against the Detroit Tigers. There's reason to believe the good vibes surrounding him will continue.
Kluber isn't the only member of the New York Yankees aligned for a fantasy-friendly week. A Saturday Tigers matchup makes slow-starting Jameson Taillon (51.9% available) one of the week's best value arms -- he had a win, eight K's and one run allowed in eight innings in these teams' May 1 meeting -- and the schedule propels Aroldis Chapman to arguably No. 1 fantasy closer status for Week 8. Yankees hitters also get a probable 3-of-6 games against left-handed starters, which could represent the schedule that helps break Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres out of their recent funks.
Here's a strange scheduling quirk: There are 15 interleague games scheduled during Week 8, split nearly evenly between week-opening (Monday-Wednesday range) and the weekend (Friday-Sunday), and all of them involving National League teams visiting American League cities, where the designated hitter rule will be in effect. Interestingly enough, the only one of these NL squads limited to a five-game week is the Atlanta Braves, while the two that glean the greatest advantage from said schedule are the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres, who each play three weekend interleague games. For the Marlins, a pair of projected games against lefties along with another against reverse-platoon righty Nathan Eovaldi (Saturday) fuels a week favorable to hitters like Brian Anderson (74.0% available) and Adam Duvall (66.7%). For the Padres, a week with six projected right-handed starters in seven games, while some come against tough cookies (Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Lance McCullers Jr. and Zack Greinke), looks a lot better when there's a DH role to boost the starting opportunities for Tommy Pham (48.6% available) and Jurickson Profar (76.6%).
Speaking of five-game weeks, in addition to the Braves, the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros round up Week 8's list of three. It's the Astros who are aligned for a wretched schedule -- perhaps one of the worst we'll see on either side of the ball for any single team all season. Check out these projected opposing starters: Clayton Kershaw (Tuesday), Trevor Bauer (Wednesday), Yu Darvish (Friday), Blake Snell (Saturday), Joe Musgrove (Sunday). Then, for the Astros' pitchers, they must tangle with a Los Angeles Dodgers offense that ranks top-five in runs per game (5.09, fifth) and wOBA (.328, fourth) despite early injuries and occasional struggles, and a Padres offense that should be much closer to full health, and which the Forecaster grades a bottom-eight pitching matchup when it's at 100%.
Examining righty/lefty platoon opportunities, the oft-overlooked Pittsburgh Pirates are set to face right-handed starters in 5-of-6 games, which is great news for leadoff man Adam Frazier but even better for No. 3 hitter Bryan Reynolds (29.3% available) and No. 5 hitter Gregory Polanco (96.5%), both of whom are available in a much greater percentage of ESPN leagues. The Chicago Cubs' Ian Happ (45.7% available) has three home runs in his past three games (through May 20), starts as the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters in his past two and matches up favorably considering his team's four projected games against righties out of six overall. It should also be a good week for right-handed Minnesota Twins hitters, as they'll face two (and possibly three) lefty starters in their six games, all of which will be played at home. Miguel Sano (47.5% available) is on a recent tear, while Mitch Garver (63.5%) is renowned for his success against southpaws.