Quickly jump to any page for specific intel
The New York Mets are finally getting healthier, having activated Pete Alonso, Seth Lugo, Kevin Pillar and Taijuan Walker from the injured list during the Memorial Day weekend, and Jacob deGrom in the week leading into it, and having Jeff McNeil (hamstring, 10-day IL) ready to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment during the June 12-13 weekend. It's fortuitous timing, with the team aligned for an eight-game Week 11, the only one of 30 teams scheduled for that many. The extra game is part of a Saturday doubleheader at the Washington Nationals, that making up one game of the teams' season-opening series postponement from April 1-3 (the others are scheduled for June 28 and Sept. 4). While the Mets' schedule doesn't grade top-of-the-league on either side, hitting or pitching, the extra game does make this team as a whole more attractive as far as weekly fantasy starts. Dominic Smith (35.6% available in ESPN leagues) is a .316/.426/.526 hitter with two home runs in his past 12 games and should benefit from this schedule including a projected five (and possibly six) right-handed opposing starters. Taijuan Walker (15.8% available), one of the team's two two-start pitchers -- the slumping David Peterson is the other -- is also a great start.
It's the Cleveland Indians' schedule that grades top-of-the-league accounting for both hitting and pitching, and there are players on their roster that are widely available in ESPN leagues. Considering the team will play host to the Baltimore Orioles for four games, before visiting the Pittsburgh Pirates for three, closer candidates Emmanuel Clase (36.3% available) and James Karinchak (9.8%) should be universally rostered and active for Week 11. On the hitting side, Nos. 1-2 hitters Cesar Hernandez (71.8%) and Amed Rosario (70.1%) are combined .270/.333/.495 hitters with six home runs in 16 team games since the latter was moved into the No. 2 role, and Harold Ramirez (94.1%), who typically bats fourth-sixth, is a .294/.362/.451 hitter during that same time span.
The Philadelphia Phillies have the roughest Week 11 schedule -- though the Arizona Diamondbacks are competitive for the honor, differentiated mainly by their seven games to the Phillies' six and closer proximity to their travel destinations -- in what will be a six-game, west-coast road trip. The best that can be said for the Phillies is that their lineup is extremely righty-heavy, explaining their 27-point wOBA split favoring success against lefties (.320 versus .293), and they're scheduled to face four left-handed starters. Still, two of them are Julio Urias (Tuesday) and Clayton Kershaw (Wednesday), and the Phillies' matchups would take a bigger hit if Kevin Gausman, currently scheduled to face the Diamondbacks on Thursday, gets pushed back into their weekend series.
Speaking of tough matchups, the Colorado Rockies might face some of their toughest as far as projected opposing starting pitchers that they could possibly ask in what's a seven-game week played entirely at their hitters'-heaven home, Coors Field. The Rockies currently align to face Dinelson Lamet (Monday), Yu Darvish (Tuesday), Blake Snell (Wednesday), Brandon Woodruff (Thursday) and Corbin Burnes (Friday).. Nevertheless, as Coors is a miserable environment for any pitcher, Rockies hitters maintain extremely favorable hitting ratings, and their lineup did just get a boost with the return of Trevor Story from the injured list. Garrett Hampson (28.4% available) stands out this week, as he'll face the San Diego Padres and Brewers, whose catchers are poor at reining in the running game.
The visiting Padres and Brewers, naturally, also benefit on the hitting side as a result of their trips to Coors, and both teams host the Reds for their other series. It's the Brewers whose hitting matchups get the slight edge, considering the team's more hitting-friendly home environment, as well as the extra game at Coors (four to the Padres' three) -- though that extra game does come against Rockies ace German Marquez (Thursday). Brewers left-handed hitters get the biggest boost, thanks to a projected six right-handed opposing starters, and that's great news for managers of Omar Narvaez (59.3% available), a .327/.408/.540 hitter against righties, and Daniel Vogelbach (98.6%), a .236/.349/.418 hitter against righties.
Lance McCullers Jr. (shoulder, 10-day IL) will rejoin the Houston Astros' rotation on Tuesday, but it will be in a piggyback arrangement with Jake Odorizzi, where Odorizzi will come on in relief after McCullers throws a few frames. The Astros have also already announced that McCullers will pitch their Sunday game, making him their lone two-start pitcher, and Odorizzi will pitch the June 21 game to open Week 12. Regardless of how much leash McCullers gets, he and his Astros have a great weekly set of pitching matchups, hosting the light-hitting Texas Rangers for two and the righty-heavy (and more strikeout-prone with the injury to contact-oriented Nick Madrigal) Chicago White Sox for four. You'll see in the Forecaster grids that I'm projecting a conservative approach to McCullers' return, but everyone in the Astros' rotation is graded a clear fantasy start for each pitching assignment.
Speaking of those Rangers, they're the one team aligned for a five-game week, which presents a huge disadvantage in a week where 18 teams play at least seven times and seven teams play all seven games at home. The Rangers host the struggling Minnesota Twins for three weekend games after their two-game, week-opening series at Houston, and they're scheduled to face five right-handed starters in the process. Just to throw it out there: No. 5 hitter Nick Solak is a lifetime .234/.315/.358 hitter with a 23.7% strikeout rate against right-handerrs.
The Rangers aren't even the victims of a short schedule due to interleague play. It's a light week on the interleague front, actually, with only five total games: Boston Red Sox at Atlanta Braves for two games on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Indians at Pirates for three games from Friday through Sunday. That means a pair of American League teams visiting National League parks, where they'll lose the designated hitter, and it's a bigger deal for the Red Sox, whose usual DH J.D. Martinez is the No. 30 overall name on the Player Rater. Martinez has started four of the Red Sox's five interleague games thus far in the outfield, however, and just played left field as recently as Wednesday, so there isn't much reason to worry about lost playing time.
The Nationals' schedule is one of the more favorable ones of Week 11, but that's especially the case for their right-handed hitters, thanks to three (and possibly four) games projected against left-handed starters. The team continues to bat Ryan Zimmerman (97.0% available), a .354/.367/.646 hitter against lefties, cleanup and Starlin Castro (87.9%), a .328/.354/.361 hitter against lefties, fifth when a southpaw is on the mound, with both of those players strong Week 11 starts accordingly.